Available From UC Press

A vivid journey into ancient and medieval Jewish folklore—where biblical legend and world history come together in one extraordinary anthology.

In medieval Germany, a Jewish merchant named Eleazar ben Asher Halevi created one of the most comprehensive and unique anthologies of Jewish historical legends ever assembled. Drawing on lesser-known myths, apocryphal writings, popular folk tales, historical vignettes, and visionary and apocalyptic accounts, Eleazar wove together an ambitious world history that preserved not only Jewish memory but also the great historical dramas of other civilizations.

Spanning from creation to Armageddon, The Book of Memories is both a majestic salvage work and a dazzling treasury of storytelling. From thoughtful reflections on creation, resurrection, and redemption to more lighthearted and colorful stories of adventure, tricksters, and magic, Eleazar preserved diverse Jewish traditions that would have otherwise been lost to history. A remarkable work of world literature and history, this collection offers a rare glimpse into the rich culture of Jewish folklore and the medieval world that shaped it. 
 

Mira Balberg is Professor of History and holds the David Goodblatt Chair in Ancient Jewish Civilization at the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of Fractured Tablets: Forgetfulness and Fallibility in Late Ancient Rabbinic Culture, among other books.

"Mira Balberg’s translation captures what makes The Book of Memories distinctive and significant. Rather than offering a systematic, erudite Jewish history of the world, this medieval anthology takes readers on a wild journey through the premodern Jewish imagination of time—not along the highway, or even the scenic route, but down paths that twist and turn in contradictory directions, where one encounters marvels and catastrophes, and figures both charming and frightening."—Moulie Vidas, Princeton University, author of The Rise of Talmud