THE GOSPEL OF J. I. — Apocryphal, of which we have notice in St. Irenaeus (I, 31, 1: PG 7, 704) and in St. Epiphanius (Haer., 38, 1, 3: PG 41, 654-66). It was composed in the sect of the Cainites (v.), who regarded J. as a hero, the only Apostle who had understood Jesus. The apocryphal work, which was meant to be a rehabilitation of its protagonist, has not come down to us; the lack of information prevents us from forming an idea of its content.
JUDAH HALEVI (Yĕhūdhāh ben Sēmū’ēl ha-Lēwī, in Arabic Abū’l-Ḥasan b. al-Levī) — Poet and apologist, b. in 1070 (or 1075) at Tudela. He later lived in Toledo and elsewhere in Spain. He counted among his friends many poets and scholars, including Mōsēh ibn ‘Ezrā’, and many influential patrons.
His early poems are bacchic, amorous, floral, and enigmatic; in his mature years he wrote poems of religious and moral content, some pervaded with sorrow for the fate of his people. As to form, he was influenced by contemporary Arabic poetry, but distinguished himself by greater composure. Famous is his song for Zion, the *Zionide*. The rise of the pseudo-Messiah Mōsēh Dērā’ī provoked many satirical poems from him directed against Muslims. To demonstrate the superiority of biblical Revelation over Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism, J. composed the dialogue *al-Khazari* (in Hebrew *ha-Kūzārī*), whose Arabic title was *Kitāb al-ḥujjah wa’l-dalīl fī naṣr al-dīn al-madhlūl* (Book of the Proof and the Foundation in Defence of the Despised Religion), a work of theological Zionism. The king of the Khazars recognizes the superiority of the Jewish religion. Overcome by longing for Zion, J. undertakes a journey to the Holy Land. The fruit of the journey are the poems on visions of Egypt and sea songs. Did he reach Palestine? Where and when did he die? Nothing is certain.