Miriam's Tambourine : Jewish Folk Tales from Around the World

This is a collection of 50 tales drawn from nearly every age and every part of the world, reflecting the length of Jewish history and the diversity of the Judaic culture.

Some of the characters and plots will be familiar from other folk-tales but these stories also include Jewish figures and themes such as Elijah the Prophet, Golem, rabbis, the mysteries of the cabbala, pogroms, the longed-for arrival of the Messiah and the return to Israel.

The tales come from Palestine, Babylon, Persia, Eygpt, Morocco, Holland, Germany, Eastern Europe, Italy, France, Spain, India, Afghanistan and many other lands.

In addition, there is a section of annotation giving a brief history and analysis of each story, providing cultural background and an interpretation of biblical and mystical symbolism, a glossary of Jewish terms and a bibliography.