Someone once observed that A Jew is composed of 28 percent fear, 2 percent sugar, and 70 percent nerve. Certainly, the Jews have needed every bit of that nerve over centuries of persecution. The struggle and triumph of Jewishness, author Josepha Sherman observes, is reflected in the vast body of Jewish folklore, which emphasizes ethical behavior and survival through cleverness, kindness, and above all, humor.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Despite this collection's title, very few of its short tales, proverbs and riddles have anything to do with America. Rather, they largely stem from pre-New World Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish life. Sherman ( The Shining Falcon ), a specialist in comparative folklore, makes a number of mistakes and omissions (one note refers to "The Babylonian Talmud . . . chapter 2," which is analogous to saying "Shakespeare's Plays, Acts III"). These flaws aside, this enjoyable anthology reveals the varieties of Jewish wisdom, cleverness, irony and humor through tales filled with demons and dybbuks and allegories preaching humility and charity. A particularly fascinating section entitled "Clever Folk and Survivors"--from a traveler who outwits a robber to a fox who outwits the Angel of Death--highlights the acuity that was nothing less than a prerequisite for Jews, who have so often found themselves in seemingly impossible predicaments. Sherman also is informative on the histories of some stories--we learn that the tales of the foolish "Wise Men of Chelm" date back to the 15th century--and on similarities between Jewish folktales and those of other ethnic traditions. Jewish Book Club selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice, easy to read collection.,
By 4kisses (Philadelphia PA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Jewish-American Folklore (American Folklore Series) (Hardcover)
A good summarization to have in a Jewish family home. We bought it to assist my fifth grader with a school project, and I enjoyed reading it myself- making it a pleasant read for all ages.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence:
For over four thousand years of turbulent history, Jews have lived-and continue to live-in almost every region throughout the world. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
applicable motif, folk joke, informant unknown, original source unknown, tale type, previous tale, dialect stories, golden shoes, brit milah, second ghost, world folklore, bandit chief Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Chief Sage, Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Akiba, Angel of Death, Bar Mitzvah, Grand Inquisitor, Yom Kippur, Ben Sever, Recording Angel, Sephardic Jews, New York, Rosh Hodesh, Accusing Angel, Middle Ages, Rabbi Safra New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
For over four thousand years of turbulent history, Jews have lived-and continue to live-in almost every region throughout the world. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
applicable motif, folk joke, informant unknown, original source unknown, tale type, previous tale, dialect stories, golden shoes, brit milah, second ghost, world folklore, bandit chief Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Chief Sage, Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Akiba, Angel of Death, Bar Mitzvah, Grand Inquisitor, Yom Kippur, Ben Sever, Recording Angel, Sephardic Jews, New York, Rosh Hodesh, Accusing Angel, Middle Ages, Rabbi Safra New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
3
books
cite this book:
- A Treasury of Jewish Folklore by Nathan Ausubel on 15 pages
- YIDDISH FOLKTALES (Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library) by Beatrice Weinreich on 13 pages
- Grimm's Fairy Tales (Barnes & Noble Classics) by Jacob Grimm on 11 pages
- Jewish Folktales by Pinhas Sadeh on 10 pages
- The Big Book of Jewish Humor by William Novak on 7 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- Vulcan's Forge (Star Trek) by Susan Shwartz in Back Matter
- Merlin's Kin (World Storytelling from August House) by Josepha Sherman in Front Matter
- In Full Bloom by Sharon Creeden in Back Matter
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
