Literature of the Jewish People

Thema Series

Miron reveals the connections of the work of four of the main modern Jewish artists: Haim-Nachman Bialik, Yitzhak Libush Peretz, Shaul Tchernichovsky and Uri-Zvi Greenberg

This monograph explores one of the most fascinating themes in Jewish and Hebrew fiction, Tamar, Wife of Er. The book covers more than 150 Jewish versions of the theme.

The name of this collection bears Yossel Birstein's unofficial will: "And since then - only stories".

This is a volume of research in Hebrew literature, dedicated to Prof. Avidav Lipsker - Researcher of Early and New Hebrew Prose and Historian of Hebrew Literature.

The Second-Floor biographical essay presents for the first time the connection between the life history of writer Amalia Kahana-Carmon and her literary works. The details of this major writer’s personal life in Hebrew literature are revealed as fundamenta

Ecology of Literature' is a new theoretical field that seeks to replace historiographic discourse with the 'literary republic'.

This book seeks to sketch parts of S.Y. Agnon's 'Writing Subject', each of which was born from the scholastic imagination stored in his large library of consciousness.

This book contains new readings of Lea Goldberg's works, the result of observation and research in her literary canon from various vantage points.

“A Treasury of Fables” is a comprehensive study of the book written by Isaac ibn Sahula in Castile in 1281, which is distinguished by two innovations.

This volume, sixth in a series of studies by Prof. Yehuda Friedlander in modern Hebrew literature in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, deals with the cultural-literary uniqueness of the debate between rabbis and maskilim in Lithuania in the ninetee

This collection deals with issues of poetry, literature, psychology, philosophy and art.

This autobiographical manuscript is one of the most prominent documents of the Third Aliya with respect to language used, cultural mindset, sociology of the Third Aliya pioneers and a display of the poet’s personal background information.

This book examines the portrait of the 'talush' (the rootless character) in Modern Hebrew literature. Since the turn of the 20th century, this figure has been significant and central in Hebrew prose.

This book seeks to interpret the novel “Yaish” by Hayim Hazaz as a poetic, cultural and historiosophical phenomenon.

The book is published jointly with Kinneret , Zmora Bitan, Dvir. In the opening chapter of his new book, Prof. Yigal Schwartz suggests a revolutionary basis for the historiography of modern Hebrew literature, based on mental-stylistic criteria.

The book develops a theory of sincerity as rhetoric and applies it to the analysis and interpretation of ‘Ir u-melo’a by S.Y. Agnon.

This compilation deals with religious works written in the span of 1,000 years by sages of Fez and other Moroccan communities about language, religious poetry and literature, interpretation and thought, established halacha and local regulations.

This is the third volume of the Encyclopedia of the Jewish Story, which studies the development of narratives in Jewish literature throughout the ages.

Mahbarot Liyehudit is a collection of studies on medieval literature research presented to Professor Judith Dishon in recognition of her many years of work in the field.

This book traces the story of finding and deciphering an unknown manuscript of a Hebrew novel, and includes a re-evaluation of David Fogel’s works in light of its discovery, as well as a scientific edition of the novel.

This collection of articles on the works of Aharon Appelfeld is unique in that each article is devoted to a study of one specific work.

This book demonstrates the central role that the Kabbalah plays in Agnon's literary works from a few different aspects.

It is a widespread conception that prayer is the essence of religious fulfillment. In the eyes of many, prayer can be understood only on the assumption that it is an appeal to God. Moreover, even the prayers of non-believers are perceived as a search for

The book deals with stories about the Yavneh sages on two subjects: visiting the sick and consoling mourners. Their analysis fully displays their artistic, esthetic and ideological splendor. The stories examine, through human suffering, the theological qu

Yonatan Ratosh's thousands of lexical innovations are dealt with here from grammatical and semantic viewpoints. A detailed introduction presents theoretical issues concerning lexical innovations, authorship attribution and Ratosh's lexical enterprise. The

Jacques Lacan is known not only as a revolutionary and significant psychoanalyst, but also as the most controversial psychoanalyst since Freud. His psychoanalytical theory, founded on the basic Freudian concepts, introduces a new and unique set of ideas a

The book includes studies and research on Agnon's work in Germany between the years 1913 to1924, during which time his art earned its classic status. The studies deal also with the influence of the German world and its culture on his entire body of wor

This book sets out to redefine Ur Zvi Grinberg's writings on the background of the cultural framework in which they flourished and to return them to the place from which they were extracted and made timeless. The book reconstructs the beginnings of Grinbe

This book offers a close feminist reading of contemporary Israeli women's literature based on current theories. The texts, written by Amalia Kahana-Carmon, Hanna Bat-Shahar, Michal Govrin, Ronit Matalon, Dorit Peleg and Rivka Rass, are analysed as texture

This book focuses on A Comedy of Betrothal (Tzahut Bedihuta DeQiddushin), the earliest known Hebrew play. The study of this Renaissance comedy, dated to the mid-16th century, and attributed to Leone de' Sommi (Yehudah Sommo), a multi-talented Jewish theat

Modern Hebrew Literature is engaged overtly and covertly, consciously and unconsciously, with moral issues. Historical upheavals – wars, immigration, the establishment of the independent country, the formation of an old-new culture – have brought about th

This is the second volume of the Encyclopedia of the Jewish Story, which studies the development of narratives in Jewish literature throughout the ages. This volume adds twelve new entries to the nine entries that appeared in the first volume. Among the e

The possibility of the existence of original theology in modern Hebrew literature has not been systematically researched by contemporary scholars. Hebrew literature was considered to be a product of secular modernity, and consequently devoid of independen

From the series Thema - Thematological Studies in the Literature of the Jewish People.

'The Jewish Pope'', the story of Elchanan, the son of R. Shimeon of Mayence, who was kidnapped from his home, grew up as a Christian, became a pope, and finally returned to his father's home and to Judaism, is one of the most famous Jewish folktales. This

A collection of interdisciplinary studies on the Jews of Tunisia. The 22 articles by foremost scholars from Israel and from abroad encompass a wide variety of fields such as: rabbinic literature, history of Tunisian Jewry throughout the ages, community li

This study deals with Baruch Kurzweil as a hero of the Hebrew Israeli cultural scene of the 1950s and '60s. Kurzweil's critical corpus known mainly for his work on S.Y. Agnon's fiction is treated here not only as literary criticism, but first and foremo

Texts of secular poetry, stories and piyyutim from the 12th to the 16th centuries are published here for the first time. The collection includes critical editions by leading scholars in the field.

This volume traces the history of Hebrew versification from biblical poetry, through ancient Hebrew liturgy, medieval poetry, poetry of the Haskalah, and finally modern Hebrew poetry. After the biblical period, all systems of versification demanded umeric

The educated Jew in the Middle Ages became familiar with classical literature through its Arabic translations. Hundreds of motifs were borrowed from these sources and implanted in Hebrew literature, especially in Spanish poetry. The author has collected t

Fifty years after the appearance of Rechovot Ha-Nahar, Uri Zvi Greenberg's great opus on the destruction of the Jewish community in the Holocaust, this present volume serves to revive the critical discussion of this work, regarded as one of the great summ

An annotated bibliography of the hasidic story, compiled by Yoav Elstein, reveals unknown sources in Hebrew and in Yiddish, shedding new light on this field of research.

A collection of studies on the Jewish story encompassing the post-biblical period, medieval literature, mussar literature, Kabbalah, Hasidism, and modern Hebrew literature. Among the contributors are: Moshe Idel, Ofra Meir, Avigdor Shinan, Avraham Grosma

The first book in the series Thema, 'A Series of Thematological Studies in the Literature of the Jewish People'. The first section contains a general overview of the research methodology employed, and specific thematological studies that trace the develop

Texts of secular poetry, stories and piyyutim from the 12th to the 16th centuries are published here for the first time. The collection includes critical editions by leading scholars in the field.

This work reveals the sources of modern Hebrew literature in Oriental Hebrew poetry, liturgy and Midrash and examines their influence on modern writing. The creative writer is presented both as an individual and as a member of a specific community.

Myths, folktales and Hebrew literature have been thoroughly researched in order to present the thesis that the duality in the nature of woman is not only inherent in human culture, but has had a dangerous influence on the whole concept of family life.

It is widely recognized that poetical and theological texts are by nature paradoxical. This book is a first attempt to explore the Hebrew Bible and the rabbinic literature from this point of view. It includes a discussion of the typical antinomies charact

Collection of old and new articles on what is considered to be Bialik's most poetic and aesthetic essay. Co-published with Israel Matz Hebrew Classics and I. Edward Kiev Library Foundation.

The book examines a neglected literary genre of ’the Haskalah period. The different chapters offer new readings of the biblical stories in previously unknown plays and assess their poetic and dramatic value together with’their relevance for the contempora

A literary reading of seven stories about prophets from Samuel to Elisha combining three disciplines: close reading, form criticism and structural analysis. An appendix deals with the role of minor characters in the biblical narrative. Co-published wi

Contains more than 20 articles by the foremost scholars who have investigated the various aspects of Uri Zvi Greenberg's poetry.

Collection of articles by renowned scholars in Israel and abroad, dealing with social, economic and intellectual history, Bible exegesis and translation, philosophy and polemics, literature and linguistics. Based on lectures delivered at the Sixth Interna

Texts of secular poetry, stories and piyyutim from the 12th to the 16th centuries are published here for the first time. The collection includes critical editions by leading scholars in the field. Co-published with Israel Matz Hebrew Classics and I. Edwa

A unique book, which focuses on the Sephardic Romance. Originating in medieval Spanish literature, the Romance is a well-known genre in Sephardic literature and became one of the most popular genres in Judeo-Spanish literature after the Expulsion from

'Aftergrowth'' - Bialik's lyrical story is con-sidered by many critics to be one of the peaks of modern Hebrew prose writing. Bialik succeeded in unleashing the chains and fetters of the typical style of Mendele and reaching the outer realms of poetic ima

The Jewish Badchan has many faces: from that of the clown (leiz), who wandered from place to place during the Middle Ages together with non-Jewish performers, to that of the wedding preacher (muserzoger). The author traces the course of the badchan from i

In this study of the Hasidic story, the author presents his conception of the element of ecstasy as a predominant characteristic of this genre.

In the ''Shemesh'' sonnets, known as the ''Sun of Hebrew Literature'', Tchernihovsky uses this complex classical genre for the first time in Hebrew poetry, creating a work that sums up his total philosophy. Essays present the work of critics and schol

In the late 1920s, Shoshana Shababo (1910-1982) published her first work. For various reasons this author did not receive recognition, although she was one of the first women writers to live and write in the renewed yishuv of Eretz Israel. Now, f

The book deals with publicistic writings that contain elements of the essay genre by Mendele, Y.L. Gordon, Shalom Aleichem, Brenner, Bialik, U.Z. Greenberg, Agnon, Alterman and others. The texts are examined from the typological and semantic aspects, and

This volume is composed of articles representing the latest research on the works of Agnon by some of the most outstanding scholars in Israel and the world. In these original and fascinating studies we find models for annotated critical editions, studies

A critical edition of Kinath Haemeth by Y.L.’Myzes and Mishnath Elisha ben Abuya by M.L. Lilienblum. The role of the Rambam and Elisha ben Abuya as archetypes in Hebrew satire is demonstrated.

A study of all the works of A.B. Yehoshua, encompassing his short stories, plays and novels, from his early writings to his novel, Mr. Mane. The book examines Yehoshua's sources, drawn from the Bible and Midrashim, mythology, folklore and modern literatur

A collection of 13 essays on one of Agnon's greatest works, written by scholars representing different schools of thought in Hebrew literary criticism over the past 80 years. Co-published with Israel Matz Hebrew Classics and I. Edward Kiev Library Foun

The Zalman Shazar Prize in the Study of the History of the Jewish People, 1993 The book offers, for the first time in Jewish research, answers to the questions: What was being read and by whom? What was the circulation of more than a thousand works? Ho

Shirat Miqra argues on the basis of solid biblical and literary scholarship that biblical poetics is marked by an unusual tension between the aesthetic and non-aesthetic modes of discourse: it is "Poetry with a Purpose''. The author applies this thesis to

Photo-reproduction of the classic collection of 376 folksongs, printed in Yiddish with transliteration, originally published in St. Petersburg in 1901. This new edition, annotated and with an introduction by Dov Noy, is the first in a series of reproducti

Anthology of critical essays on two of Alterman's central works: the modernistic long poems Simhat 'Aniyim and Shirei Makot Mitzrayim (''Joy of the Poor'', ''Songs of the Plagues of Egypt''). These essays represent different schools and approaches, reflec

Articles on subjects of interest to Prof. Ratzaby in the fields of poetry and Piyyut, Yemenite Jewry, Sa'adia Gaon, Hebrew Language and Hebrew Literature. The book represents the latest discoveries by leading scholars in each of these areas and other subj

Texts of secular poetry, stories and piyyutim from the 12th to the 16th centuries are published here for the first time. The collection includes critical editions by leading scholars in the field.

An analysis of the satiric works written by Israel of Zamosc and Mendel Landsberg, including a critical edition of Landsberg's unpublished manuscript.

Fourteen essays by leading Bialik scholars on one of his most inspiring and inscrutable works. Each essay expresses the individual approach of the author to Bialik and to literary criticism as a whole. Essential for high school teachers and students.

An annotated edition of a work which, when first published in 1816, constituted a breakthrough in Hebrew poetics and in the study of biblical poetry. The text is introduced by a detailed monograph on the author and his work.

A revealing correspondence extending over 30 years (1942 - 1971) between the distinguished literary critic, Baruch Kurzweil, and two of the greatest figures in modern Hebrew literature, S.Y. Agnon and U.Z. Greenberg.

Collected papers in honor of the poet Shin Shalom on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The seven lectures deal with the influence of Jewish mysticism on Hebrew poetry in medieval and modern times.

An analysis of Agnon's most meritorious work, a story textured with myths and legends, gleaned by Agnon from numerous sources and transformed into an historiography of the Jewish nation from its very beginnings, entwined with Agnon's autobiography

R. Nachman of Braslav's surrealistic story, rooted in a sound theological concept, is analysed in this book, both as to its structure and its ideas.

The Haifa Municipality Avraham Kariv Prize in Literary Criticism, 1992. In this book the author illuminates the polemic-satiric elements of the works of Tuvia Feder, Meir Israel Bresselau and an anonymous writer. The texts of these satirical works, two

What led the Haskalah writers to pen portraits of Eretz Israel during this pre-Zionist period? How did they overcome the problem of describing locations that they themselves had never seen? Is it possible to identify a "school'' of Eretz Israel descri

An examination of the styles of classic writings in modern Hebrew literature, foremost among which are the stories of S.Y. Agnon. These stories are examined from the points of view of the new linguistics, utilizing their methods to describe literary style

A sharp, basic analysis of various philosophical methods and an examination of the theoretical weight and spiritual significance of modern philosophy.