Books and Periodicals of Jewish Interest

Announcement is made of the publication of the first volume of Professor Israel Davidson’s “Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry.” It bears the imprint of The Jewish Theological Seminary of America where the author is Professor of Mediaeval Hebrew Literature.

It is typographically the finest Hebrew book issued in America and the Jewish Publication Society Press may indeed be proud of its output.

The book is dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Nathan J. Miller, of New York, who are active in Jewish national movements and whose practical encouragement has made the publication of this work possible.

The “Thesaurus” records the titles and sources of all Jewish religious and secular poetry from the close of the Bible to the beginning of the Haskala period. The work of nearly five hundred pages, quarto-size, printed in doble column, is the first volume of the contemplated source book.

As an indication of the magnitude of the work, it is but necessary to refer to the fact that it contains only the titles of poems whose first words begin with Aleph, and these number over 9,200 items. Allowing for the natural preponderance of titles beginning with Aleph, it would seem Professor Davidson has gathered over 40,000 titles in all and his list thus supercedes all previous attempts even by so great a scholar as Zunz by about 35,000 items. The list of sources printed at the beginning of the volume covers nearly 2,000 books. To complete the work will require about three more substantial volumes and it is hoped that the interest which has led to the publication of the present volume will be maintained until the entire work sees the light of day.

“The Jewish Element in World Literature,” a German study by Arthur Sackheim, has just been published in Hamburg. The work is an exhaustive survey of Jewish literary activity in all languages since Biblical times. The author paints a brilliant picture of the blossoming of Jewish creative genius in all epochs and in all lands. The panorama unfolded is a dazzling one, both for the number and nature of the figures in it. Mr. Sackheim’s erudition is tremendous. No cranny of the past is closed to him. He has the scholarly equipment necessary for an intelligent discussion of the subject together with the critical instinct necessary to vitaling the influence of the Jew on the world and the ize## it. He has the background requisite for gaugworld on the Jew. In one respect the book suffers from the author’s large fund of scholarship. The book is crammed so tight with facts and names, that if not for the passion for Judaism, the Jewish idea, informing it, the work would run the danger of degenerating into a handbook, a guide for students rather than a critical appraisal. However, the author’s eloquence, fire and keen judgments save it from this fate. One serious omission, nevertheless, is Mr. Sackheim’s failure to give an adequate discussion of contemporary Yiddish literature in his treatment of Yiddish and Hebrew.

“Who Would Be Free”. (Boni & Liveright), a first novel by Marian Spitzer which has attracted favorable notice, deals with the American Jewish middle class. The author succeeds in giving a fairly accurate group photograph of the Jewish bourgeoise. She catches externals-attitudes and mannerisms-cleverly, but there is little deep or sensitive understanding. The temptation to caricature and overemphasise is one which few writers, Jew or Gentile, are able to withstand when writing of the Jews, nor is Miss Spitzer free from this reproach. She shows the clan and clan characteristics instead of individuals. The only way she can free her heroing her from Judaism and her Jewish associates ine from the dominance of the clan is by detach-and interests. “Who Would Be Free” is a bright snap-shot of a limited phase of the Jewish scene. It is certainly not an adequate treatment of even those circles of Jewish life with which it is concerned.

As fiction, the novel is mediocre. It belongs to that dismal class of realistic fiction which expatiates with unsparing detail on the not specially stirring adventures of not specially stirring people. Unless done consummately, as in “Main Street,” such fiction is of all fiction the dullest. Nevertheless, Miss Spitzer has intelligence, shrewd powers of observation and a sense for character. One may expect good things from her.

“The Guardian” is a new Philadelphia literary monthly devoted to the arts, which proposes to pay special attention to the Jewish contribution to contemporary letters. The December issue contains among other features, a number of poems by Byalik indifferently translated from the Hebrew.

The current issue of “The New Orient,” a beautifully illustrated quarterly which seeks to cover the entire field of political, economic and cultural relations between East and West, and to interpret the Renaissance dawning over the East, has an interesting article by Bertrand Russel on “Future Cultural Relations between East and West.” In substance, Mr. Russel prophecies that the East will have to learn something of Western technical efficiency, and the West something of the Eastern humanity and idealism, if either civilizations are to survive.

A similar point is made by Professor H. C. Chu. He points out that the East will teach the West to love leisure, ideals and peace. The East, he says, needs the bugle call to action. The West needs a temple bell to rest. Only through such a marriage with the East can the West taste the real sweetness and security of peace.

Articles on Oriental music and literature complete this excellent magazine. The typography and general make-up are in keeping with the quality of the contents.