Bukharan Jews and the Dynamics of Global Judaism

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments This work is about the way in which unity can be constructed and maintained in the midst of tremendous flux and dispersion. Indeed, the book itself brings together in a single volume almost twenty years of research and writing, done in many locales. My deep love and devotion to the subject matters have carried me through the process. But this was no solitary enterprise. It could never have been accomplished without the care, support, encouragement, wisdom, friendship, sharing, and dedication of so many whom I met along the way. Some joined me in my endeavors for a few fleeting moments, and with others I have had deeper and more sustained interactions. Regardless, this work is a product of all these relationships. First, I must thank the people whom this book is about. Although it is not possible for me to list each of the hundreds of individuals who shaped this work by sharing pieces of their lives with me, I extend deep gratitude to all those who did. I am particularly thankful to a few for opening their hearts and homes to me, and for the great time and energy they spent teaching and sharing with me. These include: Yitzhak Abramov, Rivka (Aronbayev) Aharoni, Leora Gevirtzman, Rahel Karayof , Berta Nektalov, Shlomo Haye Niyazov, Geula Sabet, and Nina Yitzhakov. I would also like to mention Sasha Aronbayev and Mikhael Chulpayev, who passed away while still in the prime of their lives. I am grateful for their generosity of time and spirit, and wish I could have been able to share this book with them. May their memory be for a blessing . There are others whose anonymity I have worked to preserve, and xxii Acknowledgments am therefore unable to thank by name. I am deeply indebted to these individuals whose lives are so integral to the story I tell here. Thank you to the community leaders who facilitated my research. These include Eli Aminov and the staff at Moreshet Yahadut Bukhara; Rahel Karayof; Samuel Kassin and the representatives of Midrash Sephardi ; Emanuel Shimunov; and Yitzhak Yehoshua. Thank you to Shlomo Tagger and Geula Sabet for providing me with photos of their forebears, and for the permission to print them. Along my way I have had the benefit of receiving valuable insight, which helped me develop the ideas expressed here. At Boston University, thank you to Frank Korom, Fredrik Barth, Thomas Barfield, and Robert Weller for reading and commenting on the earliest versions of this work. I thank Charles Lindholm for his unwavering encouragement, and for teaching me, in his quiet but steadfast manner, that my work can be rigorous and disciplined, while simultaneously creative and free. My path has intersected Zvi Gitelman at many crucial moments and places in my writing and research: in Cambridge, Ann Arbor, Budapest, Uzbekistan, and of course over the Internet. I thank him for reading and commenting on a number of key sections here, for sharing his expert knowledge, for his gentle prodding, and for his sustained interest. In New York, I thank Jane Gerber for her encouragement and enthusiasm over the course of the many years. I thank Jay Berkovitz who spent countless hours talking with me about my writing during the long commute that we shared between Boston and Amherst. Our conversations were a tremendous help to me in thinking through some of the sections of this book that were most difficult to write. I am grateful to many people for assisting me in my efforts to decode the rabbinic letters that form the basis of chapter 6. Early on, Seth Farber, Elly Krimsky, and David Weiss-Halivni provided me with information and tools that helped me to read and understand these letters. Later, as I worked to resolve questions about these documents, I had the benefit of assistance from Aharon Oppenheimer, who spent many long study sessions with me. I also thank Shlomo Yaffe for sharing with me his tremendous knowledge. Finally, I thank Ephraim Kanarfogel and Ari Zivotofsky for their detailed reading of individual chapters of the manuscript and providing very helpful feedback. xxiii Acknowledgments I thank Hagar Salamon, Harvey Goldberg, and an anonymous reviewer who read the work in its completion as it neared the final stages. Their detailed questions, comments, and suggestions played a critical role in creating a stronger, clearer final product. I thank Seymour Becker for his careful work helping me to refine the sections on...