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BY-PATHSIN HEBRAIC BOOKLAND
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BY-PATHS
IN HEBRAIC BOOKLAND
BY
ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, D. D., M. A.
Author of “Jewish Life in the Middle Ages,” “Chapters onJewish Literature,” etc.
Philadelphia
The Jewish Publication Society of America
1920
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Copyright, 1920,
by
The Jewish Publication Society of America
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PREFACE
Wayfarers sometimes use by-paths because the highways are closed. Inthe days of Jael, so the author of Deborah’s Song tells us, circuitousside-tracks were the only accessible routes. In the unsettled conditionof Israel those who journeyed were forced to seek their goal byroundabout ways.
But, at other times, though the open road is clear, and there is noobstacle on the way of common trade, the traveller may of choice turnto the by-ways and hedges. Not that he hates the wider track, but hemay also love the less frequented, narrower paths, which carry him intonooks and glades, whence, after shorter or longer detours, he reachesthe highway again. Not only has he been refreshed, but he has won, byforsaking the main road, a fuller appreciation of its worth.
Originally written in 1913 for serial publication, the papers collectedin this volume were designed with some unity of plan. Branching off themain line of Hebraic development, there are many by-paths of the kindreferred to above—by-paths leading to pleasant places, where it is adelight to linger[Pg 6] for a while. Some of the lesser expressions of theJewish spirit disport themselves in those out-of-the-way places. Thoughoft neglected, they do not deserve to be treated as negligible.
None can surely guide another to these places. But the firstqualification of a guide, a qualification which may atone for seriousdefects, is that he himself enjoys the adventure. In the presentinstance this qualification may be claimed. For the writer has turnedhis attention chiefly to his own favorites, choosing books or partsof books which appealed to him in a long course of reading, and whichcame back to him with fragrant memories as he set about reviewingsome of the former intimates of his leisure hours. The review is notformal; the method is that of the causerie, not of the essay. Some ofthe books are of minor value, curiosities rather than masterpieces; inothers the Jewish interest is but slight. Yet in all cases the objecthas been to avoid details, except in so far as details help even thesuperficial observer to get to the author’s heart, to place him in thehistory of literature or culture. Not quite all the authors noted inthis volume were Jews—the past tense is used because it was felt bestto include no writers living when the volume was compiled. It seemed,[Pg 7]however, right that certain ty