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Acknowledgments This project began to take shape in the spring of 1987 in dialogue with Professor Bernard Septimus, and came to its first phase of completion in the spring of 1995 through conversations with Professor Isadore Twersky z"l. I am grateful to Professor Twersky for his patience and trust in the project, for his invaluable insights and Socratic guidance, for encouraging me to ask large questions and meet challenges I would not otherwise have considered. I feel fortunate not only to have received these gifts, but to have been able to thank him for them. The book evolved further in my ongoing conversations with Professor Septimus, who has shared so generously of his rich scholarship and broad-ranging interests. A critically sensitive reader, he is a rare jewel of a scholar who has enriched my understanding in every area our exchanges have touched. I hope I can express my appreciation in deeds as well as words. I would like to thank Professor Wolfhart Heinrichs for his careful and incisive reading of my dissertation, from which this book evolved, and for giving so generously of his time reading Arabic texts. His judicious comments and suggestions, and the genuine interest he brought to it were invaluable . I am also grateful to Professor Wheeler Thackston for his generosity in reading Arabic texts over the years, for sharing his erudition and original perspectives. Professors William Graham, Hava LazarusYafeh z"l, and Everett Rowson were extremely helpful in reading texts and offering suggestions, as was Ahmad Atif Ahmad. Professor Bezalel Safran patiently launched and inspired my studies many years ago. I am especially indebted to Barry Kogan, who has so generously shared his ideas and translations of the Kuzari. I have also enjoyed the ix fruits of rich intellectual exchange with Steven Harvey, Daniel Lasker, and Kenneth Seeskin. Warren Zev Harvey has been a fountain of knowledge , insight, critique, and guidance. I would like to thank my colleagues during academic year 1996 –97 at the University of Maryland at College Park, and from 1997 to present in the Religious Studies Department of Rice University, for warm intellectual community and support for my scholarship and teaching. Matthias Henze has been more than a colleague: a fellow teacher, collaborator , and dear friend. My many gifted students have been a deep and ongoing source of inspiration. There were many whose reading of this manuscript and discussion of it in its various phases were of great benefit, including Linda Barnes, Miriam Bronstein, Jim Curry, Ted Kaptchuk, Jim Robinson, Joel Rosenberg , and Janet Zimmern. Betsy Bunn Kaptchuk offered the gift of clarity and wisdom. Ellen Birnbaum has been a colleague and mentor throughout this project; I have learned from her scholarship and from our exchanges in so many ways. Naava Frank, Ken Kronenberg, Tom Ross, Ken Russell, and the staff at the OIT Computer Lab were of great assistance in the material production of the manuscript. I am grateful to the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, which supported the early stages of my research . I would also like to thank my editors at the State University of New York Press, James Peltz, Bernadine Dawes, and Kenneth Seeskin for their warm assistance throughout the project. Don Galbreth offered valuable editorial assistance, including incisive critique, suggestions, and a crisp writing and editorial style. Andrea Frolic read and edited the entire manuscript twice in its final stages, helping to bring it to synthesis and completion through her gifts of exquisite clarity, precision, and insight. Her expertise and support are deeply appreciated. Miriam Bronstein added several final touches to the manuscript, in a friendship that is steadfast and growing. I thank Martin Kavka for his expert indexing, and for much more. For their inspiration and support over the course of this project, I would like to thank Dana Anderson, Meri Axinn, Nancy Barcelo, Sarah Braun, Debi Carbacio, Elaine Chapnik, Sandra Daitch, Stan Dorn, Mrs. Shirly Goodman, R. Moshe Holcer, Debbie Kagan, Judy Kates, Efraim Krug, Naomi Lake, Ellen Lim, Tina Mulhern, Marilyn Paul, Tony Rivera, and the Spinoza study group. For their indefatigable support and good humor, I would like to thank my sister and parents, and grandparents to whom this book is dedicated. Finally, to Christine Hoepfner, Walter Ness, R. Yonah, and the Source of all blessings—thanks go far beyond words. x Acknowledgments ...

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