Religion-Judaism

Studies the history, literature, and religion of ancient Israel in the light of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Emphasizes methods of contemporary biblical criticism. Cross listed as RELC 1210.

First half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, in Hebrew. These capacities enable students to internalize the language and thus achieve the overall course goal: read simple biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. No Prerequisites.

Second half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, internalize the language, and efficiently develop the ability to read biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. Students read the prose portions of the Book of Jonah and master basic Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1410 or the equivalent.

Jewish and Muslim communities share a complex history of interaction, spanning from seventh-century Arabia to the present day, and including instances of collaboration as well as moments of violence. Our course examines this dynamic relationship through documentary and literary sources. We focus on points of contact between Muslims and Jews in contexts ranging from battlefields to universities, from religious discourse to international politics.

What does it mean to construct one's identity in dialogue with ancient texts and traditions? Can the gap between ancient and contemporary be bridged? Or must texts and traditions born of a remote time and place remain hopelessly irrelevant to contemporary life? This course explores these questions by examining the myriad ways that contemporary Jews balance the complexities of modern life with the demands of an ancient heritage.

This class is an introduction to Jewish Life in America in its religious and cultural manifestations. Students will become familiar with Jewish texts, holidays, rituals, lifecycle events, philosophical issues, communities and cultural practices as they are encountered NOW.

Description and explanation of the diverse forms of Jewish religious life in America.

Readings in the prose narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1420 or the equivalent.

Readings in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and poetics. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 2410 or the equivalent

This course provides the student with an opportunity to explore a new topic in Jewish Studies

Responses to the Holocaust

This course introduces the medieval Jewish intellectual tradition (9th-13th centuries) in its cultural and historical context. We will explore key themes such as the nature of God, prophecy, exile, the status of Scripture, the history of religions, and the quest for spiritual perfection. Readings will be drawn from philosophical, theological, exegetical, pietistic and mystical texts, including works from Saadia Gaon, Judah Halevi, and Maimonides.

This course offers an introduction into the major themes of Modern Jewish Thought.

Studies the structure and content of Jewish law in terms of its normative function, its historical background, its theological and philosophical principles, and its role in contemporary society both Jewish and general.

Judaism: Medicine and Healing

An exploration of ethical thinking using the resources of the Jewish tradition.

Prophecy provides the theme for our comparative inquiry into two sacred scriptures (the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible) alongside the rich traditions of Muslim and Jewish interpretive literature. We will consider narratives about specific prophets, medieval debates between and within Muslim and Jewish communities about the status and function of prophecy within their traditions, and modern theoretical approaches to prophecy.

This course provides a wide-ranging exploration of the culture, history & thought of German Jewry from 1750 to 1939. It focuses on the Jewish response to modernity in Central Europe and the lasting transformations in Jewish life in Europe and later North America. Readings of such figures as: Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Rahel Varnhagen, Franz Kafka, Gershom Scholem, Martin Buber, Karl Marx, Rosa Luxembourg, Walter Benjamin, and Freud.

Queer Judaism

As we study the ritual of the Jewish wedding ceremony from antiquity to the present day, we will see how notions about marriage, gender relations, and the normative family are displayed and challenged. In particular, we will be investigating the establishment of innovations in the contemporary Jewish weddings (traditional, liberal, same-sex and interfaith) in America and Israel.

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Judaism.

This course is built around the "big" questions Jews in the modern period have faced--such as "Who is a Jew?," "Are there divine commandments?," "Must a Jew believe anything?," "Can there be God after Auschwitz?" Each unit will approach a different question from a variety of perspectives and sources--secular and religious--offering tools to understand complexities, acknowledge context, and ask new questions.

This course is organized around great works in the history of art whose thematic content and historical context intersect with the Jewish experience. Each session focuses on one representative artwork from antiquity to the present to reveal something about Jewish history. Textual sources (biblical, poetic, literary, scholarly) help interpret the artwork.

This course examines the ways that contemporary Jews balance the complexities of modern life with the demands of an ancient heritage. The course toggles back and forth between the historical conditions that produced seminal texts and traditions, and the use to which they are put in the making of contemporary Jewish identities, with special attention to attention to strategies of resistance, adaptation and affirmation.

In this course, we will rethink contemporary American Judaism from the ground up by examining the relationship between Jewish countercultures and the institutions against which they seek to rebel. We will pay particular attention to the ritual innovations of New Age practitioners and grassroots activists. Through this process, we will develop a deeper understanding of why these movements arose and of the rather patterned contradictions that plague their very existence.