THE TORAH: A WOMEN’S COMMENTARY has been a labor of love for the many women associated with this project from its inception to publication. Those of us who are fortunate to have been a part of the process in any way know that we are indeed blessed to have had this opportunity. Special thanks must go to Rosanne Selfon, WRJ President, who has steadfastly and selflessly worked to ensure the funding for The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. The dedication of all involved in this publication will leave a lasting impact on our daughters and granddaughters, sons and grandsons, and all future generations.
—Shelley Lindauer
Executive Director
Women of Reform Judaism
IDEDICATE THIS WORK with love to my children and grandchildren who are both the source and the reason for this Commentary: Willa Eskenazi, Kay Eskenazi, Joanne Cohn with Martin and Alex White; Naomi, Michael, Erika, and Nicole Eskenazi; Devon, David, Miranda, and Jeremy Cohn. I also dedicate the book with love and gratitude to the late David Eskenazi and Bill Whedbee, from whom I learned torah in its fullest sense; to the memory of Howie Cohn; and to my fabulous sister Sylvia Wildenstein and dear friends for their unfailing support (especially Rachel Adler, Annette Aronowicz, Eleanore Judd, Barbara Lehman, Marilyn Levy, Evely Shlensky, and Sheila Teitlebaum). Many thanks to my colleagues and students at Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles, who were involved (sometimes unknowingly) in this enterprise. Special thanks are extended also to my inspiring and cherished Havurah with whom I shared portions of the Commentary, and much else as well: Jean and Jay Abarbanel, Arlene and Eli Chernow, Marcia and Carl Josephy, Vicki and Arnie Kupetz, Peachy and Mark Levy, Judy and Paul Lippe, Esther Saritzky, and Ruth Temkin and Richard Schwartzberg. Finally, I thank my friend and colleague, the amazing Andrea Weiss, for being a peerless partner in this enterprise; Hara Person, for wisely, skillfully, and cheerfully navigating all of us; David Stein, for his devotion to the text and to its interpreters; Barbara Koppel, for going well beyond the call of duty; and the splendid Editorial Board for reading and rereading (especially Carol Meyers, who helped with the large biblical entries). This remarkable team, together with the contributors to the Commentary, made this project a joyous and inspiring dialogue.
—Tamara Cohn Eskenazi
MY EDITING OF THE COMMENTARY was enhanced by the feedback of many individuals who studied drafts of this material, in particular the members of the Beth David Torah study class (Susan Dein Bricklin, Dinah Engel, Lynne Glasser, Anita Lichtenberg, Francine Pearlman-Storch, Stacey Polan, Val Rossman, Roberta Ruvin, Lynn Scott, Nancy Streim) and my Fall 2006 elective at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York (Debra Bennet, Heather Borshof, Jesse Gallop, Shira Ginsburg, Alissa Goodkin, Zoe Jacobs, Marcy Kadin, Sharon Kunitz, Katie Oringel, Daniel Sikowitz, Jill Perlman, Jennifer Strauss-Klein). I thank all of my students and colleagues at HUC-JIR, New York, for the many ways they contributed to the completion of this volume. I am grateful to have worked with and learned from the many contributors and editors of this Commentary, especially my cherished teacher and mentor Tamara Eskenazi, as well as Carol Meyers, Hara Person, David Stein, and Barbara Koppel. Finally, I could not have devoted the time this project required without the help of three wonderful au pairs (Lisa Kornhauser, Ana Bakija, Einav Margalit) and the love and support of my husband, Alan Tauber, and our children, Rebecca and Ilan Tauber, to whom I dedicate this Commentary.
—Andrea L. Weiss
IN ADDITION TO the individuals mentioned in the Preface and above, there are many others who are deserving of recognition and thanks. Significant early support for this project came from Rabbi Eric Yoffie and Rabbi Danny Freelander. Thanks also to the URJ Business Board, Mort Finkelstein, Jane Aronoff, Austin Beutel, Myrna Beyer, Allan Hirsh III, Bob Koppel, Anne Molloy, and Gary Weinberger, as well as URJ colleagues Rabbi Elliot Kleinman, Rabbi Sue Ann Wasserman, Emily Grotta, and Donny Cohen-Cutler. Thanks go to all the congregations who participated in the pilot Chayei Sarah Study Shabbat in November 2006. I am also indebted to my colleagues from the Women’s Rabbinic Network who allowed us to study with them and provided helpful feedback at the 2007 WRN conference. Thanks also to Dr. Phil Miller at HUC-JIR in New York, Rabbi Debra Hachen, Rabbi Micky Boyden, Rabbi Bill Cutter, Jessica Greenbaum, Clare Kinberg, Chana Bloch, and Linda Zisquit.
My colleagues at the URJ Press all lent their considerable individual talents and enthusiasm to make this project a reality, including Debra Hirsch Corman, Ben Farber, Lea Barak, and Amy Nichols. In addition to the whole staff’s overall support and dedication, special thanks to Victor Ney and Zack Kolstein who share my passion for this project and generously provided their financial and marketing acumen, Ron Ghatan for valiantly taking on various aspects of production, Chris Aguero for keeping on top of the printing and paper issues, Michael Silber for handling some design issues and creating a beautiful cover, and Rebecca Baer for tackling the Voices permissions and bio process started by Elizabeth Gutterman. We were also helped by dedicated rabbinic interns: Jocee Hudson (Voices), Leah Berkowitz (Voices), Cari Bricklin (cross-references), Owen Gottlieb (About the Authors, and the Bibliography), and Judith Bacharach (About the Voices Contributors).
A special pleasure during the development of this book was the opportunity to study excerpts from it with the Women’s Study Group of the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue, namely Jessica Brown, Susan Chadick, Fran Gottfried, Ida Gutterman, Randi Jaffe, Karen Moshman, Robbin Slade, and Carol Ziegler. The encouragement of Rabbi Serge Lippe is also deeply appreciated.
Working on this book was a delight and a pleasure in no small part because of the opportunity to work closely with and learn from Tamara Eskenazi, Andrea Weiss, Sue Levi Elwell, Sherry Blumberg, Barbara Koppel, and David Stein, as well as the whole Editorial Board. I continue to be inspired by the vision and tenacity of Shelley Lindauer and Rosanne Selfon. Most of all, heartfelt thanks and love to Diane Person, Jenni Person, and Chaim Lieberperson, and especially to Yigal, Liya, and Yoni Rechtman for understanding and patience way beyond the call of duty.
—Hara E. Person
MY THANKS GO to Rabbi Me’irah Iliinsky, whose illustrations have given this book a special sparkle, and to Emily Law (proofreader), Leslie Rubin (associate copy editor, and indexer), and Joysa Winter (proofreader), as well as the first-rate team at El Ot (compositors).
—David E. S. Stein