Judah Halevi, known as the "Sweet Singer of Zion" was a poet and philosopher who lived from 1075 until 1141. He was born in Toledo, Spain, lived much of his life in Cordova, Spain, but died in Egypt, attempting to reach the Land of Israel. His primary occupation throughout his life was as a physician to the king of Spain. In his free time he wrote magnificent poems, many of which were paeans to the Land of Israel and mourning the loss of the Land to Jews. In Halevi's day, Jews were caught in the incessant wars between Christians and Muslims for control of the Iberian Peninsula. Halevi became convinced that the safest and most appropriate place for Jews to live was in the Land of Israel where they could lead a full and meaningful Jewish life. He himself felt constrained to remain in Spain most of his life, however, because of family attachments. His poems extolling the virtues of Eretz Yisrael remain a beautiful legacy, and in particular "Ode to Zion" is chanted in many synagogues on Tisha B'Av, which commemorates the destructions of the First and Second Temples on the 9th of Av each summer. The poem speaks both of the poet's sorrow over Jerusalem's destruction and his hope for its resurrected future. The popular Israeli song "Yerushalayim shel Zahav" (Jerusalem of Gold), composed by Naomi Shemer in the aftermath of the 1967 Six Day War, echoes Halevi's poem by employing the refrain "Halo le'chol shir-a-yich ani kinor" (I am a harp for your songs).
In addition, Judah Halevi penned a philosophical work entitled "The Kuzari" which claims to recount an actual event. The king of the Khasars sought to choose a religion for himself and his people and therefore invited a philosopher, a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew to visit him at court and describe their traditions. Whichever provided the most compelling presentation and arguments which win the honor of having his tradition as the one to which the entire Khasar nation would convert. Halevi begins with the particular experience of the Jewish people at Sinai and the uniqueness of the Jewish people. He talks about the special capacity to receive prophecy, which he understands as philosophical truth. Halevi parts company with many other medieval Jewish philosphers in elevating the experience at Sinai as the criterion for truth and for proving the existence of God. For him, historical experience is more powerful than reason. Halevi distinguishes between Elohim, the God one discovers through the use of reason and logic (in the mode of the philosophers) while Adonai is the God people experience in their lives. Halevi used the Kuzari as a format to describe the unique characteristics of the Land of Israel and the Jewish people, the importance of Hebrew as a holy tongue, and the gift of prophecy which is intimately connected to both the Land of Israel and the Hebrew language. He further explains the special relationship between Jews and God and the elevated spiritual state obtained through observance of God's commandments. At the end of the book, the king of Khasar decides to convert to Judaism and teaches his people about Judaism so that they, too, can convert. The Jewish scholar explains to the king that he will soon depart for Eretz Yisrael. Halevi did, in fact, set out for the Land of Israel, sailing first to Egypt and intending to travel by land from there. His ship landed in Alexandria in May of 1140, where Halevi was warmly welcomed by the Jewish community of Alexandria and treated as a dignitary. Sadly, he never reached the land of his dreams; he died in Egypt in July of 1141. Perhaps the passion of his desire to reach Israel is what gave rise to the legend that he did, in fact, succeed. As legend has it, upon reaching Eretz Yisrael, he removed his shoes in order to walk barefoot in the sand of the Holy Land. Appropriately enough, he began to recite his poem, and Ode to Zion, when an Arab horseman killed him with a sword. It may be that this legend derives from the Kuzari, itself, in which the Khazar king warns the Jewish scholar that his life will be endangered if he travels to Eretz Yisrael. Perhaps the legend derives from the desire of those whose passions for the Land of Israel he inspired to see his life's dream fulfilled. In either case, it is certainly a dramatic tale.