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In Heathrow Airport a few years ago, getting ready to return to Israel after attending the London Book Fair, literary agent Ilana Kurshan found herself waiting in the security line for the Israeli airline, El Al. She lugged with her not only suitcases but also a weighty tome from the Babylonian Talmud, which she read while she waited for the line to shorten. When she finally got to El Al’s desk, the Israeli security agent began a series of questions: “Why are you going to Israel? You have family in Israel? No family? You live in Israel? Why do you live in Israel if you have no family? You are from America? Why don’t…