Introduction to the Thematic Outline - Wisdom In Torah

INTRODUCTION TO THE INDEX
Creating a comprehensive book index for a work with the scope and depth of the Encyclopaedia
Judaica (EJ) is a worthy challenge for any team of indexers. This is especially
true because of the ambitious standard set by the first edition’s index by Prof. Raphael
Posner. I am confident that users of the second edition’s index will agree that this index
has risen to that challenge for a new generation of users.
A good reference index is not a concordance, a mere listing of every instance in
which a person or a place is mentioned in print. An index’s purpose is to help the user
find relevant information as quickly and easily as possible. To do this, the index must
do two things well. It must point a user toward those places where useful information
is to be found. And it must gather those pointers in a single, easily found place, so that
a user need not search here and there about the index, gathering references as if on a
scavenger hunt of arcana. An index that does both of these things will help a user to
quickly and confidently find all of the relevant information about a topic.
To create this index a large team of indexers from around the globe has read and reread
essays, seeking to ensure that our coverage of terms, themes, and concepts is both
comprehensive and useful. Many headings and subheadings have been consolidated to
ensure that all of the significant information about a topic or an aspect of a topic has
been gathered in a single place.
We have consulted frequently with the first edition’s index as we built the index for
the second edition. The valuable See and See Also cross-references created by Prof. Posner
for the first edition have been carried over wherever possible, and enhanced with
additional references for the many new topics that appear in the second edition. We
have also incorporated many of the first edition’s headings and subheadings in the second
edition’s index. Great thanks are due to the help provided by that singular reference.
Users will find two other avenues for accessing information in this edition as
described below: the thematic outline and the online e-book version of this reference.
THE THEMATIC OUTLINE
An index is not a thematic outline, nor is a thematic outline an index. Instead, the two
tools are designed to work together. The thematic outline that precedes this introduction
arranges all the entries under logically structured main categories. It is an excellent
tool for researchers seeking an overview of the encyclopedia’s coverage. The
alphabetical index is an excellent tool for researchers seeking specific information.
Using the two together can greatly enhance any research effort. A reader who finds an
essay of interest in the thematic outline would be well served to check the index for a
sense of the encyclopedia’s specific coverage of the topic. A user of the index who finds
a topic of interest would be well served to consult the thematic outline for a handy
overview of that topic’s place in the encyclopedia.
Where practical the structure of the index’s headings and subheadings has been
coordinated with the thematic outline to help users move smoothly from one to the
other. I strongly encourage readers and researchers alike to use both tools.
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