Classics Of Jewish Literature

This volume celebrates the rich and wide-ranging legacy of Jewish authors, featuring everything from drama and poetry to folklore, fiction, and philosophy. Classics of Jewish Literature illuminates Jewish thought and culture from ancient to modern times. Here you will find key excerpts of immortal works that run the gamut from The Book of Job to Anne Frank’s diary, from Josephus to Albert Einstein, from Baruch Spinoza to Martin Buber, and from Yehuda Halevi to Emma Lazarus. The editors selected some of the finest writings from the worlds of essay, fiction, poetry, drama, the Torah, and nonfiction—including several new translations from Hebrew, Yiddish, and German. Each entry has its own introduction, placing these authors and their works in socio-historical perspective, often revealing little-known information about them.

An accessible introduction to the classics of Jewish literature, from the Bible to modern times, by "one of America’s finest literary critics" (Wall Street Journal). Jews have long embraced their identity as “the people of the book.” But outside of the Bible, much of the Jewish literary tradition remains little known to nonspecialist readers. The People and the Books shows how central questions and themes of our history and culture are reflected in the Jewish literary canon: the nature of God, the right way to understand the Bible, the relationship of the Jews to their Promised Land, and the challenges of living as a minority in Diaspora. Adam Kirsch explores eighteen classic texts, including the biblical books of Deuteronomy and Esther, the philosophy of Maimonides, the autobiography of the medieval businesswoman Glückel of Hameln, and the Zionist manifestoes of Theodor Herzl. From the Jews of Roman Egypt to the mystical devotees of Hasidism in Eastern Europe, The People and the Books brings the treasures of Jewish literature to life and offers new ways to think about their enduring power and influence.

Excerpt from Chapters on Jewish Literature These twenty-five short chapters on Jewish Literature open with the fall of Jerusalem in the year 70 of the current era, and end with the death of Moses Mendels sohn in I 786. Thus the period covered extends over more than seventeen cen turies. Yet, long as this period is, it is too brief. To do justice to the literature of Judaism even in outline, it is clearly neces sary to include the Bible, the Apocrypha, and the writings of Alexandrian Jews, such as Philo. Only by such an inclusion can the genius of the Hebrew people be traced from its early manifestations through its inspired prime to its brilliant after-glow in the centuries with which this little vol ume deals. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The editor, one of the Jewish Theological Seminary's great teachers and foremost intellects, has assembled a classic anthology of essays on Zion from biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern Jewish writing. Originally published in 1961 by Herzl Press, this edition contains a new introduction by Jacob Neusner

Israel Abrahams was one of the most widely read Jewish scholars of his generation. He wrote several classics on Judaism, including this-an overview of Jewish literature.

Excerpt from Jewish Literature and Other Essays The following essays were delivered during the last ten years, in the form of addresses, before the largest associations in the great cities of Germany. Each one is a dear and precious possession to me. As I once more pass them in review, reminiscences fill my mind Of solemn occasions and impressive scenes, of excellent men and charming women. I feel as though I were sending the best beloved child ren of my fancy out into the world, and sadness seizes me when I realize that they no longer belong to me alone - that they have become the property Of strangers. The living word falling upon the ear of the listener is one thing; quite another the word staring from the cold, printed page. Will my thoughts be accorded the same friendly welcome that greeted them when first they were uttered? About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Israel Abrahams was educated at Jews' College, where his father Barnett Abrahams served as principal, and at University College, London. In 1881, he received the degree of MA from the University of London. Abrahams taught secular subjects as well as homiletics at Jews' College, and was appointed senior tutor of that institution in 1900. He was a forceful lecturer and an earnest lay preacher. As honorary secretary of the Jewish Historical Society of England and as a member of the Committee for Training Jewish Teachers, he was very active. He was also a member of the Committee of the Anglo-Jewish Association, and of several other institutions of the community. This book is a work of literary criticism Abrahams collaborated with Claude Montefiore to write the book Aspects of Judaism, which was published in 1895. His chief works were Jewish Life in the Middle Ages (1896) and Chapters on Jewish Literature (1898). In 1889, he became joint editor of the Jewish Quarterly Review and helped materially to raise the prestige of the publication. He was a prolific contributor to periodical literature, and was especially well known for his articles on literary subjects, which appeared weekly in the Jewish Chronicle under the title of "Books and Bookmen." He also contributed to the Encyclopaedia Biblica (1903). In 1902, after teaching for several years at Jews' College, Abrahams succeeded Solomon Schechter, who was moving to New York to head the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, as reader in Talmudics at Cambridge University. In 1914, he published A Companion to the Authorised Prayer Book, a helpful commentary on and supplement to the prayer book edited by Simeon Singer. Singer himself had intended to write such a work, but died before he had progressed very far. Revised editions appeared in 1922 and 1932. In 1922 he was invited to deliver the Schweich Lecture of the British Academy. The lectures were published under the title Campaigns in Palestine from Alexander the Great