  Armchair philosophy this may be, but it concerns one of the most fundamental questions of the Jewish experience. Is Judaism just one set of directives among many for achieving one and the same spiritual objective, which is the goal of all humans? Are Jews one people among many, or do they occupy a special place in the scale of existents? Better analytic minds may have been tested in replying to these questions, but perhaps not two more vibrant, passionate souls than these two Hebrew poets. The “philosopher” of Halevi’s Kuzari presents a point of view that coincides on major points with that of Ibn Ezra, most notably in the universalism of his program for humanity, and the relativism of his approach to ritual and praxis (Langermann 1993, 70–74). For his part, Halevi demands a much more real and meaningful cleavage between Jews and the rest of the nations.