Dear Norman, Thank you so much for your book on the Shema. It is just what I have been looking for as I lecture around the country about the need for greater spirituality in Judaism. I had forgotten that Ari Goldman was your nephew. We became friends while we were in Israel and his daughter and my daughter are planning a summer together at Camp Ramah. I look forward to reading every word of the book and borrowing much of it (with attribution of course) for my talks. I already quote you so much I should be paying royalties – but that is the price of your being so brilliant and quotable. Just this morning, I quoted you, the Rambam, and Justice Brennan on the Fifth Amendment – pretty good company for Justice Brennan. You had mentioned to me a source in the Talmud referring to the wildness of Jews as the reason they were given the Torah. If you could remember to send it I would be most appreciative. No mitzvah remains unpunished (at least here on earth) – so I am sending you a draft of my new novel which deals with themes of justice and revenge growing out of the Holocaust. If you get a chance to read it and if you like it enough to give me a blurb, I would of course be most appreciative and honored. But in any case, I think you might enjoy its major theme. With every good wish. Cordially, Alan M. Dershowitz

Dear Norman: Thank you so much for sending me your book. I have already started to read it, but my mother grabbed it away from me. She is here recovering from successful heart surgery, and when I brought her the book to look at, she insisted on keeping it. It is a remarkable accomplishment. I had absolutely no idea of the depth and variety of Hassidic writing on so many subjects. Today we tend to think of Hassidim as fundamentalist, but your selection demonstrates how ahistorical and prejudiced such a view is.It is remarkable that someone like you, who represents pluralism within the Jewish community, has done a much better job in presenting the Hassidic perspective than any of the current rebbis.I hope your book, as well as its author, has a long life. It should be required reading for anyone who wishes to see pluralism extend in all directions. Congratulations on yet another brilliant contribution to Judaism and to the intellectual life of our world.Cordially,Alan M. Dershowitz AMD\