Review

Author(s): Mishael M. Caspi

Review by: Mishael M. Caspi
Source: Hebrew Studies, Vol. 30 (1989), pp. 192-193
Published by: National Association of Professors of Hebrew (NAPH)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27909152
Accessed: 21-06-2016 02:27 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
http://about.jstor.org/terms

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted
digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about
JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

National Association of Professors of Hebrew (NAPH) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to Hebrew Studies

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 02:27:22 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Hebrew Studies 30 (1989) 192 Reviews

text-type, although the text of the latter exhibits scribal developments beyond
that of the former. She emphasizes that only these two texts share twelve
major expansions that are lacking in MT and Greek (pp. 97,196-224). These
are found in 7:18b, 29b, 8:19b, 9:5b, 19b, 10:2b, 18:25*, 20:19*, 24:1, 9,
27:19b, 32:10 (superscript refers to von Gall's edition). In less significant
variants 4QpalaeoExodm disagrees with Sam sixty-nine times and preserves
thirty-six readings which are unique (p. 306). One wonders why Sanderson
states that 4QpalaeoExodm "represents a textual tradition that is very close to
that known to us in the Massoretic text" (p. 308). Her point seems to be that
although the Qumran fragments are closest to Sam Exodus except for the
major expansions, they are also much like MT Exodus, especially when
compared with the Greek.
The title of Sanderson's investigation is misleading, for this volume is
more ambitious, representing a major comparison of Exod 6:25-37:16 as
represented in 4QpalaeoExodm, Sam, MT, and LXX. In fact, she suggests
that 4QpalaeoExodm may be more representative of texts used by ancient
Jewish groups than we had thought previously. Despite the lack of photo
graphs and an adequate index of passages, which frustrated this reviewer at
times, one should appreciate the author's painstaking efforts to present the
4QpalaeoExodm fragments to the scholarly world and to place them in an
understandable, even if controversial, context. An index would enable the
reader to follow Sanderson's text-critical assessments sequentially, rather
than solely according to preferability and synonymity.

Phillip R. Callaway
Clayton State College
Morrow, GA 30260

MIRIAM'S TAMBOURINE: JEWISH FOLKTALES FROM

AROUND THE WORLD. By Howard Schwartz. Pp. xxxiii + 393. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Paper, $10.95.

The study of oral traditions does not constitute merely another field of
inquiry among burgeoning sub-disciplines. Among the humanities it is
authentically humanistic, devoted, in part, to studying the stories people tell
about people and with the people who tell the stories. These stories enrich us
with knowledge about a culture, its rituals and beliefs, and they also embrace
motifs from different lands and times, accumulated through the vitality of

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 02:27:22 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms
Hebrew Studies 30 (1989) 193 Reviews

generational succession. Obviously, oral traditions could not have been kept
in a vacuum isolated from other cultures, and we remain puzzled about the
ways in which motifs became intertwined with each other. Thus, the motif of
the tale of "The Stork Princess" is also found in "The Tale of Hassan" in the
Arabian Nights and in numerous other oral traditions. M. Gaster argues that
many of the tales of the Arabian Nights are of Jewish origin. The argument is
not decisive, but authorship is no longer a primary concern of scholarly
efforts in the study of oral tradition; stories are circulated among peoples in
different times, each imbuing the tale with new elements, incorporating and
"owning" the story. While the resulting tales may embody universal
concerns, the presentation of these is an outcome of the storyteller's own
"editorial" work. Indeed, oral traditions cannot be separated from the history
of the events, places, and social institutions they represent; to talk only of
motif and style is to diminish the art by limiting the extent of its domain.
When we read the tales made available to us by Professor Schwartz we
"know" that the tales are universal, but we may need, in each case, to draw
distinctions between truth and facticity. Although the reader may recognize
the universal emotive capacities of the human spirit in these tales, in a dif
ferent culture and time the storyteller might have interpreted the story to suit
a different mood. Above all, then, Miriam's Tambourine: Jewish Folktales
from Around the World is about special stories that a dedicated author
(Schwartz) translated, stories of his own people's treasures. Schwartz pre
sents the English reader with a valuable collection of tales and fables and
introduces us to the experiences and events of a culture. Many of the tales are
from eastern Europe, and some are hasidic tales, but Schwartz has not
slighted other communities. The selections from Jewish communities of the
Islamic world are excellent, although not fully sampled.
Howard Schwartz has added significantly to the corpus of oral tradition
collections, and readers will be delighted and charmed by the collection he
has brought forth. His translation is excellent. Although we lose and miss the
language, vocabulary, and nuances that are particular to different Jewish
communities, Schwartz's dedication to accurate translation does effectively
capture the creativity and imagination of the storyteller. This is no mean feat.
In addition, we are also indebted to Schwartz for the annotations and the sup
plementary comments accompanying the tales. Mostly we are thankful for his
presentation of a unique genre.

MishaelM. Caspi
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA 95064

This content downloaded from 128.143.23.241 on Tue, 21 Jun 2016 02:27:22 UTC
All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms