Intentions, Introductions, and Multiple Conclusions: A Progress Report on The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization

An analysis of the introductions to three of the volumes of the Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization points to dramatically different cultural approaches to documents from Jewish history and literature. I will analyze the editors’ choices and justifications for their decisions in choosing content; I will also discuss (anonymously) some of the directions and criticisms of their boards of advisors and evaluators. In doing so, we derive a fascinating picture of contrasting expectations from Jewish reading audiences in Israel and abroad.