Passwords: Raymond P. Scheindlin on Judah Halevi

Raymond P Scheindlin draws upon the letters and poems of Judah Halevi (1085-1141), the pre-Modern Hebrew poet and philosopher, to recreate the last year of Halevi’s life during which he abandoned his Spanish homeland to journey to the land of Israel. Though Halevi is generally considered the precursor of Zionism, this new reading of his poetry locates his pilgrimage in the sphere of personal piety and calls attention to the influence of Halevi on Islamic religious ideas.