ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relative position of Hebrew and Russian literature as reflected in mutual borrowings, in each one's view of itself and the other, and perhaps, most significantly, in the cross-fertilization of literary and cultural paradigms. Russian literature is viewed across the entire chronological span of the existence of each literary tradition. Thus, the beginnings of this literary encounter necessarily encompass the reception by Russian culture of the Hebrew Bible even though it was always viewed through the prism of Christian religion and culture. True, Old Russian religious literature did include, almost from its very inception, a certain mirror-image of the Jewish tradition and the Jews, which it inherited from the giants of the patristic tradition, in particular, Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. But the aim here is not to trace the history of the Jewish themes in Russian literature, although this by itself is a fascinating subject which deserves further study.
