부산대학교 도서관

The last phase of the life of Yehuda Hallevi, the poet and philosopher — his romantic journey to the Holy Land from Spain via Egypt, where all trace of his route was lost — had been known to us so far almost exclusively through his poems. An exhaustive perusal of this material was made by J. Schirmann in his article about Yehuda Hallevi's life in Tarbiz, vol. 9. In the present article, a new source is tapped : private letters of that time, which were preserved in the so-called Geniza of Old Cairo. Most of these letters come from the archive of Halfon ben Nethanel, a great Cairo merchant, who, on one of his business trips to Spain, made the acquaintance of the poet and obviously discussed with him his journey to the Holy land. He contemplated even meeting him in al-Mahdiya in Southern Tunis, midway between Spain and Egypt. In al-Mahdiya, Yehuda Hallevi had some very unpleasant experience in connection with his unsuccessful attempt to persuade a renegade to join him on his way to Palestine and to return there to the Jewish religion. There he received also a letter from Yehuda ibn Ezra, who wished to come after him to the East (Other members of the Ibn Ezra family, the sons of Abraham Ibn Ezra, among them Isaac, who was related to Yehuda Hallevi, accompanied the poet on his voyage). The latter informed Yehuda ibn Ezra that he did not approve of his plan, but left for him with a friend a precious shawl, which would be sufficient for the travel expenses, in case the young Ibn Ezra would come out, contrary to his advice. In a letter from al-Mahdiya, dated 3 Sivan, it is said that the poet was on board the ship, which was to bring him to Egypt and that he would leave the port as soon as the wind would turn to the West. It is probable that the famous poem, in which Yehuda Hallevi addresses the Westwind, was composed on that day. From a letter from Alexandria we learn that the poet arrived there on Sunday, 24 Ellul, 9 September, 1140, on board the "New Ship of the Sultan", but did not disembark on the same day. Indeed, the Diwan of Yehuda Hallevi has preserved a poem, which was sent by him from the ship to the Dayyan Ibn al-'Ammani in Alexandria. Owing to the impending High Holydays, Halfon ben Nethanel was unable to come to Alexandria immediately. But we find him there, according to a letter addressed to him, on 18 November. Our poet must have had a busy time in Alexandria, for a man writing on 10 Marheshvan says that he went to see him every night, bringing his own supper with him to the meetingplace. Immediately after the Feast of Hanukka, Yehuda Hallevi went with Halfon to Cairo, after paying a short visit on his way there to the latter's brother Abu Ali Ezechiel, who lived in Qaliub. He must have died only a few months afterwards, most probably in Shevat (February—March) 1141. The letters discussed contain other details about the poet, e. g. that he exchanged poems with Amram ben Isaac of Alexandria. As the study of the documentary Geniza written in Arabic language is far from being completed, there exist good prospects that additional material about the poet's journey and stay in Egypt may be found.