The Denver Jewish news., 1921-06-08
P0sr.BIBLiCAL HEBREW LITER
AZURE


AZURE
POST -BIBLICAL HEBREW LITERA-
IieaTi0s IHhnSs- & soGfhTY. GfHhTSYnH' JEWISH PUB
AlthO the Hebrew language ceased
to be the vernacular OF the majority
of the Jewish people during the last
years of the second temple, 1t has,
thruout the various periods, with but
few exceptions, persisted as the liter
ary medium for the noblest produc-
tions of the nation. Irrespective of
the language spoken by Jews in the
, countries of their adoption. the best
thoughts of the Jewish writer's found
expression in the holy tongue.
When the centre Of Jewish literary
activity was transferred to Arabic
speaking countries, the Hebrew Ian
guage still continued to be employed
by a good many of the writer's. Books
intended for the edification OF the
people Mt large, were, 1t Is true. writ
ten in the vernacular, but the literary
productions were composed in He
brew. Grammars, dictionaries, and
philosophical works which were in.
tended for the general public lad
therefore to he expressed in the lhn-
guage spoken by the people, but He
brew was employed for the literary
compositions, secular and 1iturgic
poems. Thus Saadia, Ibn Gebir0i, aid
U,,.y .y..I. u,.. l,t
osophical works in Arabic, but their
poems and hymns were invariably III
IIebtew.
1t is not generally and fully realized
that Hebrew continued as literary
medium thruout the ages. The proof
for this fact is adequately furnished
in = volume just. issued by the Jew
ish Publication, Society of America,
entitled "Post-Biblical Hebrew Litera-
ture." an Anthology The author Is
the distinguished scholar, DIR. B. Hal
per, of the Dropsie College for He
brew and Cognate Learning. DIR. Hal
per is the author of tnahy books deal
ing with various branches of Jewish
literature, and his knowledge covers
an unusual range of Jewish learning.
With it he combines breadth of view
and literary style. rhis work Is
published In two volumes: one cbii-
tains Hebrew texts, notes and CLOS
sary, and the second eomprises the
English translation. The plafi Of the
work Is designed to acquaiht students
and the general reatef with the
growth and development of post
biblical Hebrew Literature. The ex-
tracts are arranged chi dhologicaily;
and are prefaced by brief introduc-
tions giving the salient facts about the
authors and their works. 1t is thus
history of Hebrew iiteiature by ex-
amples.
In prepn ring the selections for this
anthology, DIR. Halper WIS guided by
two principles: tile literary merit Of
the extract and its pe,lasogic value.
Thru the study Of these texts the
student may acudife an extensive vo-
cabulary and will derive aesthetic
pleasure from the beauty and quaint
hess of the selections. In order to
give an idea of the variety and ex-
tensiveness Of post-biblical Hebrew
literature, practically all branches
have been incorporated into this An
thology and great care has been taken
TO select representative authors.
Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, liturgy.
poetry, philosophy, ethles, history, geo
sraphy, FOLKLORE, tfaveL pliiloidgy,
epistles, ethical Wills ami aeiieral com
positions are represented iii this vol
ume.
Dr.. Halper very aptiy points but
that of all medieval literature He
brew books are the most studied but
the least edited. Thousands of stud
ents are porting over the fofios or
the Talmud and its commentaries. and
yet critical edition of this work
is slow IN making its appearance. OF
the numerous philosophical WORKS few
have hitherto been critically edited.
A great deal of research is still to be
done in medieval poetry. DIR. Haiper
has made use of all accessible editions
and maniiscripts, ana has set him
self the task Of editing critically Every
extract included in the Anthology He
has endeavored to present the texts
in the form in which they are likely
to have left the hands of. tsieir authors
With rare acumen he succeeded III
solving many battling problems. Ap-
proximately two-thirds of the texts
are vocalized. The vocaIization OF
these texts will not only be helpful
| to the student, but will establish in