It is with bittersweet satisfaction that we set before the reader this monument to the prodigious scholarly acumen and industry of our dear friend and colleague Ilana Sasson, who passed away on October 15, 2017 at the age of 63. In the months preceding her passing Ilana undertook the herculean task of producing a complete draft translation of Yefet ben ʿEli’s commentary on Proverbs, based on her edition published in the present series in 2016. We were in regular contact with Ilana regarding the necessary fine-tuning of her draft up through chapter seven, after which she was unable to engage any further in the process. Up to her last communication with us, in early September 2017, when her pain was severe and her medication quite heavy, she showed herself at every step to be a woman of quality and noble character, empathy, and grace. Without the slightest complaint or any trace of bitterness, her last words, expressed to us in an email of September 11, 2017, were to thank us for our kindness and to express to us her love. Her absence is keenly felt by all who knew her and loved her—an apropos example of the ēshet ḥayil that concludes the focus of the present work to which she dedicated so much of her time and energy.1
Since the majority of Ilana’s translation remained in draft form, much “fine-tuning” work was still needed to ensure that it would both accurately reflect her proven skill and erudition as well as satisfy the high standards that we have set for this series. To this end it was necessary to go through the Judaeo-Arabic text of her edition, word by word, and ensure that the translation was as clear as possible, albeit while still reflecting the unique “voice” of Ilana. For Yefet’s translation and commentary on chapter 31, there is good deal of affinity to the present editor’s (Michael’s) translation, which was published, along with a critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic text, in two separate publications (see the bibliography). Citations from the Hebrew Bible follow the JPS Tanakh: A New Translation of the Holy Scriptures according to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia, 1985), albeit adjusted per context and per taste.
Michael Wechsler
Meira Polliack December 2022
For additional biographical information on Ilana see the recent volume dedicated to her memory by Meira Polliack and Athalya Brenner-Idan (eds.), Jewish Biblical Exegesis from Islamic Lands: The Medieval Period (Bible and Its Reception 1; Atlanta: SBL Press, 2019), xvii, 348.