Although there are a number of views concerning its origins, modern Hebrew literature could be defined as being just two hundred years old. A convenient starting point might be the publication of the first letter of N. M. Wessely's divre shalom veemet in 1782, or the first issue of the periodical amneasef, which appeared a year later. During the following two centuries, considerable literature in Hebrew arose in many different places. The emphasis in this volume, composed of papers by distinguished scholars, is on the transition from the great centers of Hebrew creativity in eastern Europe-which fell into decline and disappeared in the terrible events between the years 1881 and 1945-to the new center in Palestine.
