The Anthology in Jewish Literature

From the Talmud to the latest collection of short stories, the anthology has been a ubiquitous presence in Jewish literature throughout its history, and has played a seminal role in the creation, transmission, and preservation of Jewish culture since ancient times. And yet of all literary genres the anthology may be the most denigrated and least understood. This volume represents a major first step in the study of the genre and of the different functions it serves as a literary form and as a medium of canonization. The book comprises eighteen essays devoted to anthological works in Jewish literature from the Bible to the present - some never before discussed by modern scholarship. Taken together, they effectively define an entirely new field of study and rehabilitate a literary genre whose importance has not previously been recognized.