The later history of a medieval Hebrew book: Studies in the reception of Judah Halevi's "Sefer ha-Kuzari".

This dissertation examines aspects of the reception of Judah Halevi's Sefer ha-Kuzari in European culture and scholarship from the late Middle Ages through the nineteenth century. This "classic" Jewish theological treatise is an important example of medieval Jewish apologetic as well as the clearest statement of an anti-rationalist stance in medieval Jewish thought. In it, Halevi (c.1075--1141) argues for a strongly ethnocentric version of Judaism and against the universalistic Aristotelianism then beginning to take hold in Spanish-Jewish intellectual circles. The work is at once polemic, catechism, and religious philosophy. Changing interpretation and uses of the work over a long period of time provide us with a revealing window into the history of Jewish thought and culture. This study suggests a need for rethinking paradigms in the academic study of Jewish thought that stress dichotomies between reason and faith, and between universalism and particularism. Such bipolar distinctions must be understood as modern constructions. Halevi's work was often interpreted by late medieval and early modern readers as a way of reconciling reason and faith and of negotiating between particularism and universalism. In addition, this study is concerned with the role of non-canonized texts in shaping intellectual traditions. In two major case studies, focused on Renaissance Italy and the Haskalah movement in Central and Eastern Europe, this dissertation explores the means by which the Kuzari came to be considered a classic or semi-canonical text, through the activities of late medieval and early modern readers. One consequence of this status was the re-interpretation of the text in a way that preserved a religious meaning even when Halevi's metaphysical and physical assumptions were no longer plausible to all readers. Another consequence was the mobilization of the text and its author to provide models and legitimacy for new cultural activity.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 2003.School code: 0175