Sharon Keller

The Jews: a Treasury of Art and Literature

Trident (Dec 1996)

9780883639641

| Hardcover

384 pages | 246 x 340 mm | English

$ 29.99 | Value: $ 29.99

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Dewey * 550

LC Classification Adult

LC Control No. 98229759

Genre

Adult / Literature / Mixed Genre

Subject

550 Jewish Literature / Anthologies & Selections / 550

Plot

From Publishers Weekly
Amos Oz, Bernard Malamud, Emma Lazarus, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Moses Maimonides, Baruch Spinoza, Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud are among the voices in this rich repository of Jewish culture. Opening with selections from the Hebrew Bible as well as from post-biblical literature, the book explores Jews' shared sense of destiny and evokes the texture of Jewish life from Moses' time through Diaspora communities to modern Israel. The magnificent illustrations (140 color, 100 b & w) range from third-century Syrian synagogue frescoes to works by Rembrandt, Chagall, Ben Shahn, Raphael Soyer and Larry Rivers. There are seminal historical documents such as Menasseh ben Israel's petition urging Oliver Cromwell to readmit Jews into England and Theodor Herzl's call for a Jewish national homeland. Holocaust writings by Anne Frank, Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel are particularly moving. This is an anthology to refer to again and again. Keller is a Bible and classics scholar at Hebrew Union College, New York City, and at New York University.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
This volume will appeal to the educated reader interested in Judaism. This handsomely produced coffee-table book surveys the "landmarks" in Jewish history and culture, from the Old Testament to the founding of the state of Israel. Divided into necessarily subjective sections, it contains some interesting, well-chosen passages, as well as long quotations from outstanding sources. Each passage is preceded by a short biography of the author and accompanied by relevant illustrations. Some texts are fascinating, such as the one on the death of Moses, or profound, such as Golda Meir's memoir of life on a kibbutz in 1921. Yet the illustrations offer the most fascinating insights into Judaism across the ages. Some photographs are truly powerful. Although certain important aspects of Judaism are inevitably omitted in a volume of this size and other aspects are passed over too briefly, the author has chosen carefully to provide the basis for further reading and exploration by the reader.
- Martin Chasin, Adult Inst., Bridgeport, Ct.

Personal

Owner	Literature
Index	1062
Added Date	Jan 05, 2016 18:02:15
Modified Date	Jul 18, 2022 19:23:27

Value

Retail Price	$ 29.99
Value	$ 29.99

Notes

This super 380-page coffee table book documents the history, art and literature of the Jewish Nation from tracts from the Jewish Bible (Tanach) to articles about Israel in the early 1990's.

Complementing the text are nearly 140 color and 100 black and white illustrations covering the range of Judaic arts and crafts including antiquities and ceremonial art, fabrics, precious metals, stained glass and paintings from many periods and countries.

Part 1 covers The Bible with excerpts from the Creation of the World and The Garden of Eden, through the accounts of Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Babylonian Exile and the rise and fall of Haman.
Part 2 covers Post-biblical literature including accounts of the victory of Judah the Maccabee, Flavius Joseph's account of the Fall of Massada and sections from the Midrash and Sanhedrin.

Part 3 covers Medieval and Rennaisance times and includes the writings of Maimonides and poets such as Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Judah HaLevi (whose poem To Israel in Exile shows how the Jewish Nation always yearned to be reunited with the Land of Israel) and also documents and writings pertaining to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, and part 4 covers writing by and about Jews from lands such as Ethiopia, Morocco and Turkey.

Subsequent sections include writings by and about Jews and include writings by Baruch Spinoza , Israel Zangwill , IL Peretz , Israel Bashevis Singer , Sigmund Freud and Hayim Nachman Bialik , as well as extracts from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and the Proclamation by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 promising to restore the Land of Israel to the Jews , in return for their support.

There is a section about Jews in the Americas and includes the memorable work by American Jewish poet Emma Lazarus , Banner of the Jew:
"Wake Israel, wake! Recall today The glorious Maccabean rage..."

Then there is a section describing the horrors of the Holocaust, which includes writings by Anne Frank, Eli Wiesel, Primo Levi and Simon Wiesenthal.
The last section is about the Re-established State of Israel, and includes works by Theodore Herzl, Gold Meir , Chaim Weitzman , Albert Einstein , David Ben-Gurion and Amos Oz. It ends with essays by Edward Norden and Edward Grossman describing the difficulties faced by new immigrants to Israel from Russia and Ethiopia.

This is an important historical record at a time when Jews and Israel are faced with their greatest test of endurance since the Holocaust. We need to remember our history in these frightening and somber times.

Links

Library of Congress