The People and the Books: 18 Classics of Jewish Literature

by Adam Kirsch

Overview

An essential exploration of a rich literary tradition from the Bible to modern times, by a “rare literary authority” (New York Times Book Review) and “one of our keenest critics” (Washington Post).

Jews have long embraced their identity as “the people of the book.” But outside of the Bible, much of the Jewish literary tradition remains little known to nonspecialist readers. The People and the Books shows how central questions and themes of our history and culture are reflected in the Jewish literary canon: the nature of God, the right way to understand the Bible, the relationship of the Jews to their Promised Land, and the challenges of living as a minority in Diaspora. Adam Kirsch explores eighteen classic texts, including the biblical books of Deuteronomy and Esther, the philosophy of Maimonides, the autobiography of the medieval businesswoman Glückel of Hameln, and the Zionist manifestoes of Theodor Herzl. From the Jews of Roman Egypt to the mystical devotees of Hasidism in Eastern Europe, The People and the Books brings the treasures of Jewish literature to life and offers new ways to think about their enduring power and influence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393241761
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Pages:	432
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Adam Kirsch is the author of several books of poetry and criticism, including Who Wants to Be a Jewish Writer? and The People and the Books: Eighteen Classics of Jewish Literature. A 2016 Guggenheim Fellow, Kirsch is an editor at the Wall Street Journal’s Weekend Review section and has written for publications including The New Yorker and Tablet. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

The People and the Books: A Timeline xvii

1 The Blessing and the Curse 1

The Book of Deuteronomy

2 In the Kingdom of Chance 25

The Book of Esther

3 Reading Against the Grain 45

The Exposition of the Laws Philo of Alexandria

4 Choosing Life 75

The Jewish War Flavins Josephus

5 Building Fences 103

Pirkei Avot

6 The Scandal of Chosenness 129

The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela and the Kuzari Yehuda Halevi

7 Thinking Toward God 161

The Guide of the Perplexed Moses Maimonides

8 The Secret Life of God 193

The Zohar

9 Daughters of Zion 221

The Tsenerene and the Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln

10 Heresy and Freedom 247

Theological-Political Treatise Baruch Spinoza

11 Between Two Worlds 273

The Autobiography of Solomon Maimon and Jerusalem Moses Mendelssohn

12 Brokenness and Redemption 299

The Tales of Nachman of Bratslav

13 If You Will It 327

The Jewish State and Old New Land Theodor Herzl

14 On the Brink 353

Tevye the Dairyman Sholem Aleichem

Index 369

Editorial Reviews

The People and the Books…is not meant to be a work of innovative scholarship. Rather, it conjures up, through the concrete evidence of these 18 texts, the many different directions Jews have taken as they have struggled with the contradictions between reason and revelation, the ambiguities and perils of living in one diaspora or another, the politics of Jewish existence and the new challenges of modernity. Aptness rather than originality is the chief virtue of this book…the summaries of the books are lucid, vivid…A reader may never be tempted to dip into the arcane text of the Zohar…but he or she will come away with some sense of what the Zohar is all about and why it has exerted such appeal for generations of Jews.

The New York Times Book Review - Robert Alter

★ 08/08/2016
In this insightful and comprehensive volume, Kirsch has chosen 18 classic works of Jewish literature through which he tells the unique story of the Jewish people and of Jewish thought throughout the ages. The books segue seamlessly from one work to the next, each classic building upon the last in terms of history and Jewish tradition. A timeline puts people and locations into perspective, while brief summaries precede every analysis to familiarize those new to the work. His goal is to “open up these texts to the interested reader—to show what they contain, how and why they were written, and what they can tell us about Judaism and Jewishness.” Among these is The Book of Esther, The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl, The Jewish War by Flavius Joesphus, The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln, Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), and Tevye the Dairyman by Sholem Aleichem, the sheer variety of which gives voice to many fascinating and distinctive perspectives. Kirsch’s writing is eloquent and articulate, and his ability to pull together the social, intellectual, religious, and political threads of every era results in an intelligent and engaging foray into Jewish literary history. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"[A]n entertaining and enlightening review of eighteen classic works and, at the same time, Judaism’s most important ideas and ideals. It deserves to be on the Jewish bookshelf along with the eighteen books it opens for its reader."

Jewish Book Council

"Luminous… The secret of the Jews, [Kirsch] shows, is found within these classic works. Anyone interested in penetrating that secret should read The People and the Books."

Jonathan D. Sarna

"The people of the book are often unaware of the books of their people. Kirsch opens, unfurls, and illuminates the great works of Jewish tradition and history; he is our intellectual Sherpa, guiding us sure-footedly through the heights."

Rabbi David Wolpe

"[A]n astute and accessible introduction to 18 Jewish literary classics... [Kirsch's] laser focus on these works' most topical themes makes them feel so urgent that curious readers of any religious persuasion will want to read them all."

Wall Street Journal - Dara Horn

"Through profiles of eighteen indelible figures and chronicles...Adam Kirsch uncovers the unfailing excitements of a living, creative, and abiding civilization. And more: in this superbly clarifying panorama, he illumines how in the history of ideas Jews, despite so many permutations of approach, have faithfully adhered to a single sublime Idea."

Cynthia Ozick

★ 08/01/2016
In this enthralling meditation on the written foundations of the Jewish faith, Kirsch (Jewish studies, Columbia; Emblems of the Passing World) profiles 18 works encompassing both the secular and sacred while offering a dissection of Jewish "commentary and codification." The choices are surprising in their breadth and originality. The expected biblical books segue into pluralistic pieces from Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Spanish authors. The significance of rabbinic scholars is balanced by the cultural importance of Jewish fiction. Works are placed within their historical context and their current relevance to world Jewry and scholarship. Similar in treatment to Barry Holtz's Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts, Kirsch's work offers not only updated scholarly content but a systemic analytical approach to the whole text rather than only dissecting certain passages. The book is clearly geared toward academic use, with a time line showing the selected works within a relative historical timeframe and bibliographic references for each chapter. A map would have facilitated further comprehension, but short of this singular misstep, Kirsch has authored an intellectual masterpiece. VERDICT A challenging read for the uninitiated yet insightful and worthwhile for an enthusiastic exploration of the Jewish faith. A definitive purchase for readers with a Jewish heritage, practicing or not.—Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH

Library Journal

★ 2016-07-19
How to read the Jewish past.Poet and critic Kirsch (Director, Jewish Studies Master’s Program/Columbia Univ.; Rocket and Lightship: Essays on Literature and Ideas, 2014, etc.) takes a reflective look at what his Jewish religion has been and can be via some of its greatest books. His ambitious survey spans more than 2,500 years and offers a “panoramic portrait of Jewish thought and experience.” The books focus on four central topics: God, the Torah, the Land of Israel, and the Jewish people. Kirsch begins pretty much at the beginning with the book of Deuteronomy. Devoted to law and history, it’s concerned with the major subject of the Israelites’ relationship to the Land of Israel. He next turns to the book of Esther, which is best read as “historical fiction.” Kirsch is fascinated with its “paradox of Jewish power in a condition of Diaspora.” Jump ahead some 500 hundred years to the Jewish general captured by the Romans, Flavius Josephus, and his The Jewish War, a firsthand account of “perhaps the greatest calamity in Jewish history.” After an account of the Zohar, a 2,400-page compendium that “enchants the universe like no other Jewish book,” comes Glückel of Hameln’s transformative Tsenerene from the 1590s, “one of the most popular Yiddish books of all time.” It did the most to “connect Jewish women to Judaism’s traditional sources,” while her Memoirs is the first autobiography by a Jewish woman. From the 1890s, Kirsch singles out the visionary Viennese writer Theodor Herzl as one of the “most important figures in Jewish history.” The Jewish State, a nonfiction pamphlet, “laid out a detailed plan for the relocation of Europe’s Jews to Palestine,” while his novel Old New Land helped to create Zionism. Kirsch ends his list in 1914 with the Tevye stories of Sholem Aleichem. Although a mere 120 pages long, “no work of Yiddish literature has been more influential or more widely loved.” A fascinating, impeccably written, personal tour of the great books of Judaism.

Kirkus Reviews

"Anyone looking for a single-volume introduction to Jewish civilization…will find nothing better in print…A deeply serious meditation on the meaning of Jewish existence."

Jewish Report

"Lucid, vivid and likely to provide helpful instruction… [Kirsch] has, like Simon Schama, a keen eye for the revelatory detail in discussing his historical subjects."

New York Times Book Review