A human, born of woman,
Is short of days and sated with restlessness.
He sprouts like a flower and withers.
He flees like a shadow and does not stay.
—Job 14:1–2
This work is dedicated to the memory of my students
who passed on well before their time.
Thomas Lichtman
Ran Zohar
Matthew Eisenfeld
Seth Brody
Richard Thaler
Zvia Ginor
Cynthia Culpeper
Alan Lew
Daniel Wagner
Joel Wasser
Ellen Singer
Rami Wernick
Yaakov Thompson
Thea Friedman
Evan Jaffe
Ilana Sasson
Whom the gods love dies young.