This is the first serious attempt to analyse the development and variation of themes in the work of S. J. Agnon (1888? - 1970), winner of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1966. In particular, the author looks at psychological themes, allowing his approach to be determined by the nature and style of the works themselves, rather than attempting to fit them into any one psychoanalytical framework.

At the Handles of the Lock: Themes in the Fiction of Shmuel Yosef Agnon (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

Literature & Fiction

Aberbach, David

History & Criticism

The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization

Surviving Trauma: Loss and Literature

Yale University Press

Literature and Poverty: From the Hebrew Bible to the Second World War

Literature and Poverty offers an engaging overview of changes in literary perceptions of poverty and the poor. Part I of the book, from the Hebrew Bible to the French Revolution, provides essential background information. It introduces the Scriptural ideal of the ‘holy poor’ and the process by which biblical love of the poor came to be contested and undermined in European legislation and public opinion as capitalism grew and the state took over from the Church; Part II, from the French Revolution to World War II, shows how post-1789 problems of industrialization, population growth, war, and urbanization came to dominate much European literature, as poverty and the poor became central concerns of major writers such as Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and Hugo.   David Aberbach uses literature – from the Bible, through Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Zola, Pushkin, and Orwell – to show how poverty changed from being an endemic and unavoidable fact of life, to a challenge for equality that might be attainable through a moral and rational society. As a literary and social history of poverty, this book argues for the vital importance of literature and the arts in understanding current problems in International Development.

Routledge

Literature and Poverty offers an engaging overview of changes in literary perceptions of poverty and the poor. Part I of the book, from the Hebrew Bible to the French Revolution, provides essential background information. It introduces the Scriptural ideal of the ‘holy poor’ and the process by which biblical love of the poor came to be contested and undermined in European legislation and public opinion as capitalism grew and the state took over from the Church; Part II, from the French Revolution to World War II, shows how post-1789 problems of industrialization, population growth, war, and urbanization came to dominate much European literature, as poverty and the poor became central concerns of major writers such as Dickens, Dostoyevsky, and Hugo. 
David Aberbach uses literature – from the Bible, through Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Zola, Pushkin, and Orwell – to show how poverty changed from being an endemic and unavoidable fact of life, to a challenge for equality that might be attainable through a moral and rational society. As a literary and social history of poverty, this book argues for the vital importance of literature and the arts in understanding current problems in International Development.

Nationalism, War and Jewish Education: From the Roman Empire to Modern Times (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)

Nationalism, War and Jewish Education explores historical circumstances leading to the emergence of a Jewish religious school system lasting to modern times and the process by which this system was broken down and adapted in secular form as Jewish nationalism grew in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In the Roman period, education became an essential part of rabbinic pacifist accommodation following Jewish defeats, while in the modern period, secular education was associated with nationalism and increasing militancy of emerging states. In both periods there was a revival of Hebrew and the creation of an educational system based on Hebrew texts. Both revivals were responses to anti-Semitism, which pushed large numbers of Jews away from assimilation into the dominant culture to a renewed Jewish national identity.\nThe book highlights the centrifugal and centripetal shifts in Jewish identity, from messianic militarism to pacifism and back. It shows how changes in Jewish education accompanied these shifts. While drawing on historical scholarship for background, this book is essentially a literary study, showing how literary changes at different times and places reflect historical, socio-psychological, economic and political change. 
Nationalism, War and Jewish Education is original in showing how ancient Jewish education affected modern Jewish society, therefore it is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in Jewish history and literature, education, development studies and nationalism.

Reference

The Environment and Literature of Moral Dilemmas (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)

Exploring the literature of environmental moral dilemmas from the Hebrew Bible to modern times, this book argues the necessity of cross-disciplinary approaches to environmental studies, as a subject affecting everyone, in every aspect of life. Moral dilemmas are central in the literary genre of protest against the effects of industry, particularly in Romantic literature and 'Condition of England' novels. Writers from the time of the Industrial Revolution to the present--including William Blake, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charles Dickens, Émile Zola, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekhov, T.S. Eliot, John Steinbeck, George Orwell, and J.M. Coetzee--follow the Bible in seeing environmental problems in moral terms, as a consequence of human agency. The issues raised by these and other writers--including damage to the environment and its effects on health and quality of life, particularly on the poor; economic conflicts of interest; water and air pollution, deforestation, and the environmental effects of war--are fundamentally the same today, making their works a continual source of interest and insight. Sketching a brief literary history on the impact of human behavior on the environment, this volume will be of interest to readers researching environmental studies, literary studies, religious studies and international development, as well as a useful resource to scientists and readers of the Arts.

Imperialism and Biblical Prophecy is a radically new interpretation of prophetic poetry. Using more than thirty new translations from the Hebrew Bible, it shows that this poetry is inseparable from imperialism, that each of the three major waves of biblical prophecy which have survived in the Old Testament occurred in response to simultaneous waves of imperialist conquest.

Imperialism and Biblical Prophecy: 750-500 BCE

History

Ancient Civilizations

Imperialism and Biblical Prophecy

Jewish Cultural Nationalism explores the development of Jewish nationalism from the Bible to modern times, focusing on particular movements and places as well as texts which signified, or themselves brought about, change: the Bible (Hebrew prayer book), and the modern Hebrew literature, particularly in Tsarist Russia. While the influence of the Hebrew Bible alone on nationalism in individual periods has been subject to much scholarly study, the present work is unusual in its emphasis on the continuity of Jewish cultural nationalism and its influences through Hebrew texts.

Jewish Cultural Nationalism: Origins and Influences (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aberbach, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Aberbach, David

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Aberbach, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

At the Handles of the Lock: Themes in the Fiction of Shmuel Yosef Agnon (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

Surviving Trauma: Loss and Literature

Literature and Poverty: From the Hebrew Bible to the Second World War

Literature and Poverty: From the Hebrew Bible to the Second World War

Nationalism, War and Jewish Education: From the Roman Empire to Modern Times (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)

The Environment and Literature of Moral Dilemmas (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)

The Environment and Literature of Moral Dilemmas (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)

Imperialism and Biblical Prophecy: 750-500 BCE

Imperialism and Biblical Prophecy

Jewish Cultural Nationalism: Origins and Influences (Routledge Jewish Studies Series)