The Golden Age of the Jews was a time of great prosperity and fluctuating tolerance. The Golden Age is a period in Jewish history when Jews lived under Islamic rule. The Golden Age began around the year 711 and continued until around 1066 CE. Most of the prosperity at this time came from Islamic-ruled Spain, where many Jews lived. At this time, Jews were protected from proselytizing by Muslims through a set of laws called the Dhimmi Laws. The laws provide for some tolerance toward Jews living under Muslim rulers. The presented letter shows many aspects of interaction between Jews and Muslims as well as the levels of tolerance afforded by Muslims to Jews in these aspects. The Dhimmi laws play an important role in the letter before us because they shape how the Muslim doctor views his Jewish mentor. Some specific aspects we see through the letter are tolerance and hesitant tolerance, religious differences between Muslims and Jews, differences between Christian and Muslim leaders, and the integration of Jews into Muslim society. Under Islamic rule, we see tolerance towards Jews, but not total tolerance. . Looking back to the Golden Age, we can see that the Dhimmi laws were a way for Muslim rulers to believe that they were tolerant of Jews, but also felt superior to Jews. One of the ways Muslims have used the Dhimmi laws to feel powerful over Jews, as the letter points out, is by barring non-Muslims from government positions. As noted in “Under the Crescent and the Cross,” laws barring Jews from power were rarely enforced (66). In the letter we see both sides of the coin. The doctor recognizes that his mentor has the power to... middle of paper ... Jews were not tolerated and considered lower class citizens compared to Muslims. We can also conclude that the tolerance given during the Islamic period was much greater than the tolerance after the Spanish Inquisition of 1492. The Islamic world provided many opportunities for Jews to be faithful to their religion. Word Count: 1452 Works Cited Baron, Salo Wittmayer. “nn.” A social and religious history of the Jews. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957. 136. Print. Cohen, Mark R.. Under the crescent and the cross: the Jews in the Middle Ages. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994. Print. The heritage of Muslim Spain. Leiden: EJ Brill, 1992. 195. Print. “Book 17”. Translation of the Muwatta of Malik: A'isha `Abdarahman at-Tarjumana and Ya`qub Johnson. Number 17.24.46:. Print.Weiner, Rebecca. “Judaism: Sephardim”. Virtual library. Internet. November 17. 2013.