Centuries before the Inquisition, Spanish Jews flourished in Muslim Andalusia, until their communities were abruptly destroyed in the mid-12th century by the Almohade invasion. Forced to flee to Christian Spain, the surviving Jews found themselves living among the Karaites, a disparate Jewish sect that rejected Oral Law and Rabbinic Judaism.<BR><BR>As a response to the resulting upheaval and the threat posed by the Karaites, philosopher Abraham ibn Daud wrote The Book of Tradition, known as Sefer haQabbalah, a unique chronicle of the Andalusian Jews' once-thriving culture, from ancient times to the 12th century.<BR><BR>Ibn Daud's work is a fine introduction to the way of life, tensions, and achievements of the Rabbinic civilization that flowered under the protection and stimulus of Muslim domination, and that produced such courtiers, rabbis, and poets as Hisdai ibn Sharput, Samuel the Nagid, Isaac al-Fasi, and Judah ha-Levi.<BR><BR>First published in 1967, this classic work features a translation, commentary, and introduction by renowned scholar Gerson D. Cohen.<BR><BR>Gerson D. Cohen was professor of History at Columbia University. Educated at the City College of New York, the Jewish 'Theological Seminary of America, and Columbia University, he was formerly assistant professor of Jewish Literature and Institutions at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He died in 1991.