[ xiii ]note on translations and abbreviations
All biblical quotations are from Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy
Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia: Jewish
Publication Society of America, 1985 ).
Translations from the Palestinian Talmud are from Jacob neusner, The
Talmud of the Land of Israel: Yebamot (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1987 ). Translations of all other rabbinic texts are my own.
The following abbreviations are used for biblical books: Gen. (Genesis),
ex. (exodus), Lev. (Leviticus), num. (numbers), Deut. (Deuteronomy),
I Sam. (I Samuel), and Ps. (Psalms).
The following abbreviations are used in referencing rabbinic texts:
m. ( mishnah), T. (Tosefta), B. (Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli), and Y. (Pal-
estinian Talmud, or Yerushalmi). The following abbreviations are used
for individual tractates from these works: Ber. (Berakhot), eruv. (eruvin),
Pes. (Pesahim), rH (rosh Hashana), meg. (megilla), mQ (moed Qatan),
Hag. (Hagiga), Yev. (Yevamot), Ket. (Ketubot), ned. (nedarim), Git. (Git-
tin), Qid. (Qiddushin), BQ (Baba Qamma), Bm (Baba metzia), BB (Baba
Batra), and San. (Sanhedrin). The abbreviation “r.” indicates rabbi
or rav.