Three hundred Jewish tales in this extraordinary volume span three continents and four millennia. Culled from traditional sources—the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, hasidic texts, and oral folklore—and retold in modern English by Ellen Frankel, these stories represent the brightest jewels in the vast treasure chest of Jewish lore.
Beautifully clothed in contemporary language, these classic tales sparkle with the gentle and insightful humor of the ...
Three hundred Jewish tales in this extraordinary volume span three continents and four millennia. Culled from traditional sources—the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, hasidic texts, and oral folklore—and retold in modern English by Ellen Frankel, these stories represent the brightest jewels in the vast treasure chest of Jewish lore.
Beautifully clothed in contemporary language, these classic tales sparkle with the gentle and insightful humor of the Jewish folk imagination. And like so much of Jewish literature, these stories abound in allusions to classic Jewish texts. Biblical cadences, phrases from the prayer book, and ideas from Jewish proverbs and heroic legends resonate in the air when these tales are read or told aloud. In The Classic Tales, history sheds its dust to become as intimate as family memory.
While the breadth and depth of this book make it completely unique, three special features also help distinguish it: God appears without gender (though certainly not without personality); women characters, so often nameless in the original biblical text, wear their midrashic names (e.g., Noah's wife Naamah, Abraham's mother Amitlai, Lot's wife Edith); and many tales of Sephardic origin have been included to correct the common American bias toward Eastern European sources.
What's more, this volume has been uniquely designed to be of use to educators, rabbis, parents, and students. It features a chronological table of contents as well as six separate indexes?arranged by Jewish holidays, Torah and Haftorah readings, character types, symbols, topics, and proper names and places—to make the tales easily referenced in a wide variety of ways. Anyone who needs a story to inspire a child, to illustrate a point, to develop a sermon, or just to uplift his or her own thirsting soul will find just the right one in The Classic Tales.
In her selection and retelling of 300 "classic" tales, Ellen Frankel has achieved some desirable diversity. Like folktales in many non-Jewish traditions, these stories blend realism with the fantastic, conjuring magical remedies for ill fortune, poverty, marriage gone awry, and the pious gone astray....The images in these tales, though rare, are splendid....The collection Frankel has ammassed, evidently with much labor and care, is impressive.
Library Journal
``Superb'' is the word needed to describe this retelling of 300 Jewish stories in chronological order spanning 4000 years and three continents. Drawing from Talmudic, Midrashic, Hasidic, and folktale sources, Frankel has put together a rich anthology of Jewish tales imbued with the spiritual values of Judaism and the age-old folk wisdom of the Jewish people. Enhancing the collection are several indexes arranged by character types, symbols, topics, and names and places that enable readers to locate specific kinds of material. Also included are a helpful glossary and bibliography containing all the sources used by the author. Sure to become a modern classic, this labor of love, despite its cost, is highly recommended.-- Robert A. Silver, Shaker Heights P.L., Ohio
Booknews
Some three hundred stories, culled from traditional sources--the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, Hasidic texts, and oral folklore--are retold in modern English. Of special note: God appears without gender, women wear their midrashic names, and many tales of Sephardic origin are included. Indexed by symbols, names and places, and topics. Includes references to stories for each holiday. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Ellen Frankel is editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society as well as a free-lance writer and professional storyteller. She received a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Princeton University in 1978 and has taught writing and literature at several colleges and universities. Dr. Frankel lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two children.
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Overview
Beautifully clothed in contemporary language, these classic tales sparkle with the gentle and insightful humor of the ...