Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture
"With the scope and depth of its research, masterly panoramic presentations, invaluable insights, splendid notes, and judiciously selected bibliography, his book sets a standard that transcends the label of an excellent introduction. It is a comprehensive education in a specific dmiension of rabbinic Judaismm and more than that, in rabbinic Judaism as a totality."--American Historical Review"...a rewarding and enlightening study.  Its fresh approaches to the understanding of familiar rabbinic texts penetrate beneath the technical surfaces of talmudic law and rhetoric to confront important issues of Jewish spirituality and lifestyles."--Journal of the American Academy of Religion