בס"ד
On 29 Heshvan (16 November) I completed "The Selected Poems Of Yehuda Halevi", translated and annotated by Hillel Halkin. Link to PDF . Judah ha-Levi was a major Jewish philosopher and poet. His works are the expression of a deeply religious soul. He lived in Spain from c. 1075 until 1141 where he was a doctor of great renown. His book "The Kuzari" is an argument for faith in G-d that is still popular today. Among other points it says that the logical arguments between the eternity of the universe and an external creator are balanced, but the Torah, guarded by the tradition of the Jews, tips the balance in favor of belief. He also said that hidden within the creation are signs of a creator and these are the roots of belief and denial.
Many of his poems have religious themes. He also wrote poems about love,some of which were erotic, every day life, personal feelings, and eulogies. They are filled with religious passion and replete with references to Tanakh which is the hallmark of his poetry.
In the poem named Ofra, he describes how a woman of his affections hung him out to dry. "Ofra does her laundry in my tears; And dries it in the sunshine she gives off", (עָפְרה תְּכַּבֵס אֶת בָּגָדֶיהָ בְּמֵי דִּמְעִי וְתְִשׁטָחֵם לְשֶׁמֶשׁ זָהֳרָהּ). The girl's name means a young deer or woman and is an allusion to several romantic verses in the Song of Songs. In one of his eulogies he praises the deceased as, "Prince and a giant, honest and straight; Feared the Almighty, a man understanding and wise", (ׂשַׂר וְגָדֹול, תָּם וְיָשָׁר, יְרֵא הָאֵל וְאִיש נָבֹון וְחָכָם).
His most famous poem is [צִיּוֹן, הֲלֹא תִשְׁאֲלִי [לִשְׁלוֹם אֲסִירַיִךְ (Zion Do You Not Inquire about the Welfare of you Captives), which is included in the liturgy for the 9th of Av. In it he cries over the destruction of the Temple mentioning its shrines and prays for the redemption of the Jewish people and their return to Mount Zion. Considering the extreme difficulties of traveling to the Holy Land and its nadir of its destruction, he states, "It would be pleasing to my soul to go in tatters and barefoot so as to be on the desolate ruins that were your sanctuary", ( ינעם לנפשי הלוך ערום ויחף עלי חרבות שממה, אשר היה דביריך).
After his wife died, when he was in his sixties, Yehuda HaLevy set out for the land of Israel, and wrote a number of poems on the way describing his experiences and feelings including the travails of the journey and the honor given to him on the way. The trip was difficult but even so he was enthusiastic. He writes, "the sea shall rage, and my soul shall be glad; For to me the sanctuary of G-d is near", (וְיָם יִזְעַף וְנַפְשִׁי תַעֲלֹז, כִּי אֱלֵי מִקְדַֹּש אֱלֹהֶיהָ קְרֵבָה).
There is no correspondence from him in the land of Israel. Uncertain fragmentary evidence exists that he perished upon arriving to Jerusalem. There is a Jewish legend that when approaching he was awed by the sight of the Holy City, and sang his most beautiful elegy, "Zion ha-lo Tish'ali." At that moment he was killed by an Arab horseman, who dashed forth from a gate (Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya, "Shalshelet ha-Ḳabbalah," ed. Venice, p. 40b).
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.com
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