ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS OF A SINGLE DEDICATION

To my grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Katsenelinboigen (1876-1941), even though I am not sure that he would have liked this book.

To my grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Katsenelinboigen (1876-1941). I believe that he, with his creative non-dogmatic mind, would have found this book congenial. 

 

                                                                           Photo of Rabbi Yitzhak Katsenelinboigen

                                                        ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Cynthia Anderson, Judy Casanova, Valery Chalidze, Mikhail Epstein, Neil Gillman, William Kauffman, Samuel Klausner, Joseph Lakhman, Michael Levins, Ann Matter, Eugene Mayburd, Kenneth Mischel, Mikhail Sergeev, Vladimir Shlapentokh, David Teutsch, Jeffry Tigay, Lazar Trachtenberg, Efraim Urbach, and Herbert Wentz whose expertise helped me to write this book.

Many thanks to Paul Kleindorfer, the Chairman of the Department of Operations and Information Management (formerly The Department of Decision Sciences) at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. His support of this project is much appreciated.

Special thanks to Elizabeth Voitko and my sons, Gregory and Alexander, who helped to polish the text of the manuscript because my English hardly merits a Nobel Prize for Literature.

Last but not least, my thanks to V. Ulea (Vera Zubarev) for many years of conversations and fruitful cooperation concerning the interpretation of the Torah and related subjects. The unusual ability of this fine young lady to grasp poetry, literary criticism, movie-making, and philosophical issues, coupled with our intellectual compatibility, has made our discussions provocative and wide-ranging. Our collaboration has had an enormous impact on this book. Her influence on its content is ubiquitous, even though I rarely mention her name in the context specific contributions. And may Ulea share all of my thanks with her husband, Vadim and her son, Mikhail.