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Preface This one-volume anthology was prepared for the reader who seeks (but has hitherto been unable to find) a comprehensive introduction to the more than two-thousand-year mainstream of postbiblical creativity. Some compilations have concentrated on special periods, such as talmudic, medieval or modern, and have offered brief excerpts—often no more than isolated passages —of larger works; others have focused only on belletristic material. However, Masterpieces of Hebrew Literature is the first volume in English , we believe, to attempt an in-depth portrait of the range of a literature, covering the major periods from the Apocrypha to the early 19th century, and presenting substantial selections of the important genres, many of them anthologized for the first time. In addition, brief introductions are provided to place the author and his work in proper perspective. Literature in Hebrew offers a spectrum of possibilities, encompassing the many genres used throughout the centuries by Jews writing in Hebrew —the most important of which are included here, and without which no survey of Hebrew literature can be complete. Along with the expected fiction and poetry, there are legal, ethical, and midrashic works; travelogs, responsa and biblical commentary; history, chronicles, and letters; fables and prayers. The literary tradition seen in this anthology was created, interestingly enough, not in one land, but via one people writing in dispersion ; whether composed in Palestine, Babylonia, North Africa, Spain, Italy, Germany, France or Russia, a common language and literary and religious heritage bind the disparate works, even though some were influenced by outside cultures. The reader should be cautioned that only the barest sampling of an infinitely rich literature is provided in Masterpieces of Hebrew Literature. The book could be expanded a thousandfold and still not begin to do justice to the whole range of literature in Hebrew. The problem in an anthology of this sort is the vast amount of material available, and because selecting the works is to a degree a matter of personal preference, the contents can always be questioned. If, on balance, this work inspires the reader to explore Hebrew literature independently, it will surely have served its purpose. ...

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