Forward

Abstract

It is with great pride that we present the first issue of the new annual journal, Jewish Thought, sponsored by the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. As opposed to existent journals in Jewish thought, we have decided to make this one open access and hence easily available to readers the world over (paper copies will also be available for purchase for those interested). Each issue is to be devoted to a different topic and contain articles both in English and Hebrew. The topics we have chosen allow for contributions from all areas of Jewish thought. We hope in this way to combine the advantages ofvolumes of collected articles on a given theme with those of a journal that invites contributions from all scholars. The twelve articles that comprise this issue reflect a diversity of topics and approaches to faith and heresy in Jewish thought, beginning from the rabbinic period and culminating in modern Jewish thought. Most were written by established scholars, while some were written by young scholars who are at the beginning of their scholarly career. All articles that were submitted underwent a rigorous selection process involving at least two reviewers. We hope our readers will find much interest not only in individual articles but also in the different perspectives, when taken together, they bring to the subject. A list of the topics for coming issues and information to where to submit articles for consideration can be found in the opening pages of the journal. We are dedicating this inaugural issue to our colleague Prof. J. Daniel Lasker on the occasion of his seventieth birthday. Prof. Lasker has taught Jewish thought at Ben-Gurion University for close to forty years and held the Norbert Blechner chair in Jewish Values. He is a world renown authority in medieval Jewish philosophy, Jewish-Christian polemics, and Karaite thought; a dedicated teacher and an excellent mentor to his graduate students; and an exceptionally generous colleague who has contributed so much to the development ofour department. We are happy to honor him in this manner.