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| This illustration by Artur Kolnik marks the first section of Itzik Manger's
Medresh Itsik / Itzik's Exegesis, a featured title in the From Our Collection series.
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The People's Book:
The Bible in the Jewish Imagination
Now on Exhibit
The Bible is the original source of the Jewish literary imagination. Jewish folklore and literature grew out of material from the Bible, and the rich tradition of Jewish storytelling draws on the struggles and adventures of biblical characters for inspiration. Whether you believe that the Bible was compiled by numerous authors over the course of a thousand years or was revealed to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, its profound influence on Jewish life and writing is undeniable.
This influence is especially evident in the Yiddish literature of the twentieth century. Writers and artists turned to the Bible for literary sources they could find nowhere else. Stories from the Bible offered language and imagery that seemed both ancient and relevant to everyday joys and struggles.
The materials in this exhibition, drawn entirely from the collection of the National Yiddish Book Center, demonstrate the pervasiveness of biblical references and themes in the literature and experience of twentieth-century Jews.
This exhibit is one of the Book Center's contributions to BookMarks: A Celebration of the Art of the Book, a presentation of Museums10, our Western Masachusetts partnership of seven outstanding college museums and three unique museums. Bookmarks’ four months of exhibitions and programming includes film, family events, lectures, readings, poetry, technology, and bookmaking, bringing to life the Pioneer Valley's great literary traditions.
Related titles available from our bookstore:
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The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary, by Robert Alter.
The brilliant biblical scholar offers a masterly new translation of the Hebrew Bible that gives readers the definitive editions of the Pentateuch.
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The World According to Itzik: Selected Poetry and Prose by Itzik Manger, translated by Leonard Wolf, with an introduction by David G. Roskies.
In the years between 1929 and 1939, when Itzik Manger wrote most of the poetry and fiction that made him famous, his name among Yiddish readers was a household word. This book -- the first full-length anthology of Manger's work -- displays the full range of his genius in poetry, fiction, and criticism.
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The Bible: Genesis, Exodus, the Song of Solomon by Marc Chagall.
The celebrated artist Marc Chagall began illustrating the Bible in 1931, and it became his lifelong passion. This extraordinary volume includes more than 130 pages of his finest works, paired with three books from the Old Testament. |
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