The writings, particularly The Kuzari, of Judah Ha-Levi, the 11th century philosopher and poet inspired this portrait. In this modest volume, originally written in Arabic (Kitab al Kuzari), Ha-Levi presented an account of an obscure chapter in Jewish history; the pagan conversion to Judaism in Khazaria, the first feudal state to be established in Eastern Europe. Completed in 1140 AD, The Kuzari contains a dialogue between the pagan king of the Khazars, a Turkic people, who invited representatives of Christianity, Judaism and Islam to instruct him in their faiths. Afterwards, the king chose Judaism as the official 'state religion'. Since there were no extant images of Judah Ha-Levi, I took the license of inventing the appearance of this legendary figure, also known as 'The Singer of Zion' for his evocative, moving poetry dedicated to Jerusalem and The Holy Land.