ixAcknowledgments
I am grateful to Jennifer Hammer from New York University Press for sug-
gesting that I edit this volume and for her patience. I worked on the vol-
ume during sabbaticals at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the Tikvah Center for Law and Jewish
Civilization at New York University School of Law and also while serving
as a faculty member at Northwestern University and the Jewish Th eologi-
cal Seminary. All these places provide settings that nurture rigorous and
engaged scholarship, and I am privileged to be associated with each of
them. Funding for producing the indices and proofreading was provided
by the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation. I am, always, very grateful to their
support for research in Jewish Studies. My friend Richard Tupper gave me
consistently excellent advice on matters of writing, conceptualization, and
style. Andrew Katz did a fi ne job of editing the manuscript and preparing
it for publication. Leslie Rubin did a masterful job preparing the index and
aiding me with the proofs. It was a pleasure working with her. My family
— Jennifer, Avraham Ayyal, Sarah Gilah, and Eliana Shlomit — create the
perfect mix of respect and love, sometimes letting me sit in my offi ce to
study and work, and sometimes coming in and thus reminding me it’s time
to play. הברכה על כלם יעמדו.
Benjamin D. Sommer
תשע״ב כפור יום ערב
October 7, 2011
Teaneck, NJ