Chapters on Jewish Literature

‘Chapters on Jewish Literature’ is a book by Israel Abrahams, first published in 1899. Written as twenty-five concise essays, it traces Jewish writing from the fall of Jerusalem (70 CE) to the death of Moses Mendelssohn (1786), introducing readers to Josephus, the Talmud and Midrash, medieval Hebrew poetry and philosophy, and the early stirrings of Jewish Enlightenment. Abrahams’ clear, classroom-tested style distills complex sources into an approachable survey, making it a dependable gateway to seventeen centuries of Jewish literary history. A leading British Jewish scholar and later Reader in Rabbinics at Cambridge, Abrahams helped popularize subjects previously confined to specialists, and this volume—issued by the Jewish Publication Society of America—became a staple introduction for English-speaking audiences. Its enduring value lies in how it links texts to their communities and eras, encouraging readers to see literature as part of lived Jewish experience rather than as isolated classics.