The Rabbi King: David of Khazaria

by Monroe S. Kuttner

In history, the Empire of Khazaria occupied southern Russia between the sixth and tenth centuries C.E. In the middle of the eighth century, the Khazar Khagan (king) and nobles adopted Judaism as their religion. The Rabbi King is about a fictional last Khagan of a remnant of Khazaria in the twelfth century. It is the story of David, who is sent to Spain from his homeland in the Caucasus to study Judaism in the same household with a boy later called Maimonides. When the time comes to return home, he leaves civilization to rule an untamed country. It is sparsely populated by pagan nomads and by the descendants of many Jewish immigrants who fled persecution in Persia and Byzantium and intermarried with Khazar converts. David of Khazaria then undertakes a long journey, both physically and spiritually, to save his kingdom from its barbarian conquerors.

508 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2000

Reviews

[Steve Cran]

I thought this book was awesome. It was a great story and thee author did excellent research when he wrote the book. THe plot goes like this. David comes back to Khazaria after being away in Spain for 10 years studying Torah along side Maimodies. Coming back is a culture shock, because Spain is highly civilized and Khazaria is a brutaal warrior society. None the less he adapts well he convinced the skeptic among them the Khagan Bek, military chief of Khazaria that he will make a goodd Khagan. Later on Daniel , his uncle pays Povlotsi to kill David so he can bee Khagan himself. It backfires and Khazrai is taaken over. David escapes and travels abroad to build an army for Khazaria redemption. His adventures take him throught Georgia, Byzantium, the Crusades and Cairo. I wont spoil the ending but his diplomatic skills are sharp and he learns how to be a physician.

[Sina Sezer]

Çok yanlı

[Özgür Özer]

Mükemmel.