Between Mysticism and Philosophy: Sufi Language of Religious Experience in Judah Ha-Levi's Kuzari

The academic study of medieval Jewish philosophy began in the nineteenth century with a comparisons of classical Jewish texts (e.g., Saadia Gaon's Beliefs and Opinion; Judah Halevi's Kuzari; Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed; Gersonides' Wars of the Lord) with classical Islamic texts (especially those of the Aristotelians al-Farabi, Avicenna, and Averroes; and the anti-Aristotelian al-Ghazali). The possibility that Jewish thinkers took their inspiration from, or should be seen in the context of, Islamic thinkers (such a Shi'ites or sufis) and Christian philosophers (especially scholastics vis-à-vis late medieval Jewish thought) was rarely entertained, partially because of lack of availability of texts and partially because of preconceived notions. The last few decades have seen a reversal of this trend: as the chances fade of finding more parallels in the well researched Aristotelian texts, more attention has been paid to alternate contexts of Jewish philosophy. This excellent book, a much revised and updated Harvard University dissertation (1995), is a very welcome addition to this growing tendency.