Purposeful ambiguity as persuasive strategy: The Karaites as portrayed in Judah Halevi’s Kitāb al-Khazarī (The Book of Kuzari)

• In Event: Hierarchies and the Rhetoric of Esotericism

Abstract

One of the most influential books of Jewish religious thought ever written is Judah Halevi’s Kitab al-radd wa al-dalil fi al-din al-dhalil, or Kitab al-chujja wa al-dalil fi nusr al-din al-dhalil [The Book of Refutation and Proof on Behalf of the Despised Religion], better known under its shorten Hebrew title Sefer ha-Kuzari. On the basis of a letter preserved in the Cairo Genizah, it is assumed to have originally been composed as a polemical response to a Karaite convert. And yet, scholars observe that the Karaites are neither perceived, nor described by Halevi as heretics. In fact, his depiction of this alternative to Rabbanite form of Judaism – its adherents and origins – appeared so appealing to the Karaites that made some of them believe that the author had been a (crypto)Karaite himself, while his reconstructions of the movement’s history with time became appropriated as the founding myth of Karaism. It has been observed, moreover, that the author exhibited certain sympathy for Karaism. Therefore the questions may rightly be asked, what was the real attitude of Halevi towards the Karaites? And what was, in his view, their main fault, as well as their position vis-à-vis the Rabbanites within the Jewish world of the time?
In an attempt to answer these questions, I will explore a number of puzzling parables included in The Book of Kuzari, and claim that they were purposefully formulated in an ambiguous fashion, so as to convey a hidden critique of the Rabbanites under a cover of seaming critique of the Karaites. In addition, I will argue that Halevi deliberately used ambiguity as an effective literary tool to convey more and deeper meanings – to better reflect both the sinuously complex and multifaceted reality, as well as his own intrinsically complicated feelings and internal debates. It also enabled him to address different (Rabbanite and Karaite) audiences without offending anyone. It will lead me to a conclusion that Halevi’s purpose of writing his treaties was to constructively criticize, and thus also bring about the improvement of the entire Jewish community, including the Karaites whom he conceived of as its integral, legitimate part, and whose reconciliation with the Rabbanites he wished to usher.

Author

• Marzena Zawanowska, University of Warsaw