The Kuzari - In Defense of the Despised Faith

The Chaver describes what a pious Jew is supposed to be. Someone in full control of his thoughts and actions and directs them to God and spirituality. He describes the nature of prayer as self improvement and the rhythms of the Jewish calendar.

We finish the second essay with a discussion of the special nature of the Hebrew language. The third essay begins a lengthy discussion of who is considered a pious person in Judaism.

The Chaver discusses the special significance of the Hebrew language.

The Chaver discusses the special wisdom of the sages of Judaism.

The Chaver explains how it is possible for God to be glorified through His people. People are judged by their actions, not by their outward appearance of being "spiritual".

The Chaver explains how the mitzvot of the Torah are the only path to God, and that the Torah does not want asceticism from us. Sometimes worship through joy is a better path to God than through deprivation.

The Khazar King and the Chaver discuss Isaiah 53 and how it is that the Jewish people suffer for the sins of the world.

The chaver and the King discuss the status of the Jewish people in exile and their special covenantal relationship with God.

The Chaver explains the significance of the sacrifices and worship in the Temple.

The Chaver explains the importance of living in Israel, and the Khazar King challenges him for not living up to his own words.

The Chaver describes how Israel is the center of the world and sets the Jewish international date-line.

The Chaver teaches us about the special nature of the land of Israel.

The Chaver explains the concept of God's "Will", and the special nature of the land of Israel.

The Khazar King converts to Judaism and eventually his entire kingdom follows suit. He begins to study Judaism, and has a lot of questions. He starts with questions about the nature of the names and descriptions of God in the Torah. Don't these descriptions contradict the unity and transcendence of God?

The Chaver discusses the process of conversion to Judaism and how it differs from conversion to other religions, the significance of Jewish suffering, and Aggadot regarding the world to come in Jewish literature.

The Chaver describes how Judaism differs from other religions in that we don't make promises about a supposed afterlife to encourage adherence to a faith and discourage disbelief. Judaism is about developing our relationship with God, it is about the present, not the future.

The appropriate actions to serve God can only be known by communication from God Himself. This is the rationale for keeping the Torah as given by God to Moshe to teach the Jewish people.

The Chaver describes the special nature of the Jewish people, and the sin of the golden calf.

The Chaver describes to the Kuzari how the origins of the Jewish people and of Judaism began with our shared real experience of the Exodus from Egypt and the revelation at Sinai.

The Chaver demonstrates to the Kuzari how God interacts with this world, and sometimes though we may call it "nature" it is actually how God makes the world what it is. The Chaver then describes that the Torah is the only way for us to truly receive the divine wisdom within the world.

The Chaver discusses with the Kuzari that whether there is a Creator or the world is eternal is not something that can be proven by science or philosophy, but our tradition teaches us to understand that there is a creator. We also discuss the role of miracles, and begin the discussion of how God could communicate with man.

The Chaver presents the Kuzari with a description of the unique special relationship between the Jewish people and God, and brings various proofs to the truth of this special relationship.

The Chaver explains that Judaism is based on a relationship between the people of Israel and God that has lasted for many generations.

The King asks for the opinions of the Christians and Muslims for a summary of their faith, and he is not satisfied with their responses.

We read of the Khazar King's Dream and hear the response of the philosopher.

We discuss the life and times of Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, the author of the Kuzari.