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 EDITOR'S PREFACE

IN 1826 a little book appeared in London which immediately attracted attention. It was neatly printed, in splendid, large type, making it by far the most attractive output of the Jewish press of that period. Intrinsically, too, it represented the flowering of Hebrew literature in England. Indeed, no other English work on a Jewish subject, with the possible exception of Emanuel Deutsch's memorable essay on "The Talmud"—published ten decades later, in The Quarterly Review—was so favorably received.

Its elevated tone, simple dignity, and choice phrasing, no less than its modest learning, combined to make it the most popular repertory of Jewish lore and legend for more than a generation, and its unique value as a source-book of Rabbinic tradition, to Jew as well as Gentile, has not been impaired by the publication of a host of similar works, a few of which, as the anthologies of Fuerstenthal, Levi, Polano, and S. Baring-Gould, are still highly prized by students.

Hyman Hurwitz's "Hebrew Tales" is, moreover, a notable contribution to English literature. It is original, distinctive, and authoritative, a noble message from Israel to the