Judah al-Harizi: The Unexpected Jewish-Arabic Connection

Abstract

Both Jewish merchants and wandering poets were partly responsible for the introduction of new ideas into Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries. Largely unaffected by contemporary events such as the Crusades and the signing of the Magna Carta, these Jews traveled freely between Christian and Muslim lands, serving as cultural intermediaries. From the 14th century onward, the frequency of these travels decreased significantly due to the spread of two epidemics between 1350 and 1400: the bubonic plague and the inquisition. However, until then, while Judaism had thrived in Eastern Europe, particularly in Spain under Moorish rule, Jews such as Judah ben Solomon ben Hophni Al-Harizi facilitated the transmission of Arabic sciences, Greek philosophy, as well as commentaries on the Bible (by Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and Maimonides) and other Jewish works to Christians. This, therefore, sparked an intellectual revolution in their own time and later contributed to the emerging ideology of the Renaissance.