Gerhard Bodendorfer (Roman-Catholic) studied religious pedagogic, Judaistik and ancient Semitic philology in Vienna. His doctoral thesis had the title Elected by God ? Jerusalem: The interpretation of Deuteronomy 12 in early Judaism. He is Professor at the Institute for Old Testament Biblical Research in Salzburg, Austria, and head of the Department of Judaistik and Orientalistik. He has written a large number of theological articles and contributions to collective volumes. From 1993 to 2001 Dr. Bodendorfer was President of the Austrian Coordinating Committee for Christian-Jewish Cooperation, an independent organization of Christians and Jews in the service of dialogue with head office in Vienna. In this capacity he was the first publisher of the quarterly journal called Dialog - Du Siach.