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Rebecca Alpert Jim Biechler Marcus Braybrooke Ellen T. Charry Leobard D'Souza David Efroymson Gabriele Feyler Stefan Feyler Eugene Fisher Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer Krystina Gorniak-Kocikowska Yitz Greenberg Wan-Li Ho Sanaullah Kirmani Reinhard Kirste Hans Küng Lihua Liu Jack Malinowski Patricia Martinez Sergio Mazza Alan Mittleman Ronald Modras Paul Mojzes Malcolm Nazareth Angelika Quade Ida Raming Virginia Kaib Ratigan John Sahadat Simone Schaupp Ingrid Shafer Shu-hsien Liu Thomas Thompson Catherine Berry Stidsen
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Alan Mittleman I met Len Swidler when I was in my first year of the graduate program at Temple. I had attended the AAR--also for the first time--and had gone to the Temple reception. Len was leaning against a door jamb, chatting amiably with graduate students. I joined the group. I recall asking him what his area of expertise was. With typical humility, he chuckled, denied having expertise in anything and referred to himself as a generalist. I was amazed that a well-known, senior professor should be so modest. I was also impressed that he wanted to spend time with me, a mere first year grad student right out of college. Such was the beginning of a friendship that has lasted almost thirty years. I owe Len much gratitude for providing the initial stimulation and guidance in activities that have meant a great deal to me. Len first exposed me to serious interfaith dialogue. Without him, I would not have been qualified to work as a specialist in interfaith affairs at the American Jewish Committee from 1984-1988. While at AJC, I organized dozens of Jewish-Catholic events around the U.S. to mark the twentieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate in 1985. None of those would have occurred without the intellectual inspiration of Len Swidler. Len also facilitated my first trip to Germany and inducted me into the small but resolute circle of people committed to German-Jewish dialogue. Over fifty trips later, I have Len Swidler to thank for giving legitimacy to an interest that I once feared was taboo. Len has been more than an academic mentor to me. He has been a model of decency and virtue. I marveled, on our trip to Germany, at his energy and indefatigability. When people half his age were more than ready to turn in, Len was keen to pursue even deeper conversation. Len's abiding faith in the power of conversation is also marvelous. In our cynical, embittered times, he remains a man of realistic hope, believing that respectful conversation can improve those who engage in it. Whenever I am inclined to write off people who don't (for whatever perverse reason!) share my politics, I could do no better than to remember Len's generosity of spirit and openness to engage those who disagree with him. No one could ever feel demeaned or disrespected in his presence. That is something to aspire to. As a guest at my wedding reception-I should add that my wife, Patti, has known Len and Arlene longer than I have-I discovered something especially intriguing about Len. When he was talking with my Soviet Jewish cousin, it emerged that his father and my grandfather came from the same small Ukrainian shtetl. Perhaps this is why we get along so well; mutatis mutandis, we are landsmen. Mazal tov on your birthday, Len. As my grandfather might have said to yours bis hundertundzwanzig! Alan Mittleman
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