Robert Alter

The story of the family that will become the people of Israel is seen as the focus of a larger, universal history.

Writing Hebrew literature in the 19th century was no simple matter, and those who did were the elite of the elite.

The pioneers of modern Hebrew literature took a cumbersome, unspoken language and created a vibrant literary tradition.

Modern Hebrew literature got an ideological start in Germany, then found artistic maturity in the East.

Jewish writers chose Hebrew, not German or Russian or even Yiddish, as the language with which to build a modern literary tradition.