In this classic collection, once again available in a paperbound edition, leading modern scholars examine and interpret 3,000 years of Jewish literature and history. The essays study the actions and institutions of the Jewish people as well as their literary tradition. These forms of expression have all been influenced by contemporary events: Jewish philosophizing, for example, developed in relation to Greek philosophy; ancient Hebrew prayers may be similar to the prayers of other Near Eastern religions. But Jewish philosophy and prayers remain essentially, uniquely, Jewish. As Professor Goldin explains in his introduction, "There is Jewish expression whenever the Jew strives to understand or explain life in terms which he appropriates from his own tradition." This book brilliantly displays the range of historical Jewish response. Included are essays on medieval poetry (Shalom Spiegel), Jewish thought and Jewish learning (Harry Austryn Wolfson and Louis Ginzberg); Spinoza (Leo Strauss); the Kaddish (S. Y. Agnon); the Maccabean uprising (Elias Bickerman); and Jewish mysticism (Gershom G. Scholem). Each essay reveals the diverse ways in which the Judaic tradition interacts with contemporary events, so that the Jewish expression remains vital and immediate.

This is the first English translation of The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, one of the richest depositories of rabbinic reflections on the study of the Torah. It is the earliest commentary on Abot, the only tractate of the Mishnah that does not deal with legal matters but exclusively with "agada," an unlimited variety of religious, ethical, and edifying subjects.