With the publication of this third volume in the Redeeming Relevance series, I now feel committed to completing the series on all five books of the Torah, something far from what I had intended when I first started writing the first volume. But the response that I have gotten from so many readers and their thirst for more have pushed me to dedicate myself to this challenge and see the project to its natural conclusion. Such a goal notwithstanding, I have chosen to continue out of order and to put out Bemidbar and Devarim before I return to Vayikra, considered by many to be the most challenging book of the five. This choice is not only a result of the difficulty of that book; in the process of writing I have found that each volume builds upon the other, such that I plan to use much of what I have written in the first four volumes to make the last volume on Vayikra a finale to and synthesis of them all.
As we pass the midpoint in the Redeeming Relevance series, I would like to mention the many individuals who have helped me reach this milestone. The publication of Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Numbers has been made possible by friends who have also become donors, and donors who have also become good friends. Andrew Bloom, Morris and Julie Dweck, Ron and Toby Hersh, and Michael and Judy Kaiser provided the main support for this volume. Others who helped in its publication were Rick and Caryn Bentley-Vogel, David and Ilene Brookler, Ruth Levi and Bob Carroll, Michael and Sarah Hidary, and David and Sarah Sassoon. I am honored by the support of these dedicated individuals, and their friendship is a source of great joy. It is a blessing to have such upstanding and outstanding partners in my work.
Although I am no longer formally associated with the David Cardozo Academy, I am indebted to the institute for the help given toward the publication of this book. In particular, its founder and dean, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo, continues to encourage and help me in many aspects of my creative work. He and his staff members, Esther Peterman and Ayala Goldman, provided me with important administrative assistance on this project, for which I am very grateful.
Tzvi Mauer and Urim Publications continue to provide a warm yet highly professional editorial home for the Redeeming Relevance series. I feel privileged to be involved with Urim, which has done the Jewish community an invaluable service by putting out so many important titles. May they continue to publish many more works of lasting value.
Many friends and students helped me by tweaking an idea or suggesting additional sources and the like. They are too many involved for me to list, but I would be amiss not to cite the help of Eli Auslander, who reviewed much of the text and provided valuable input.
As with the previous volumes, my most important partner in this book is my wife, Deena. Among her many talents is being an outstanding Judaica editor. She is a master of both content and form, and thus contributed immeasurably to the readability of my thoughts. As in everything else that we share, she has gone way beyond the call of duty in giving of her time and efforts.
Most of all, I thank the Master of the Universe for all of the insights and inspiration that He has granted me. Many times when I have come up with a new interpretation, I stand in awe and wonder what I could possibly have done to deserve such a distinction. The one thing I can surmise is that I have shown willingness to really listen to the Divine voice in the text and to hear what it is saying to me. And the only way I can pay back this gift is to recommend to others to do the same and to share that which I have gained by doing so myself. What follows is the third volume in my effort to do just that.
— FRANCIS NATAF
Jerusalem
Tevet 5774