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Module 4

    Yehuda Halevi was a poet at the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th century. Born in either Toledo or Tudela, he lived under both Christian and Muslim control. In his youth, Halevi showed promise as a master poet, even impressing Moshe Ibn Ezra. However, Halevi served as a physician in Toledo and became disillusioned with poetry. Indeed, much of the poetry written throughout his life was different from the al-Andulasian ideals of the time. He wrote more liturgical and Zionistic poetry, though he did sometimes write about less religious topics. For example, in his poem "When a Lone Silver Hair", Halevi wrote about the inevitability of old age (and ultimately death). His use of nature (the silver hair) to explore the idea of death is very useful for the reader, as silver hairs are known to everyone. The concept of old age is somewhat more foreign to the reader. Everyone believes they will be young forever, which is why Halevi required the use of the silver hair a...
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Module 2

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    "Drink, He Said", written by Dunash ben Labrut, is a poem that addresses the readers of his time period about the wrongs of partying and self-indulgence. In it, he writes of a beautiful garden with many different lush plants, rushing water, cooing birds, and all manners of making one feel safe, and serene. A person could continuously read the first part of that poem and they would not feel as if it was getting repetitive or boring. While reading Dunash's poem for the first time, he allowed me (and every other reader) to become lazy, and basically just accept any idea suggested while in that garden. He suggest that we live our lives in (physical- not spiritual)bliss and not worry about the consequences of our actions.     " 'Silence', I rebuked him" brings an abrupt halt to the reader's current state of mind. It makes the reader sit a bit straighter and start thinking about the consequences of his sin. Actually, why would the reader ever sin and l...
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Module 1

     "Sephardim" are the people who emigrated from Israel to the Iberian Peninsula. These people believe to have been of the aristocracy that was forced to move by the Romans. For a time, they were well respected and enjoyed a variety of freedoms. However, when Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in the 5th century, the Jews started having some trouble when new anti-semitic laws were implemented. The Jews were still well off though and not in a horrible position. Then, the Visigoths invaded, and for a time, the Jews benefited. However, after a while the Visigoths decided to implement the negative rules that had been largely ignored before their invasion. Jews were not allowed to intermarry, or hold certain jobs, among other restrictions. In 711, the Muslims invaded and conquered Christian Spain. The Muslims treated the Jews quite differently than the Christians. In fact, the Jews weren't discriminated anymore than other minorities of that time. The Muslims...
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