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JEWISH SOCIETY and CULTURE I: ANTIQUITY and the MIDDLE AGES Rutgers University, Spring 2013

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JEWISH SOCIETY and CULTURE I: ANTIQUITY and the MIDDLE AGES Rutgers University, Spring 2013 Professor Paola Tartakoff Office hours: Th 10:30-11:30 and by app’t [email protected] Office: 105 Miller Hall, 14 College Ave. 732-932-4021 JEWISH SOCIETY AND CULTURE I: ANTIQUITY AND THE MIDDLE AGES Rutgers University, Spring 2013 History 506:271 / Jewish Studies 563:201 / Middle Eastern Studies 685:208 Mon/Wed 1:10-2:30, Murray 210 Course Description: Required for majors and minors in Jewish Studies, this course examines the social, intellectual, and religious life of the Jewish people from Israel's beginnings to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. It starts with an overview of the history of Israel from c. 1400 B.C.E. to the end of the Babylonian Captivity. Next it turns to the Second Temple Period, focusing on Israel's encounter with Hellenism, Jewish eschatological hopes, and Jewish life under Roman rule. The course then explores the Jewish experience in the early medieval period. Topics in this section include the rise of rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the world of the Babylonian academies, and Jewish life under Visigothic and Muslim rule. The last portion of the course examines Jewish life under Christian rule in Sepharad and Ashkenaz. It emphasizes important trends in medieval Jewish thought and traces the evolution of medieval anti-Judaism. Core Curriculum Learning Goals: • H: Understand the bases and development of human and societal endeavors across time and place • K: Explain the development of some aspect of a society or culture over time, including the history of ideas or history of science • I: Employ historical reasoning to study human endeavors Additional Learning Goals: • Acquire an overview of major developments in the history of the Jewish people from Israel’s beginnings to 1492 • Learn to analyze primary sources critically Required Text (available at the Rutgers University Bookstore, Ferren Mall, One Penn Plaza, 732-246- 8448): The Jews: A History, ed. John Efron et al . (Prentice Hall, 2009). ISBN: 0131786873. $53.33 Other Texts: • Hebrew Bible and New Testament in English, including the Apocrypha can be accessed online at: http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/index.php?action=getVersionInfo&vid=31&lang=2#books . • Additional readings will be posted on Sakai ( https://sakai.rutgers.edu -- click on ‘JSC1, S13’ and then on ‘Resources’). Grading: • Attendance: 5% • Participation: 15% • 2 Text Analyses: 15% each, 30% total • Midterm Exam: 25% • Final Exam: 25% 2 LECTURES AND KEY READINGS I. Early Israel (Efron, 1-48) 1. Wed 1/23: Introduction 2. Mon 1/28: From Abraham to Moses • Genesis 9:8-17; 12:1-7, 10; 17:1-8; Exodus 19; 20:1-6; 32 3. Wed 1/30: The Promised Land • Joshua 24:2-3; Exodus 12:12; 15:11; 20:1, 3; Psalm 82:1; 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 1 Kings 11:1-10 4. Mon 2/4: Idolatry and Division • 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 1 Kings 11:1-2; 2 Kings 21:1-15; 22:11-13; Deuteronomy 28:15-16 5. Wed 2/6: Exile and Prophecy • 1 Kings 17; 18:16-40; 2 Kings 2:8-12; Jeremiah 7:21-30; 10:3-6; 13:25; 37:15-21; Isaiah 1:11-15; 43:10-11; 44:6; 45:5-6; 46:7-9 II. The Second Temple Period (Efron, 49-82) 6. Mon 2/11: Return and Renewal • Ezra 1:2-4; 3:10-13; Isaiah 44:28-45:5; Nehemiah 8:1-9 7. Wed 2/13: Hellenistic Jewish Thought. TEXT ANALYSIS #1 DUE • Letter to Aristeas (Sakai) • Excerpts from Philo’s allegorical interpretation of Genesis 18:1-5 (Sakai) 8. Mon 2/18: Eschatology and the Maccabean Revolt • Daniel 12:1-3; 13 ; 2 Maccabees, chapters 6 and 7 9. Wed 2/20: Judea under Roman Rule. • Josephus on the Fall of Masada (Sakai) • Yohanan ben Zakkai on the Destruction of Jerusalem (Sakai) • Josephus on the Jewish Sects (Sakai) III. The Early Middle Ages (Efron, 82-146) 10. Mon 2/25: The Rise of Rabbinic Judaism • Excerpts from Pirke Avot, Pesahim, and Mikhilta de Rabbi Ishmael (Sakai) 11. Wed 2/27: Birth of Christianity • Luke 1-24 (skim); John 18:28-19:16; Romans 2:25-29 12. Mon 3/4: Early Islam • The Qu’ran on the Children of Israel (Sakai) • The Pact of Umar (Sakai) • The Itinerary of the Rhadanite Merchants (Sakai) 13. Wed 3/6: The Gaonate, the Exilarchate, and Jewish Sectarianism 2 3 • “Nathan the Babylonian on the Installation of the Exilarch” (Sakai) • Excerpt from the Book of Beliefs and Opinions of Saadia Gaon (Sakai) • “A Karaite Refutation of Saadia’s Defense of Rabbinic Judaism” (Sakai) 14. Mon 3/11: Midterm review 15. Wed 3/13: MIDTERM SPRING BREAK: March 16-24 16. Mon 3/25: NO CLASS, PASSOVER 17. Wed 3/27: NO CLASS, PASSOVER 18. Mon 4/1: NO CLASS, PASSOVER 19. Wed 4/3: “Food and Jewish Identity” (guest lecture by Professor David Freidenreich, Colby College) • Readings TBA 20. Mon 4/8: Jewish Life in Early Medieval Spain • Hebrew Poetry (Sakai) • Letter from Hasdai ibn Shaprut to the king of the Khazars (Sakai) 21. Wed, 4/10: Medieval Jewish Philosophy • Maimonides, Mishneh Torah , Book of Knowledge , The Foundations of the Torah, Chapter 1 (Sakai) • Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3, Chapter 51 (Sakai) • “Solomon ibn Adret on the Place of Philosophy and Mysticism in Judaism” (Sakai) IV. The Later Middle Ages (Efron, 147-183) 22. Mon, 4/15: Jewish Culture in Medieval Ashkenaz. TEXT ANALYSIS #2 DUE • “The Charter of Bishop Rudiger of Speyer” (Sakai) • The Testament of Eleazar of Mainz (Sakai) • Excerpts from the Responsa of Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg (Sakai) 23. Wed, 4/17: Crusade Massacres and the Blood Libel • The Crusaders at Mainz (Sakai) • Bernard of Clairvaux on Protecting the Jews (Sakai) • “The Accusation of Ritual Murder at Blois” (Sakai) 24. Mon 4/22: The Jewish-Christian Debate • Excerpts from the Hebrew and Latin accounts of the Barcelona Disputation (Sakai) 25. Wed 4/24: Film: “The Disputation” 26. Mon 4/29: Conversos and the Spanish Inquisition • Solomon Alami on the massacres of 1391 (Sakai) • Trial of Isabel (Sakai) 3 4 27. Wed 5/1: The Expulsion of 1492 • Edict of Expulsion (Sakai) • Jewish Account of the Expulsion (Sakai) 28. Mon 5/6: Conclusions and Review FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, May 14, 12-3 p.m. (Murray 210) COURSE POLICIES • Absences . After 2 unexcused absences, a student’s final course grade will drop by half a letter grade for every subsequent absence (for example, from a B+ to a B). • Late Work will be marked down a full letter grade every 24 hours (for example, from a B+ to a C+). After one week, it will receive an F. • Missing Work. Failure to turn in an assignment or take an exam will result in failure of the course. • Academic Integrity. Any student who cheats on an exam or fails to cite all sources consulted in preparing a written assignment, including material found on the internet, will receive an F on the exam or assignment and be subject to the severe penalties mandated by Rutgers University regulations, which include suspension from the university and a mark on the student’s permanent record. For details, go to http://teachx.rutgers.edu/integrity/policy.html • Students with Disabilities. If you need special arrangements for exams or other coursework, please contact the Office for Disability Services (http://disabilityservices.rutgers.edu/ ) and provide the instructor with documentation as soon as possible. • Class announcements will be sent to your Eden accounts via Sakai. Be sure to check your Eden accounts regularly. • Recording lectures. You may not record lectures unless you have documented special needs and permission from the instructor. 4.
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