Nahum Norbert Glatzer Knihy

Critical presentation of the whole evidence concerning Jewish history, institutions, and literature from 175 BC to AD 135; with updated bibliographies.

When the young salesman Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning transformed into a monstrous insect, his shock and incomprehension are coupled with the panic of being late for work and having to reveal his appearance to family and colleagues. Although over the following weeks he gradually becomes used to this new existence confined within the bounds of the apartment, and his parents and sister adapt to living with a grotesque bug, Gregor notices that their attitudes towards him are changing and he feels increasingly alienated. One of the masterpieces of twentieth-century world literature, ‘The Metamorphosis’ is accompanied in this volume by a selection of other classic tales and sketches by Kafka – such as ‘The Judgement’, ‘In the Penal Colony’ and ‘A Country Doctor’ – all presented in a lively and meticulous new translation by Christopher Moncrieff.

This collection of 78 memoir entries, written as a document for his family, offers personal glimpses of Nahum Glatzer (1903-1990) -- prolific scholar, Brandeis University professor, and editor of the Schocken publishing house. This text is divided into three sections, focusing on a wide range of his experiences. Anecdotal and often times humorous accounts of the many outstanding personalities Glatzer knew and interacted with (including two of the leading German-Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century Martin Buber and Franz Rosenweig) are included. Glatzer's travels from Bodenbach to Boston and from strict orthodoxy to more historical, cultural, and aesthetic understanding of Judaism reveal a sensitivity to his surroundings as well as his inner self. The final section presents a variety of Glatzer's experiences and expressions of faith, both personal and social. The events themselves become moments of religious psychology or theological insight.