Ḥovot Yehudah (The Duties of Judah)

Judah ben Eleazer lived in Kashan, Iran, at a tumultuous time; in his lifetime the Jews of Iran were subject to persecutions and forced conversions (particularly from 1656 to 1662), and the Jewish community was also shaken by the Sabbatean movement. Judah composed a medical treatise that draws heavily on Arabic and Persian medical texts (completed 1660/61), an astrological work, a poetic version of the legend of the seven viziers, and a text discussing the dangers of drinking wine. However, he is best known for his ḥovot Yehudah (The Duties of Judah, completed 1686). A follower of the rationalist philosophical tradition, Judah used the local vernacular to outline the major principles of the Jewish faith for audiences unable to read Hebrew, and in so doing, to strengthen their faith. The work demonstrates Judah’s wide knowledge of Greek and medieval Islamic philosophy, Persian literature, the New Testament, Quran, and Apocrypha as well as Jewish texts, from the Bible to kabbalistic texts and Jewish philosophy.