Introduction

Abstract

It was during the summer of 2021, the summer of Mordechai Feingold’s seventieth birthday, that we shared the news that this Festschrift was being sent into production. Miraculously, the editors and contributors had managed to keep news of our work a secret. It was no small thing because Moti, as his friends know him, had been in almost constant contact with all of us during the two years in which the effort was conceived, the contributions written, and the manuscript prepared for submission. Moti’s extensive scholarly productivity and participation in the Republic of Letters—in fielding inquiries, putting like-minded scholars in touch with one another, serving as a repository of encyclopedic knowledge, and making sure we all knew he was interested in our ongoing work—is just one of the many ways in which he contributes to our collected and collective wisdom. In truth, the plans for this celebration of Moti’s scholarship, and the very personal impact he has had on us, began long ago, when the contributors first met Moti, whether as a postgraduate, in Anna Marie Roos’s case, or as his junior colleague, in the case of Gideon Manning. Such has been Moti’s role in inspiring, challenging, and sustaining us, that a published celebration was inevitable.