George Robinson - Essential Torah: A Complete Guide to the Five Books of Moses

The Kotzker Rebbe said, Some people wear their faith like an overcoat. It warms only them, but does not benefit others at all. But others light a fire and also warm others. I have been fortunate to sit by the fire of many good people in writing this book.

First and foremost in inspiring many of the thoughts contained here are my dear khevruta, my partners in Torah study to whom this book is dedicated, Connie Heymann, Elizabeth Lorris Ritter, and Patricia Dorff. They were also kind enough to offer their insights and experience for the final chapter. Their husbandsJohn Muller, Barry Ritter, and Danny Heubergerand their childrenKatherine Muller, Tina and David Ritter, and Benjamin and Claire Heubergerwere patient enough to let me steal some of their time. Many thanks also to others who participated in our study sessionsSusan Leopold, Sheldon Koy, Donna Smiley, and Steve Meltzer.

As was the case with its predecessor, Essential Judaism, many of the ideas between this books covers got their first airing at Beth Am, the Peoples Temple, and my gratitude to the members of that congregation, living and dead, is enormous. So, too, is my debt to the members of Hebrew Tabernacle, which has become a home to Beth Am and to me. Many of the commentaries in the second half of this book had their first life as derashot delivered before those two congregations, and my special thanks go to Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig, Rabbi Tamar Malino, Rabbi Karen Kaplan, Rabbi Stephen Berkowitz, and Rabbi Scott Weiner, and to Cantors Michael Kruk and Rebecca Fletcher, at whose pulpitsand on whose shouldersI have been privileged to stand.

The eight studentsAllison Ancowitz, Abraham Ace Bouchard, Michael Herson, Elana Leopold, Tina Ritter, Joshua Rotbert, Daniel Saez, and Gabriel Salzmanin the class on Torah that I co-taught with Rabbi Wenig, Gerson Goodman, and Edith Rubino in 199899 were the first people to watch me take the first childlike steps in Khumash that I had attempted since I was not much older than they. The passages on Torah cantillation were helped immeasurably by the contributions of Margot Fein and Connie Heymann. The chapter on Torah study benefited enormously from the rabbis and scholars who contributed their insights; I thank them for their time and the gift of their experience. Thank you to Israel Moshe Sandman for the citations regarding the physical dimensions of a sefer Torah; to Joy Weinberg and Hilary Ziff of Reform Judaism magazine for combing their library for several articles; to Nina Nesher, my very patient occasional Hebrew tutor; and to Molly Rubinstein, for sharing her insights into Yosef and his brothers.

My team of staunch supporters, friends, and allies that helped make writing Essential Judaism such a pleasant experience stood by me again for this book. Connie Heymann once again vetted the manuscript as a first readershe could hardly be called a naive informant anymore, given her own enormous knowledge. Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig continues to be not only a good friend and spiritual counselor but also a source of sound advice whose wisdom got me through several difficult points on this journey. Marsha Melnick is quite simply a rock; if everyone in publishing was as generous and caring as Marsha, youd never hear an author complain again.

When we began shopping the proposal for this book, Marsha asked me, How would you feel about Schocken? My reply was emphatic: How would I like to be published by the press that was founded for the express purpose of bringing out books by Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig? Is honored strong enough? Had I known then what a wonderful experience it would be to work with Altie Karper and, for a time, Susan Ralston, I would have been even more forceful in expressing my pleasure. For anyone writing a book on a Jewish subject, Schocken and its staff are a dream come true. Rabbi S. David Sperling read the book with a thoroughness at which I can only marvel. He caught numerous errors in Hebrew, Aramaic, and English, in fact and in interpretation. I am deeply indebted for his extraordinary effort.

My mother, Barbara Robinson, went through a spiritual search not unlike my own; it led her in a different direction, but she has been a genuine inspiration to me on my own path. Her activism in her church has been a shining example of what it means to be a giving part of a faith community, and my admiration, love, and respect for her have contributed to the making of this book.

The process of writing Essential Torah, to my dismay, proved to be almost as drawn out as the work on its predecessor. Needless to say, I couldnt have gotten through it without the support of many people, family, friends, and colleagues too numerous to mention by name. Special thanks are due to Rob Goldblum, Gary Rosenblatt, and the staff of Jewish Week; Bob Leiter, Carin Smilk, and the staff at Inside Magazine and the Jewish Exponent; and Gail Zimmerman at the Detroit Jewish News. I never missed a deadline (that I can recall) but sometimes Ive been a little hard to find, for which I apologize.

Throughout the conception and writing of Essential Torah, only one person has been utterly indispensable to me. I will merely reiterate the praise I offered in my previous book and say that Margalit Fox is the best friend and partner I could hope for and a thousand times better than I deserve.

George Robinson

New York, NY, August 2006