Review of Joseph Heinemann and Dov Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-Literature

The teaching and research in folklore at the Hebrew University in Israel, as in many American universities, preceded the formal establishment of a folklore department. Most of these activities were carried out by members of the Institute of Jewish Studies. The present collection of twelve essays represents, as it purports to do, the scholarly position of Jewish folk-literature at the Hebrew University, its subjects, problems, approaches and methods of research. Most of the contributors to this volume have written extensively in Hebrew, yet their publications in English are scanty. Studies in Aggadah and Folk-Literature is designed to enable non-Hebrew reading scholars to become acquainted with their work. The articles deal with the folk-literature of three distincy historical periods—the talmudic-midrashic (second to fifth centuries), medieval, and modern— and are concerned with aesthetical, historical, literary, and cultural problems.