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Acknowledgments As this project comes to completion, I am struck by the good fortune I have enjoyed in the years I have been working on it. It is hard to express in a few paragraphs the debts I owe and the gratitude I feel toward so many, for their support, insight, and generosity. But I will try. I would like to begin by thanking Edith Wyschogrod z”l, H. Tristram Engelhardt, and Kenneth Seeskin, who were instrumental in the development of this project in its earliest stages. I would like to thank Matthias Henze for not only introducing me to Jan Assmann’s work, but more importantly for serving as a mentor during my time at Rice University and beyond. Gregory Kaplan deserves special mention. During a real time of need as a graduate student, Gregory, at no small cost to himself, stepped up to fill the breach. His wonderfully pugnacious style of pedagogy taught me more about what it means to think carefully and rigorously about a subject than perhaps any other teacher I have had. I would like to thank Werner Kelber, Jeffrey Kripal, David Cook, Anthony Pinn, David Adcock, Claire Katz, Leah Hochmann, and Hartwig Wiedebach for helping me to develop this project in various capacities. Matt Schunke and Torin Alexander also deserve thanks for being valuable conversation partners during my time at Rice. The final form of this book is indebted to three scholars in particular. Leora Batnitzky read an earlier version of the manuscript and her insights helped to contextualize my claims in regard to the history of Jewish philosophy , the Enlightenment, and the question of modernity. In addition to his generous responses to my numerous questions about the publishing process, Merold Westphal also provided instructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript which helped me to avoid hyperbole and clarify my terminology . Finally, Susannah Heschel offered highly insightful suggestions for revision during the copyediting stage, during which she generously worked within my rather tight time constraints. It is imperative to thank two individuals who have graciously taken me under their wings as a junior colleague. Randi Rashkover read part of the manuscript when it was in an early stage and has been a helpful interlocutor and friend ever since. Martin Kavka deserves special thanks. He has not only been an important interlocutor and editor—he has read and helpfully commented upon almost everything I have written—he also has often served as x   |   Acknowledgments a mentor (if not a therapist) for me, helping me to navigate various perils of being a professor and scholar. I am very grateful to the two of them. I would like also like to thank the Provost and Dean of Faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University, Beth Cunningham, for providing much-needed funds for this project. My colleagues in the Religion Department at Illinois Wesleyan University deserve special thanks for providing a lively and pleasant environment in which to work. I would like to thank my department chair, Brian Hatcher, for helping me to navigate the world of publishing. I would like to thank Andrew Pavelich, Carole Myscofski, and Jason Moralee for reading various parts of the project and discussing them with me. Kevin Sullivan deserves special thanks not only for reading and commenting upon various parts of this monograph, but also for his moral support and friendship from the beginning of my time at Illinois Wesleyan. Sonja Fritzsche deserves thanks for her frequent advice regarding the translation of often extremely difficult German prose. I would also like to thank Regina Linsalata for all of her help. I want to thank Andrew Smith for his comments on various chapters of this work, as well as for being an invaluable interlocutor especially in regard to political philosophy and the question of religion. I would furthermore like to thank my students, particularly Drew Snodgrass, Kari Irwin, and the members of my class on Religious Tolerance and Pluralism in the fall semester of 2007. I would like to thank Dee Mortensen at Indiana University Press for making this publishing experience as pleasant as possible. I would also like to thank David L. Dusenbury at the University of Wales for his excellent copyediting and for the many important questions he raised which helped me to clarify my thinking. Finally, I would like to thank my family. My family has been a wonderful source of support and encouragement throughout this whole process. My grandparents, Frieda Horowitz, and John and Millicent Erlewine deserve thanks for...

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