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Proceeding by means of intensive readings of passages from the early midrash on Exodus The Mekilta, Boyarin proposes a new theory of midrash that rests in part on an understanding of the heterogeneity of the biblical text and the constraining force of rabbinic ideology on the production of midrash. In a forceful combination of theory and reading, Boyarin raises profound questions concerning the interplay between history, ideology, and interpretation.

Customer Reviews (5)

dark, moving, tense
In this diverse collection of stories, A.B. Yehoshua provides a variety of settings, characters and situations, from the commonplace to the bizarre.A common thread in each story is a mounting sense of dread, even if outwardly nothing of tremendous importance is occurring:a father intercepts his daughter's boyfriend's letters, a lecturer visits a missile base in the Sinai and is ignored, a commander refuses to command his troops in the field.In Yehoshua's fictional world, even small actions are mired in paralysis.In a nation surrounded by enemies, and in a society fractured by major issues of religion and ethnic origin, even small gestures become fraught with urgency.

The title story is a masterwork
AB Yehoshua is arguably Israel's greatest living writer of fiction. The title story of this work," The Continuous Silence of the Poet" is a tremendously moving one, a small masterpiece. It tells of an aging poet's relation to his retarded son, and is done in a restrained and beautiful way. Yehoshua is a first- rate storyteller and creator of character- though he sometimes special pleads for his particular political take of the world.
Nonetheless when he is at his best he is one of the best now writing today.

sad, but beautiful
I got my "hands" on this author by chance, as it was totally unknown to me. It was a lucky chance and I cannot help but recommending it to someone else. Melancholic, surrealistic
protestation of a sensitive man against a life that he find heavy and meaningless, Yeoshua's works will charm your soul
A beautiful demonstration that Isreael is not only the evil, ugly face of Sharon.

Beautiful Evocation
A wonderful collection for both seasoned Yehoshua fans and first-timers! Not only will the stories and their characters stay with you, but also the beautiful and strangely sad evocations of time and place - kibbutzim ofyesteryear, Jerusalem in the rain ...Yehoshua also offers valuableinsights into the Israeli heart and soul, using an elegant simplicitydevoid of stereotyping.These stories are profound and delicate,occasionally shocking and, for the most part, unforgettable.

Dark and Moving
This is a dark and extremely moving book.Most of the short stories in this book operate on two levels, the micro-level of the characters within the story -- and on the macro-level as a commentary on the Jewish people. This is an extraodinary work by a wonderful writer.Buy it -- it's moneywell spent ... Read more

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Israeli and American critics debate what constitutes Jewish identity in modern Jewish literature. ... Read more

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Some interesting essays
There are some interesting essays in this very academicvolume. Morris Dickstein on the 'Complex Fate of the American Jewish Writer' Ruth Wisse on' The Yiddish and Hebrew Writers Head for Home' Also the essays by David Roskies and Michael Kramer are of value. Unfortunately there is an ugly political piece by Y. Laor, which downgrades the tone of the whole volume. The volume too does not touch upon the great bulk of vital new Jewish writers especially young religious writers. ... Read more

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This book is an erudite literary study of the uneasy position of the Jews in Germany and Austria from the first pleas for Jewish emancipation during the Enlightenment to the eve of the Holocaust. Drawing on a wide range of literary texts, Ritchie Robertson offers a close examination of attempts to construct a Jewish identity suitable for an increasingly secular world. No other study by a single author deals with German-Jewish relations so comprehensively and over such a long period of literary history. ... Read more

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A first- rate scholar tackles the story of a difficult history
Richie Robertson is among other things one of the outstanding Kafka scholars of his generation. He has also written about other significant German writers of the twentieth century, including Thomas Mann. As a writer he is clear and his work has a strong narrative thrust. Here he traces the problematic history of German Jewry. He begins with the world of the not- yet- liberated Ghettos and shows how Jewish communal life was carried on in most difficult circumstances, and problematic relation to dominant neighbors. He traces the story of various paths of escape from the Ghetto and tells the story of the leading figures in this. He also gives guidance as to the most powerful trends in life and thought. He carries his story to the nineteen thirties when the Nazis in effect ended the life of German Jewry. Robertson is a literary scholar and brings great insights through his reading of the literary works created through the years.
... Read more

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Placing cinematic representations of the "Jew" within their historical context, Bartov demonstrates the powerful political, social, and cultural impact of these images on popular attitudes. He argues that these representations generally fall into four categories: the "Jew" as perpetrator, as victim, as hero, and as anti-hero. Examples range from film's early days to the present, from Europe, Israel, and the United States.

Customer Reviews (2)

Pretentious and boring
You know all those clever experimental novels from the 1920s? This is not one of them. It's definitely in English without much word play or stream of consciousness. This is more like those clever novels from the 1970s - the ones where everyone is talking about writing. And let's not forget those clever Victorian novels where everyone had to say what they were thinking at every point in time. Ok, it's a little like DH Lawrence in that the general guideline of "show don't tell" is completely ignored.

What's this book about? A scholar really likes a writer. The scholar has translated that writer's work into English and goes to Israel to see the writer. The writer doesn't necessarily want company and the scholar keeps talking and talking about how much he really likes one of the works of the writer. The work is called the Yemenite Girl.

Even if the Yemenite Girl was an interesting story (it's not), the book wouldn't work out very well. Essentially it's about a writer talking about another writer and patting himself on the bakc. If you ever took a Creative Writing class and heard any encouragement about having the courage to write, you kind of know where this book is going. Because usually those writers only write about writing and this is the kind of masturbatory book about a story that those types like.

Pretty lame.

a super non-bored book
this book is the fabolous book I have ever read in all my life I dont like to read but these book call my attention... it was great it talks how this jewish girl live and all about her if you will put more of 5 stars I will voted for the top one I reccomend this book for all tipes of people black,white, yello,jewish,indians whatever it do'snt matter who you are but you got to read it ! itsSUPER-EXCELLENT!!!! ... Read more

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Very funny family novel set in the craziness of the 1970s
A young woman tries find peace and meaning among the complicated relationships of her extended family.The largest character in her life is her father, a forceful, famous, charming, infuriatingJewish culturalfigure.He is an emotional presence in several households, and she movesamong them, interreacting with loves and lovers of several generations. The novel is touching and moving but also very funny.It's like a play:the characters talk a variety of languages: the grandparents' Yiddish-English, the parents' old-time Jewish socialist English, the youngpeople's New York English of the 1970's.They all sound exactly right.Iespecially enjoyed revisiting the seventies, which in this version turn outto have been exactly the way I remember but even funnier. ... Read more

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This is the story of Mara, a Jewish girl from Riverside Drive, and a hippie from Israel whom everyone distrusts, and the Orthodox wedding that unites them. ... Read more

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A Strong, Nuanced Voice
Reich walks a fine line in Mara between satire and burlesque and the display of real, shaded, faceted human life.The first half of the novel is almost completely taken over by satire, as Mara and her husband Sudah are portrayed as hapless, comic lovers; Mara is the innocent quickly shedding her innocence under the paws of Sudah, the wily Mizrahi lover who initiates her into the ways of Eros.By the end of this stunning little novel, Mara and Sudah are transformed from bumbling hedonists to genuine seekers of religious truth:Sudah in India and Mara in a cave in Formentera, living off berries and water.Reich is particulary adept at this type of slight of hand.She is fiendishly funny, poking fun at nearly every human foible, but she knows the seriousness of this venture of human seeking, and can put the gags aside for weighty matters like meaning and truth and love. ... Read more

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Tells the story of a poor Jew and a wealthy Gentile who exchange places for year, exploring the prejudice and fear thatthey encountered while in their "new" identities. ... Read more

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Skilful evocation of how it is to be target of a blood libel
This novel, not the most subtle piece of writing in literature, nevertheless deserves a read because it is effective in putting the readerin the place of someone accused of an absurd, but bestial, crime.Revealsthe psychosis of antisemitism very well - the impossibility of defendingoneself through appeals to reason.Entertaining and gripping, too. ... Read more

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Leah's Journey
Is used book but in good condition,a beautiful story hard to put book down,but we all have to get up in am to go to work !!! It is a long story from her life in Russia,to the US,then last in Israel.

romantic fiction
If this piece of work was intended to be a fairy tale, then it is a success.If it was not intended to be a fairy tale, then it is not worth the paper it is written on.

Engrossing
From Leah's life in Russia through her life in the United States, the character of Leah is well written and believable.Gloria Goldreich told the story of Leah and her family with simplicity and a warmth that brought the characters to life and made me feel like I actually met them. I was so wrapped up in the story of her life that I immediately bought the sequal (Leah's Children) which was just as good. ... Read more

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Winner of the 2008 Salo Wittmayer Baron Book Prize - American Academy for Jewish Research

This stimulating and graceful book explores Iberian Jewish attitudes toward cultural transition during the 12th and 13th centuries, when growing intolerance toward Jews in Islamic al-Andalus and the southward expansion of the Christian Reconquista led to the relocation of Jews from Islamic to Christian domains. By engaging literary topics such as imagery, structure, voice, landscape, and geography, Jonathan P. Decter traces attitudes toward transition that range from tenacious longing for the Islamic past to comfort in the Christian environment. Through comparison with Arabic and European vernacular literatures, Decter elucidates a medieval Hebrew poetics of estrangement and nostalgia, poetic responses to catastrophe, and the refraction of social issues in fictional narratives.

Published with the generous support of the Koret Foundation. ... Read more

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The anthology is a ubiquitous presence in Jewish literature--arguably its oldest literary genre, going back to the Bible itself, and including nearly all the canonical texts of Judaism: the Mishnah, the Talmud, classical midrash, and the prayerbook.In the Middle Ages, the anthology became the primary medium in Jewish culture for recording stories, poems, and interpretations of classical texts.In modernity, the genre is transformed into a decisive instrument for cultural retrieval and re-creation, especially in works of the Zionist project and in modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature. No less importantly, the anthology has played an indispensable role in the creation of significant fields of research in Jewish studies, including Hebrew poetry, folklore, and popular culture. This volume is the first book to bring together scholarly and critical essays that investigate the anthological character of these works and what might be called the "anthological habit" in Jewish literary culture--the tendency and proclivity for gathering together discrete, sometimes conflicting traditions and stories, and preserving them side by side as though there were no difference, conflict, or ambiguity between them. Indeed, The Anthology in Jewish Literature is the first book to recognize this habit and genre as one of the formative categories in Jewish literature and to investigate its manifold roles. The seventeen essays, each of which focuses on a specific literary work, many of them the great classics of Jewish tradition, consider such questions as: What are the many types of anthologies?How have anthologists, editors, even printers of anthologies been creative shapers of Jewish tradition and culture? What can we learn from their editorial practices? How have politics, gender, and class figured into the making of anthologies?What determinative role has the anthology played in creating the Jewish canon? How has the anthology served, especially in the modern period, to create and recreate Jewish culture. This landmark volume will interest educated laypersons as well as scholars in all areas of Jewish literature and culture, as well as students of world literature and cultural studies. ... Read more

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Anthology at the heart of Jewish Literature
This anthology on the anthology in Jewish Literature contains not only a rich introductory essay by editor David Stern but considerations of the anthology in Jewish Literature from Biblical times through modernity. In a sense all the greatest works of Literature, including the source and center of them all, Tannach are anthologies.
These essays contain work by many of the most important Jewish scholars working today, from James Kugel to David Roskies. ... Read more

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Includes many of the 19th and 20th century East European "Shtetl" stories the I.B. Singer popularized. Contains The Golem story and two humorous Wise Men of Chelm stories. At the end of each story there is a "Now Consider This" section designed to help the child and parent explore the moral message integrated into each tale. ... Read more

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In a town of fools, how can there be wise men?
This is a fun book. The ten stories that are included in the book are amusing and easy to read in a way that is very attractive to children. The stories of Chelm have not failed to get a laugh (sometimes a little giggle and sometimes something more) each time that we have read them. However, the book goes one step beyond the stories themselves. Every story is followed by 3-4 questions that you can ask your children after reading the story. The questions can be helpful in prodding your child to think about some of the deeper meanings behind the story as well as to measure their understanding of what makes the people of Chelm foolish yet, ultimately, wise in their simple ways. This book is a keeper.

excelent
a great book about jewish stories and excelent to share with your children. a great way to incoorperate ones faith into a story you can share with your child ... Read more

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The lasting charm of Kaufman s stories lies in a delightful mix of personal incidents and observations set against an anchoring backdrop of cultural tradition. His new collection is filled with tales from his parents homeland in the Ukraine, his own childhood reminiscences, and his adult travels. We watch the young author forced alongside every Jewish boy on the block to emulate Yehudi Menuhin on a ten-dollar violin with a moldy bow until the boy is spared by an innate lack of talent and his father s judgment of his concert: Enough is enough is more than enough. Kaufman is carefully attuned to the awkwardness of adulthood as well as to that of early adolescence. In Interlude in Bangkok, his narrator scours the city for a synagogue while pursued by a prostitute. Later he and a friend encounter Greta Garbo in a museum café and are too frightened to approach her. I am not she, intones the mysterious movie star, and in his own way, Kaufman says that of himself in these stories through an autobiographical narrator whose memories take on resonant, literary shapes in their retelling. ... Read more

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This book goes farther than any previous work in uncovering the historical Israel ben Eliezerknown as the Ba'al Shem Tov, or the Beshtthe eighteenth-century Polish-Jewish mystic who profoundly influenced the shape of modern Judaism. As the progenitor of Hasidism, the Ba'al Shem Tov is one of the key figures in Jewish history; to understand him is to understand an essential element of modern Jewish life and religion.Because evidence about his life is scanty and equivocal, the Besht has long eluded historians and biographers. Much of what is believed about him is based on stories compiled more than a generation after his death, many of which serve to mythologize rather than describe their subject. Rosman's study casts a bright new light on the traditional stories about the Besht, confirming and augmenting some, challenging others. By concentrating on accounts attributable directly to the Besht or to contemporary eyewitnesses, Rosman provides a portrait drawn from life rather than myth. In addition, documents in Polish and Hebrew discovered by Rosman during the research for this book enable him to give the first detailed description of the cultural, social, economic, and political context of the Ba'al Shem Tov's life. ... Read more

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A new classic in Hasidic history
Professor Rosman succeeds at portraying the Ba'al Shem Tov, Israel ben Eliezer of Miedzyboz, in his environment of the Polish-Lithuanian shtetls and in the midst of the politics and economics of the Jewish kahal, and the Polish, post-Russo-Swedish War nobility. He also succeeds in separating the BeShT fables from the realities, and succinctly disproves the authenticity of the "BeShT's letters." The author also delves into the roots of the Besht's power and his role in the community.

It was interesting to read about the fights for power between butchers and merchants (and tailors); the kahal's issuance of residency permits to only working Jews; Miedzyboz's mid Century recession (1745); and the fact that one-sixth of Jewish households were led by widowed women.Rosman lays a good foundation in his biography by placing the idea of ecstatic religions and the mystical healers into historical context. It was not uncommon for Ba'al Shemtovs and practical Kabbalists to exist in early 18th Century Europe. For example, Rabbi Hirsh Frankel of Ansbach, Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschuetz, Hillel Ba'al Shem, Joel Halpern of Zamosc, Samuel Essingen and Joseph of Jerusalem were a few other contemporary healers, amulet makers, and exorcists. Rosman also discusses the pre-Besht existence of hasidim. These separatist and ascetic hasidim existed prior to the Beshtian brand of new Hasidism. I think that this book may be a new foundation for future studies in Hasidism, and will be up there with Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem's works. ... Read more

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"Jeffrey Veidlinger relates a fascinating and little-known piece of history. . . . [He] distills a remarkable amount of research into a pithy, well-turned account that will interest readers of cultural and political history." —Publishers Weekly

Drawing from newly available archives, Jeffrey Veidlinger uses the dramatic story of the Moscow State Yiddish Theater, the premiere secular Jewish cultural institution of the Soviet era, to demonstrate how Jewish writers and artists were able to promote Jewish national culture within the confines of Soviet nationality policies. Published with the generous support of the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation.

Winner, 2001 National Jewish Book Award, Yiddish Language and CultureWinner, 2001 Barnard Hewitt Award, American Society of Theatre ResearchA Choice Outstanding Academic Book of 2001 ... Read more

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David Roskies, in one hundred powerful selections, presents the two-thousand year history of Jewish responses to castastrophe. The cyclical nature of violent regimes and their overthrow is delineated in these recurring images of sin, martyrdom, and retribution that have sustained the Jewish people despite pogroms, massacres, and expulsions -- from the destruction of the First Temple through the Holocaust to the eventual return to their homeland. ... Read more