Twenty Years of Poetry in Prooftexts

The point in time in which Prooftexts first emerged was, from a historical-literary perspective, a complex moment: in Israel, it was marked by a proliferation of literary reviews and magazines, against which Prooftexts would have to compete; in America, this very moment marked the end of the Hebrew movement and, consequently, the disappearance of what should have been the natural cultural context of such a journal. In spite of these initial less-than-favorable conditions, Prooftexts has succeeded, during the twenty-odd years of its existence, to create a "climate of interest" toward varied fields of Jewish poetry. Various essays published in Prooftexts made a significant contribution to the "redemption" of medieval Hebrew poetry as well as a more profound reading of modern Hebrew poetry. No less impressive has been the journal's discussion of hitherto unknown or little-known areas of Jewish poetry. One can only hope that the treatment of poetry in the subsequent issues of Prooftexts will be as generous and as significant as it has been during the journal's first two decades.