The "Jewish Stories" is Isaac Loeb Peretz's collection of short stories and novellas. Peretz found the inspiration for his work in the folklore of Hasidic Judaism. However, all of his stories, with exception of the legend "The Image," are set in late nineteenth century Russia and Poland and deal with social issues related to the life of Jewish population. Contents: If Not Higher Domestic Happiness In the Post-chaise The New Tune Married The Seventh Candle of Blessing The Widow The Messenger What is the Soul? In Time of Pestilence Bontzye Shweig The Dead Town The Days of the Messiah Kabbalists Travel-pictures Trust Only Go! What Should a Jewess Need? No. 42 The Maskil The Rabbi of Tishewitz Tales That Are Told A Little Boy The Yartseff Rabbi Lyashtzof The First Attempt The Second Attempt At the Shochet's The Rebbitzin of Skul Insured The Fire The Emigrant The Madman Misery The Làmed Wòfnik The Informer The Outcast A Chat The Pike The Fast The Woman Mistress Hannah In the Pond The Chanukah Light The Poor Little Boy Underground Between Two Mountains The Image

A subject guide to hundreds of Jewish stories, this book's purpose is to help teachers, rabbis, librarians, folklorists, parents, and storytellers find the right story to match their need. It also will lead educators to a wealth of Jewish stories on universal themes for use in multicultural programs for all ages. The stories are numbered for easy reference and grouped in broad categories—for example, God, faith, and prayer; rabbinic wit and wisdom; tricksters and fools; festivals and holidays. For each story, a list of tellings (author and book title) provides numerous options for the story seeker, and a list of keywords connects the story subject categories. Two cross-referenced indexes make locating stories easy, whether by subject keywords or by title. An appendix lists recommended stories for children of different ages, from lower elementary through middle school. The bibliography of almost 200 story collections and picture-book tales gives the information needed to locate a source for every story in the book.

An author and subject index to selected and American Anglo-Jewish journals of general and scholarly interests.

Mother of Mercy, Bane of the Jews explores a key moment in the rise of the cult of the Virgin Mary and the way the Jews became central to her story. Benedictine monks in England at the turn of the twelfth century developed many innovative ways to venerate Mary as the most powerful saintly intercessor. They sought her mercy on a weekly and daily basis with extensive liturgical practices, commemorated additional moments of her life on special feast days, and praised her above all other human beings with new doctrines that claimed her Immaculate Conception and bodily Assumption. They also collected hundreds of stories about the miracles Mary performed for her followers in what became one of the most popular devotional literary genres of the Middle Ages. In all these sources, but especially the miracle stories, the figure of the Jew appears in an important role as Mary's enemy. Drawing from theological and legendary traditions dating back to early Christianity, monks revived the idea that Jews violently opposed the virgin mother of God; the goal of the monks was to contrast the veneration they thought Mary deserved with the resistance of the Jews. Kati Ihnat argues that the imagined antagonism of the Jews toward Mary came to serve an essential purpose in encouraging Christian devotion to her as merciful mother and heavenly Queen. Through an examination of miracles, sermons, liturgy, and theology, Mother of Mercy, Bane of the Jews reveals how English monks helped to establish an enduring rivalry between Mary and the Jews, in consolidating her as the most popular saint of the Middle Ages and in making devotion to her a foundational marker of Christian identity.

Customs, mysticism, Hebrew and Yiddish literature, and Jewish feminism.