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In Hebrew and English. 134 pages. 21 x 18 cm. See the attractive and meaningful bookplate in the scan. Illustrated, music. Zemirot. Arranged according to the traditional harmonies by Rose L. Henriques; illustrated by Beatrice Hirschfeld and translated into English to fit the Hebrew tunes by Herbert Loewe; with a forward by the very Rev. J. H. Hertz, Chief Rabbi. Loewe (1882-1940) was "an English Orientalist. Loewe was born in London, the grandson of Louis Loewe. After completing his studies at Cambridge, he lived for a time as a teacher in the Middle East and then held academic appointments in England. After his return from military service in India (1917-19) , he became lecturer in rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford, and in 1931 he taught rabbinics at Cambridge and was lecturer in Hebrew at the University of London. For a generation, he was regarded in English academic circles as the representative of Jewish scholarship, in the same way as Israel Abrahams had been regarded before him. His home in the two university cities was a focus of Jewish life. Within the Jewish community he represented informed and tolerant Orthodoxy, moving freely in liberal (Reform) Jewish circles and collaborating closely with C. G. Montefiore, the founder of Liberal Judaism in England. His works include A Catalogue of the Aldis Wright MSS. In Trinity College, Cambridge, "Render unto Caesar", Medieval Hebrew Minstrelsy, Some Mediaeval Hebrew Poesy and a volume of annotations to Abrahams' and Stokes' Starrs and Jewish Charters in the British Museum, 2 volumes. " (Roth in EJ, 2007) . OCLC lists 4 copies worldwide. Staining to covers. Excerpt from the Foreword: "No less warm should be the gratitude of the student to the editor of these Table Songs. Mr. Loewe has brought together a mass of valuable historical material and literary parallels in order to bring out the distinctive nature of the Zemirot. Their unique combination of adoration of God with genial appreciation of good cheer is a product of the Jewish genius, which interweaves the secular with the sacred, and Spreads over the ordinary facts of life the rainbow of the Divine. In the light of Judaism, the table is an altar; and every meal is hallowed by prayer, before and after. The ancient Jewish Mystics added a touch of ecstasy to these statutory prayers by singing gleeful table - hymns to the Giver of all good. This saintly custom was soon adopted by the whole House of Israel, albeit only for the Sabbath, which is and must ever remain the central sun in the existence of the faithful Jew. A Sabbath meal became, literally, a service of joy and with joy.". Seller Inventory # 005865
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