Yehuda Alharizi

Background

Probably born in Andalusia, he lived in Languedoc and visited Provence.

Career

Al-Harizi traveled extensively in the Near East, visiting Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Iraq. These journeys enabled al-Harizi to find several patrons willing to subsidize translations of Jewish books from Arabic to Hebrew, in addition to placing him in the position to spread Spanish-Jewish culture to other areas of the world.

Writing at a time, when Arabic was the main language of Jews writing in Spain, al-Harizi insisted on writing in Hebrew, thus striving to demonstrate the richness and harmony inherent in the Hebrew language. In his translation into Hebrew of the Arabic poet al-Hariri’s satire Maqamas, al-Harizi succeeds in reproducing both the beauty of the language and the elaborateness of the style of the original Arabic in what appears as an original Hebrew composition.

A devoted follower of' Maimonides, al-Harizi began a translation of his commentary to the Mishna into Hebrew (commissioned by the Jewish community of Marseilles), and completed a translation of The Guide of the Perplexed. Although Samuel ibn Tibbon’s translation considered to be a more accurate one, became the standard text in translation, al-Harizi’s text was responsible for spreading Maimonides’ ideas throughout the Christian world because it was used as a basis for translations into other languages.

Al-Harizi is best known for his rhymed prose, Book of Tahkemoni, a series of humorous episodes, witty verse, word games, and ingenious applications of traditional texts.

The episodes are bound together by the presence of the hero and narrator, Heman the Ezrahite, who represents the author. In this work, al-Harizi provides a critical inquiry into the Jewish culture of his times as well as criticism of the literary achievements of other poets. In addition, his use of Hebrew in secular satire and in religious poetry constitutes an important contribution to the development of Hebrew as a poetic language.

Al-Harizi also wrote on music, helping to introduce late Hellenic notions of the therapeutic powers of music into Jewish culture.

Works

More photos

• Other Work

  • The Book of Tahkemoni: Jewish Tales from Medieval Spain (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

References

• The Fourteenth Gate Of Judah Al-harizi's Tahkemoni
  1963