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 as a wake-up call to inform the reader of their folly. The question, however, becomes- why do people need to to be aware of this fact? The statement mentioned above about how "everyone believes they will be young forever" cannot be true across the board, because people see death everyday? This may be true yet we get a glimpse into the ideologies of the time within this poem. There was a certain level of looseness and frivolity that permeated the poetry and lifestyle that was unacceptable to Halevi. Although the Jews saw death, they either thought that it would not apply to them, or they rationalized that it is so far in the distance that they needn't worry about it. The ultimate lesson that comes out of this poem, is that because old age is inevitable, you have to leave your mark on this world. You should not squander your time, but should do something important for "what will you do with the army (of grey hairs) to come". This is not obvious by any means but it is the logical conclusion if you followed Halevi's train of thought.

    Yehuda Halevi was also a passionate Zionist. He was the first noted person in Medieval Spain who yearned for Israel so. There are a great quantity of poems that deal with this urge but the poem I want to focus on is called "Along the Nile". This poem is quite surprising to those who have read some of his more Zionist ones, since he writes about Egypt in a way that seems as though someone had replaced areas in Israel with places in Egypt. He writes about Egypt lovingly and as if it was the place where he was meant to be. This all occurred on his way to Israel to fulfill his Zionist urge. Being lured by the beauty of Egypt, he writes: "The heart...finds itself thinking of Egypt's Eden". We can see that even though he disliked the Andulasian culture, he could not help himself from appreciating the beauty of the world. He writes of Egypt, using clothing to describe its beauty which is ironic, considering that he uses a lot of nature to describe other ideas. He writes about the landscape "The land along the Nile is checkered, as though with the priestly breastplate and vest", and "Ramses and Pithom in bronze are decked". Thus we can see the affection he had for Egypt. This is a seemingly contradictory idea to what Halevi stood for, but we can see here the more secular side of him, and his struggles in leaving Egypt.