BAJS Bulletin 2011 The Collection of Aramaic Incantations in the Pergamon Museum (Berlin) Contents British Academy Small Research Grant for Siam News 1 Bhayro (Exeter) and Dan Levene (Southampton) BAJS Conference 2011 6 BAJS Committee 9 Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 10 Ongoing doctoral research 53 Members’ recent publications 56 Reviews 60
The British Association for Jewish Studies (BAJS) was founded in 1975 as a learned society and professional organization on a non-profit-making basis. Its aims are to nurture, cultivate and ad- vance the teaching and research in Jewish culture A British Academy Small Research Grant, valuing and history in all its aspects within Higher Educa- £6,240, has just been granted to Dan Levene tion in the British Isles. (University of Southampton) and Siam Bhayro (University of Exeter) to initiate a project on the Contact: collection of Aramaic incantation bowls housed in BAJS Secretariat the Pergamon Museum (Berlin), in collaboration Lars Fischer with James Nathan Ford (Bar Ilan University) and CJCR Matthew Morgenstern (University of Haifa) who Wesley House are Aramaic specialists, Naama Vilozny (Hebrew Jesus Lane University) who is an expert in the images that Cambridge CB5 8BJ occur in these texts and Ortal-Paz Saar (Tel-Aviv University) who is a specialist in late antique to [email protected] medieval Jewish magic. This initial grant funds the production of a catalogue of the Berlin collection If you have not already done so, please sign up to that will form the basis of a full scientific edition. the BAJS website! http://britishjewishstudies.org Medieval Jewish Calendars
Appeal for information: Sacha Stern (UCL) is currently directing three concurrent research projects on medieval To help us make the case for Jewish Studies in the Jewish calendars face of the current and looming massive cuts in, and radical restructuring of, higher education and research funding, it is imperative that you keep us informed of relevant developments. We need to know about looming cuts or closures, the pending loss of Jewish Studies positions through retire- ment, success rates in securing research council grants, the number of students taking Jewish Studies courses etc. Please provide us with rele- vant information as and when it becomes available to you.
News
The Calendar was an important part of medieval Astrolabes in medieval Jewish society Jewish culture, which is why it is described in detail in so many medieval manuscripts. Sacha A three-year AHRC research grant has been Stern is currently directing three funded research awarded to Charles Burnett (Warburg Institute) to projects on medieval Jewish Calendars. work on astrolabes in medieval Jewish society in collaboration with Silke Ackermann of the British The AHRC-funded project, Medieval Monographs Museum. The focus will be on the astrolabe, the on the Jewish Calendar, has been running since most sophisticated scientific instrument made October 2008 and employs two postdoctoral before the invention of the modern computer, as researchers who are working on critical editions, well as on the surviving Hebrew texts. The re- with translation and commentary, of three Hebrew search will contribute to studies of astronomical monographs from the early twelfth century. The instruments and will shed light on Jewish science project continues until 2013 and will culminate in and society in the Middle Ages and their cultural a conference that will take place immediately context. before, and partly overlap with, the 2013 BAJS Conference. Jewish-non-Jewish relations: The social and cultural importance of calendars between exclusion and embrace – was recognized by all faiths in the Middle Ages, an online teaching resource and this explains why medieval scholars became interested in the calendars of faiths other than Important new online resource compiled their own. Islamic scientists and chronographers by Maria Diemling (Canterbury Christ Church) from the ninth to eleventh centuries wrote exten- and Hannah Holtschneider (Edinburgh) sively about the Jewish calendar, and their works to be launched during BAJS Conference in Oxford are an invaluable source of evidence on the rabbinic calendar in this early period. The Lever- hulme Trust is funding a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship (2010–12) to facilitate the production of a critical edition of the colossal monograph of Abu Rayhan al-Biruni which con- tains substantial sections on the Jewish calendar and its historical origins.
We have been teaching various aspects of Jewish-non-Jewish relations as part of lecturing in Jewish Studies at several British universities for more than a decade. Discussing our own experien- ces, sharing good practice and reflecting on the importance of the study of the complex relation- ship between members of different religious and cultural traditions, we identified the importance of primary sources for undergraduate teaching. While there are a number of excellent collections of primary sources available for various periods of Sacha Stern with his fellow researchers Jewish history, we perceived a lack of appropriate, stimulating and challenging annotated primary A third, smaller project, Jewish calendar contro- sources that address specifically the complexity of versies in the tenth to eleventh-centuries Near East: interfaith and intercultural relations between Jews a historical and codicological analysis, is being and non-Jews. undertaken jointly with Marina Rustow of Johns Hopkins University and funded by the British Aca- The main target group for this project are practi- demy. Running from March 2011 until July 2012, tioners in tertiary education. We wanted to make the project is designed to survey and analyze the these resources easily accessible to lecturers and manuscript evidence with a view to shedding fur- students wherever they are and whatever limited ther light on Jewish calendar controversies in the financial resources their institutions may have, and tenth and eleventh centuries. decided on a web-based application. Funding for
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News setting up the website and for copy-editing was educators and social workers to focus on the secured from The Spalding Trust and a Knowledge ethnic factor in search for an explanation for Transfer Grant from Canterbury Christ Church mental and physical illnesses amongst German University. Jews as well as other outsiders in German-Jewish society, such as wayward youth, “psychopaths”, prostitutes, unwed mothers, and children born out of wedlock. They became the target of welfare policy also in an effort to combat antisemitism and to integrate marginalized groups for the purpose
of population policy. The aims of social policy also We commissioned a number of contributions testify to how German Jews negotiated their spanning all periods of Jewish history from experts complex identities between acculturation and dis- in the field (in this first stage, largely from scholars similation. Whilst scholarly research has examined active at British institutions) and are very pleased individual aspects, Prestel’s research focuses on with the variety and breadth discussed in the the institutions involved and the construction of source material we received. We can now offer madness, waywardness and psychopathy while original and lively discussions of rabbis encoun- taking gender and ethnicity into consideration. tering Pagan statues in ancient spas, observations on the sexual tension between Jews and Gentiles in American film, the figure of Jesus in modern Jewish art and in Jewish scholarship, the role of Klezmer Liberal Theology and “the Jews” music in memory work or Jewish-Christian coope- ration in attempting to fight the moral decline of a British Academy Small Research Grant secular society, to name just a few contributions. for Lars Fischer (CJCR, Cambridge) The study of Jewish-non-Jewish relations can offer valuable insights into the workings both of prejudice and persecution and of peaceful co- existence and successful dialogue across the cen- turies. Our project is a small contribution to this important field of inquiry. If successful, the project will expand and seek additional funding to broa- den its scope. Initially, however, the focus will be on Jewish-Christian relations. The online teaching resource will be officially launched at a reception held on 20 July 2011 during the BAJS conference in Oxford. The CJCR’s Academic Director, Lars Fischer, has We are confident that there is a lot of potential been awarded a Small Research Grant (£7,285) by for future growth and would welcome contribu- the British Academy to lay the groundwork for a tions from BAJS members and suggestions for major research project on Liberal Theology and further primary sources to be included. We would “the Jews”. Picking up the agenda presented in also be grateful for feedback from people who have Fischer’s inaugural lecture in December 2009, the used the site for teaching at tertiary level, from project will focus on forms of theology, from the students and other scholars. The site can be seventeenth to the twenty-first century, that have accessed at www.jnjr.div.ed.ac.uk. challenged established theological orthodoxies by claiming to be more enlightened, reasonable, Jewish welfare policy and outsiders humane and/or emancipatory and explore two in German-Jewish society from the end core questions. To what extent, firstly, have the of the 19th century until 1933 approaches of such theologies to Judaism and “the Jews” differed from those of their orthodox British Academy Small Research Grant counterparts and why, secondly have they for Claudia Prestel (Leicester) repeatedly set themselves apart by denouncing their orthodox counterparts as (too) “Jewish”? A British Academy Small Research Grant of £4,963 has been awarded to Claudia Prestel for the period While these issues have been touched upon in from July 2011 to June 2013, to proceed with work individual contexts, little effort has been made to on Jewish welfare policy and outsiders in late explore systematically the extent to which struc- nineteenth and early twentieth-century German- tural factors may predispose such theologies to Jewish society. From the end of the nineteenth position themselves in a distinct way towards century it had become increasingly popular Judaism and “the Jews”. This research project will amongst German-Jewish physicians, feminists, offer a fresh additional perspective on the often
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News subtle susceptibilities of the well meaning to writer from 1887 until his death, it is the years various forms of anti-Jewish stereotyping without 1925–30 that saw the emergence of many of his which antisemitism would stand little chance of mature ideas and techniques for conveying them, taking hold beyond the lunatic fringe. and this programme of research will chart that emergence, drawing on the correspondence, diaries and lessonbooks for 1925–30, and other Heinrich Schenker as Theorist, Teacher documents datable to that period. and Correspondent, 1925–1930 One of the principal objectives is to make avail- Andrea Reiter (Southampton) able online the diaries, correspondence and other is co-principal investigator for major archival material mainly held at libraries in the US AHRC-funded research project via the Schenker Documents Online website (http://www.schenkerdocumentsonline.org/index .html). This involves transcribing, translating and tagging the documents so that they can be sear- ched electronically. In addition, a database is being compiled of people with whom Schenker was in contact. This will give scholars a wealth of infor- mation about the socio-cultural context in which this important music theorist was working and which influenced the development of his thinking about music.
Andrea Reiter is the co-principal investigator, alongside William Drabkin (also Southampton) as principal investigator, for a three-year (2011–13) Forgotten letters of a German-Jewish AHRC-funded research project on Heinrich Refugee to South Africa Schenker as Theorist, Teacher and Correspondent, 1925-1930. Working in Vienna, Heinrich Schenker Shirli Gilbert (Southampton) receives (1868–1935), who came from a Galician Jewish a number of grants to explore Schwab letters family, was the most influential twentieth-century theorist and analyst of tonal music. His ideas have had an impact on the teaching of music in almost every major institution of higher education in the United States and Canada, and have significantly influenced that in Britain, mainland Europe, Australasia, and elsewhere. His publications are widely known in German, and have all been trans- lated into English.
Schenker was a radical traditionalist: he thought in penetratingly radical ways about the German tradition from Bach to Brahms (although his ideas have since been applied to early music, music since A chance discovery of thousands of letters 1900, jazz and ethnic musics). He kept a detailed between an exiled German Jew and his family and diary over 40 years, and maintained a huge corres- friends living in Nazi and post-war Germany, as pondence over half a century. Yet few biographical well as around the world, has led to a fascinating studies of him have been made. We know little research project currently being undertaken by about his private life and dealings with others, and Shirli Gilbert. consequently we cannot cast much light on his intellectual development, or on the genesis and Ralph Schwab sought refuge in South Africa after production of his published works. Never occupy- the Nazis came to power in 1933 and his corres- ing an official position, he taught piano, music pondence with relatives and friends, some back in theory, editing and performance practice privately Germany, stretches from the 1930s through to the throughout his career. Although abundant records 1960s. The forgotten collection of 2,500 letters exist of his teaching over 20 years, including de- was recently discovered by his grandson Daniel tails of pieces taught and notes on the insights he Schwab in his parents’ garage in Johannesburg and transmitted to his pupils, they remain neglected is now held by the Yad Vashem Archives in Jeru- and no study has yet been made of his pedagogical salem. Among them are dozens of letters between work. While Schenker was active as a teacher and Schwab and his friend Karl Kipfer, a Nazi party
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News member who encouraged Schwab, a Jewish youth Jewish Community and Identity leader, to flee his home town of Hanau near Frank- in East Kent furt because he feared Schwab would be arrested. Schwab’s parents Max and Martha remained in Knowledge Exchange Grant from Canterbury Hanau and were later killed in concentration Christ Church University for Maria Diemling camps, along with many other family members. (Canterbury Christ Church) and Larry Ray (Kent) The letters chart Ralph’s desperate attempts to help his parents escape Nazi Germany.
Since Schwab kept carbon copies of everything he wrote, both sides of his correspondence can be studied, giving a fascinating insight into his life and the lives of his loved ones during this turbulent period in history and thus adding greatly to our understanding of life in both Nazi Germany and South Africa in the middle of the last century.
Following the translation and cataloguing of the German-language letters Gilbert plans to write a It is a common assumption that Jews are an urban book about the collection and Ralph Schwab’s life. people. However, Jews have throughout their She has been able to secure £9,000 from the Kap- history often lived in small communities where lan Kushlick Foundation in South Africa, a $4,000 they have faced different challenges from those grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish living in metropolitan areas with a large number of Culture, New York, funding to buy her out of tea- community members, a range of services and ching for a semester in 2011/12, and a number of diversity of institutions available. Small commu- additional smaller grants in support of the project. nities are sometimes treated as anomalies that are not expected to survive for long and they have so far received little scholarly attention. Francophone Jewish Writers Dwelling In/On Israel This research project explores how a small Reform community in East Kent counting less than British Academy Small Research Grant 100 members retains its Jewish commitment and for Lucille Cairns (Durham) identity. The synagogue of the community, which serves as the main focal point for religious services and social gatherings for members of the commu- nity, is located in the seaside town of Ramsgate, which has close associations with Montefiore who in 1831 bought a holiday mansion overlooking the sea, built a small private synagogue, and who is also buried there. However, today members of the community live all over East Kent (and even beyond) and have to travel to attend functions at the community centre.
We are conducting a number of interviews with individual members of the community to learn The aim of this project is to identify and analyse about the strategies they employ to maintain a the attitudes of two categories of French (and in distinctive Jewish identity and a lively and active some cases, French-speaking but not French- community in an economically relatively disadvan- domiciled) Jewish writers towards Israel: those taged area that is far away from any major Jewish who have chosen physically to dwell in Israel (viz. community. Topics we are interested in include who have made their ‘aliyah’), and those who con- the question of relations with other Jewish tinue to reside in France but whose works ‘dwell’ denominations and non-Jewish groups and, when conceptually or aesthetically on the religiously, making personal choices, the level of Jewish obser- culturally and politically fraught topos of Israel. A vance relating to food, rituals and customs and key goal is to ascertain consensus or dissensus, cultural choices, the role of the State of Israel as a and to explore the artistic, ethical, political, and marker of identity, experiences of antisemitism social implications of positions articulated. and their views on the future of the community.
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News
We are keen to promote Jewish Studies in kitsch forms of unreflective nostalgia by consider- Canterbury and to engage with the local Jewish ing the complexity of their meanings. It explores community as part of their university’s commit- the ways in which klezmer might be an aural form ment to knowledge transfer between academia of memory and suggests that revivals can repre- and local communities. Hence this project will also sent gateways into personal and collective engage- serve as a pilot study to explore the feasibility of a ment with the past. It further argues that experi- larger research and Knowledge Exchange project mental hybrid forms of new klezmer potentially in cooperation with the local Jewish community. open new spaces of remembrance and expressions of Jewish identity.
Migration and Remembrance: Sounds and Spaces of Klezmer ‘Revivals’ The Leo Baeck Institute London has moved to Mile End BAJS President elect Larry Ray’s article on the cul- tural meanings of recent revivals in Yiddish music in the USA and central Europe (Cultural Sociology 4, 3 (2010), 357–378) was nominated for the 2011 Sage/British Sociological Association Prize for In- novation/Excellence.
In the previous Bulletin we reported that the Leo Baeck Institute was about to move from its long- standing domicile on Devonshire Street to a floor in the new Arts Two Building at Queen Mary, Uni- versity of London. The move eventually took place on 11 April 2011 and the institute’s new address is now:
Leo Baeck Institute London 2nd Floor, Arts Two Building The article approaches its topic with reference to Queen Mary, University of London Adorno’s critique of lyrical celebration of the past Mile End Road, London E1 4NS as a means of forgetting and examines the criti- cisms that recent ‘Jewish’ cultural revivals are ______
Programme of the BAJS Conference OCHJS, Yarnton Manor 19th–21st July 2011
TUESDAY 19th July Session B: 3.00–4.30 Yarnton Manor Religious discourse (Seminar Room) Chair: Norman Solomon 11.00 onwards: Registration 3.00: Eric Jacobson, Roehampton 12.30: Lunch “p.s. post scriptum: Matan Torah and the language of identity” 1.30–3.00: Committee Meeting 3.30: Miri Freud-Kandel, Oxford “The Language of Theology in Judaism” Session A: 3.00–4.30 Language teaching panel (Long Gallery) 4.00: Raymond Cohen, Hebrew University “Cross-cultural differences in the The teaching of ‘Jewish languages’ in Higher Catholic-Jewish dialogue” Education: problems and prospects Khayke Beruriah Wiegand, 4.30 Tea Steve Herring, and Maria Alexeeva
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BAJS Conference 2011
Session A: 5–7 Second Temple and early WEDNESDAY 20th July Rabbinic Judaism (Long Gallery) Chair: Martin Goodman Joint SOTS/BAJS Sessions at St Hilda’s College 9.15 a.m.–9.30 p.m. 5.00: Charlotte Hempel, Birmingham “Unruly rules: Qumran and the discourse 9.15: Willem Smelik (UCL) of regulation” “Moses, Dead or Alive” 10.00: Tessa Rajak (Reading and Oxford) 5.30: Read Marlatte, Oxford “(In)vestment in/of the Priesthood in the “Second Temple Cultic Discourse and the Second Temple and Beyond” Conceptual Theory of Metaphor” 10.45 Coffee 6.00: Sacha Stern, UCL “Participation of Jewish aristocracies in 11.15 : Gill Greenberg (UCL) pagan cults in Roman Galilee” “Minuses in the Peshitta to Isaiah and Jeremiah” 6.30: Norman Solomon, Oxford 12.00: Panel discussion (chair: Sarah Pearce) “The General and the Particular: on the The Interaction between Jewish Studies terminology of rabbinic inference” and Hebrew Bible Scholarship with Jim Aitken, Sandra Jacobs, Joanna Weinberg, Hugh Williamson Session B: 5–7 Judaeo-Arabic (Seminar Room) 1 p.m. Lunch 5.00: Geoffrey Khan, Cambridge “Judaeo-Arabic: a brief survey of the current state of research” 2:00: Visit to the Bodleian Library with Julian Reid (Corpus Christi, Oxford), 5.30: Nadia Vidro, Taylor-Schechter Genizah and a talk by Piet van Boxel (Oxford) Research Unit, Cambridge “Hebrew Manuscripts in their “The Hebrew linguistic terminology geographical and cultural setting” of Karaite grammatical texts and its Judaeo-Arabic origins” 4.30 Tea
6.00: Gregor Schwarb, Institute of Islamic 6.45 Dinner Studies, Freie Universität, Berlin “Karaite-Samaritan Relations in 5th/11th 8.15: Tamara Eskenazi (HUC/Jewish Institute of Century Bilād al-Shām: Encounters, Religion, LA) “Cutting Corners and Polemics, and Intertextualities” Gleaning Rewards: Re-reading Ruth”
6.30: Ronny Vollandt, Cambridge “Christian Arabic sources for the study of Parallel BAJS-only sessions Saadiah Gaon’s translation and at Yarnton Manor commentary on the Pentateuch” Session A: 9.30–11 a.m. Anglophone Jewish Literature panel (Long Gallery) 7.00 Conference Dinner Chair: Nathan Abrams
9.30: David Brauner, Reading 8.30–9.30 p.m. BAJS Lecture 2011 “Jewish Mothers & Jewish Memory in the (in memoriam Raphael Loewe) Non-Fiction of Jenny Diski, Eva Figes Preceded by a eulogy given by Nicholas de and Linda Grant” Lange (Long Gallery) Chair: David Ariel (President, OCHJS) 10.00: Axel Stähler, University of Kent “Anglophone Jewish Literature: Ben Outhwaite, Taylor-Schechter Genizah Traditions – Traits – Trajectories” Research Unit, Cambridge 10.30: Nadia Valman, Queen Mary, University of “‘Clothed in glory and decked in splendour’: London Medieval Hebrew since the discovery of the Cairo “Nineteenth-Century Anglo-Jewish Genizah” literature and European modernity”
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BAJS Conference 2011
Session B: 9.30–11 a.m. 3.00: Gerwyn Owen, Bangor Jewish languages A (Seminar Room) “Stereotypes Speak: The Visual Imagery Chair: Cesar Merchan-Hamann of Film as Language”
9.30: Holger Zellentin, Nottingham: 3.30: Jenni Steele, Bangor “Christian Aramaic and Jewish language” “Un-weaving and Unwrapping Fabric in The Governess: Fabric as Film Language” 10.00: Julia Krivoruchko, “Kabbalistic Aramaic in Greco-Italian Garb?” Session B: 2.30–4 p.m. Yiddish and Modern Jewish literature 10.30: Ann Conway-Jones, Manchester: (Seminar Room) “The language of Heavenly Ascent” Chair: Corinna Kaiser
2.30: Pnina Rosenberg, Haifa 11.00 Coffee “Estranged Life: the life of immigrant Jews in interwar Paris as reflected in the oeuvres of Yosl Cukier” Session A: 11.30–12.30 Philosophy of language (Long Gallery) 3.00: Khayke Beruriah Wiegand, Oxford Chair: Holger Zellentin “The Yiddish Bashevis and His American Construct I.B. Singer : Questions of 11.30: Rosa Reicher, Heidelberg Language, Register, Translation and “Gershom Scholem’s Understanding of Betrayal” Language as a ‘Bildung’ Paradigm” 3.30: Mike Witcombe, Southampton 12.00: Hannah Holtschneider, Edinburgh “Rewriting the shiksa in Philip Roth’s “Are we talking Jewish? Reflections on Operation Shylock” the representation of Jewish history in the museum” 4.00 Tea
Session B: 11.30 a.m.–1 p.m. Jewish languages B (Seminar Room) Plenary session: 4.30–5.30 p.m. Chair: Geoffrey Khan Jewish languages C (Long Gallery)
11.30 Laurent Mignon, Ankara/Oxford 4.30: Corinna R. Kaiser, Oxford “«La lengua ke se avla aki» : Judeo- “‘God Speaks German’: Jewish Turkish” Contributions to German Language Scepticism around 1900” 12.00 Aron Sterk, Manchester “Revisiting Blondheim: Judeo-Latin or 5.00: Lily Kahn, UCL Latinophone Jews in Antiquity?” “Biblical Grammatical Elements in the Nineteenth-Century Hasidic 12.30 Yehudit Henshke, Haifa Hebrew Tale” “Judeo-Arabic influences on Modern Hebrew” 6.00 Wine reception for launch of website project of teaching resources on Jewish- 1 p.m. Lunch non-Jewish relations, hosted by Hannah Holtschneider and Maria Diemling
Session A: 2.30–4 p.m. Film panel (Long Gallery) 7 pm Dinner Chair: Michael Law
2.30: Nathan Abrams, Bangor “‘A double set of glasses’: Stanley Kubrick’s Midrashic ‘Film Language’”
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BAJS Conference 2011
THURSDAY 21st July (Yarnton Manor)
9.00: Annual General Meeting of BAJS members
10.30 Coffee
Session A: 10.45–12.45 Session B: 10.45–12.15 Scriptural and Medieval Hebrew Texts Jewish languages D (Seminar Room) (Long Gallery) Chair: Sacha Stern 10.45: Ora Schwarzwald, Bar Ilan “Proper names, toponyms and gentilic 10.45: Sandra Jacobs, UCL nouns in Bible translations: “Deuteronomy 21:10-14: medieval Spanish and post-exilic Ladino The Hermeneutics of Legal Innovation translations compared” or the Language of Caprice?” 11.15: Geoffrey Khan, Cambridge 11.15: Ben Williams, Oxford “Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialects: a brief “Exploiting uncertainties in text and survey of the current state of research” language: Abraham ben Asher’s Commentary on Genesis Rabba” 11.45: Nicholas de Lange “Is there such a language as Judaeo- 11.45: Yehoshua Granat, Hebrew University Greek?” “Scriptural authority and the medieval author: Re-creating the story of Jonah in Hebrew liturgical poetry, and beyond” 12.45 President’s concluding remarks
12.15: Ilana Wartenberg, UCL “Bilingualism in medieval Hebrew 1.15 Lunch and departure scientific texts”
______BAJS Committee PRESIDENT and CONFERENCE ORGANISER 2011: Dr Alison Salvesen (until 2014): The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, Pusey Lane, Oxford OX1 2LE. Email: [email protected]
TREASURER: Dr Maria Diemling: Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Road, Canterbury CT1 1QU. Email: [email protected]
SECRETARY and BULLETIN EDITOR: Dr Lars Fischer: CJCR, Wesley House, Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BJ.
Email: [email protected]
WEB OFFICER: Dr Hannah Holtschneider: School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, New College, Mound Place,
Edinburgh EH1 2LX. Email: [email protected]
Dr Jim Aitken (until 2011): Faculty of Divinity, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9BS. Email: [email protected]
Prof. Seth Kunin (ex-president: until 2011): Dean’s Office, South Lodge, Science Laboratories, University of Durham,
South Road, Durham DH1 3LE. Email: [email protected]
Prof. Sarah Pearce (ex-president, until 2011): History, School of Humanities, University of Southampton, Southampton
S017 1BJ. Email: [email protected]
Prof. Joachim Schlör (until 2011): University of Southampton, Parkes Institute, Dept of History, Southampton SO17 1BJ. Email: [email protected]
Dr Dan Levene (until 2012): Department of History, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ.
Email: [email protected]
Prof. Sacha Stern (until 2014, president-elect 2013): Hebrew and Jewish Studies Department, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. Email: [email protected]
François Guesnet (until 2015), Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. Email: [email protected]
Dr Daniel Langton (until 2015): Centre for Jewish Studies, Department of Religions & Theology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL. Email: [email protected]
Prof. Larry Ray (until 2015, president-elect 2014), School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NZ. Email: [email protected]
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
University of Aberdeen Bangor University School of Divinity, History and Philosophy http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sdhp/ School of Creative Studies and Media http://www.bangor.ac.uk/creative_industries UNDERGRADUATE Jews on Screen (Nathan Abrams, Hebrew Language I (Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, [email protected]) [email protected]) This module will seek to introduce students to the This course is designed to equip students with history of the representation of Jews and Judaism knowledge of basic Hebrew grammar and on screen. It will show how these have changed vocabulary. over time and vary according to not only national Hebrew Language II (Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, context but also to the specific medium involved [email protected]) whether film or television. These representations This course is the second part of a two-course will also be examined from a variety of theoretical sequence. With the completion of these two angles such as gender, race/ethnicity, queer courses, a student can expect to read most prose theory, and cultural theory. sections of the Hebrew Bible with the use of a standard lexicon. Theology and Religious Studies Comparative Semitic Languages http://www.bangor.ac.uk/trs/ (Kenneth Aitken, [email protected]) The course offers an introduction to comparative Judaism: Thought and Practice (Gareth linguistics and its application to the Semitic Lloyd Jones, [email protected]) languages. Following an overview of the Semitic The module will cover selected topics relating to languages, the course will focus on texts in one of the religion and history of the Jews during the past the languages, which will be studied from the 2000 years. Beginning with the destruction of the perspective of comparative linguistics. Temple in AD 70, the course will touch upon Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Lena- literature, liturgy, biblical exegesis, mysticism, phi- Sofia Tiemeyer, [email protected]) losophy, Zionism, and Reform Judaism. The final The basic aim of this course is to provide an over- section will be devoted to Jewish reactions to the view of the literature of the Hebrew Bible. The Holocaust. course will focus on the formation of the various The Church and the Jews texts of the Hebrew Bible and on their respective (Gareth Lloyd Jones, [email protected]) ideology. Furthermore, this course seeks to teach Students will be introduced to Christian-Jewish the students how to critically evaluate this litera- relations from both the historical and the theologi- ture and, as a result, how to reach independent cal standpoints. Significant periods, such as the and informed interpretations of the Biblical text. Early Church, the High Middle Ages, the Reforma- tion and the twentieth century will be examined. GRADUATE The attitudes of significant individuals such as Augustine, Chrysostom and Luther will be dis-
cussed. Relevant biblical texts will be studied. MLitt Jewish Studies
The Study of the Hebrew Bible (Joachim Queen’s University Belfast Schaper, [email protected]) http://www.qub.ac.uk/ The course will sketch recent developments in the study of the Hebrew Bible (history of ancient The Jewish Background to Christianity Israel, Pentateuch Studies and exegetical (John Curran, Ancient History, methodology, anthropology and its use in Hebrew Bible research, and Septuagint studies – inasmuch [email protected]) as the latter are relevant to the study of the This course entails a survey and analysis of the Hebrew Bible). Students will be enabled to acquire emergence of Christian ideas from within the a substantial knowledge of one of the key areas of social, political and cultural institutions of ancient Jewish Studies, thus laying the foundations for a Judaism. Students examine the state and credibility deepened understanding of the biblical basis of of the available evidence, assess the significant Jewish religion and culture. historical themes in Jewish society of the period c.164 BC to AD 70, and probe the appearance and character of early Christianity.
BAJS Bulletin 2011· 10
Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
University of Birmingham Christian-Jewish Relations since 1945 Department of Theology and Religion (Isabel Wollaston, [email protected]) http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/ptr/ The module analyses the development of departments/theologyandreligion/index.aspx Christian-Jewish relations since 1945, identifying dominant issues and approaches. Subjects dis- UNDERGRADUATE cussed may include the nature of dialogue, anti- Judaism and antisemitism, christology and (failed) Introduction to Jewish Studies and messianism, Jewish interpretations of Christianity, the state of Israel, and the Christianization of the Holocaust Studies (Isabel Wollaston, Holocaust. The module will focus upon the variety [email protected]; Charlotte Hempel, of perspectives and methodologies, and the [email protected]) existence of a number of contemporary controver- The module provides an introduction to Jewish sies. The focus is on the contemporary discussion studies and Holocaust studies, with ca. 10 weeks of these issues. In order to familiarize students focused on each. Both Jewish studies and Holo- with the most up-to-date discussion of these caust studies are characterised by multi-disciplina- issues, the module will pay considerable attention rity and the existence of competing narratives con- to internet and media resources. cerning the nature of Judaism and Jewishness and Representations of the Holocaust (Isabel the relationship between the two, Jewish history, Wollaston, [email protected]) the Holocaust, the relationship of the Holocaust to The module identifies and analyses (a) how the Jewish history and its impact on the Jewish world. Holocaust has been represented and how it con- The module therefore pays considerable attention tinues to be represented, and (b) the key critical to questions of definition and methodology. In and theoretical debates surrounding such repre- relation to Jewish studies, we will (a) identify and sentations. What factors influence the construction analyse key points in Jewish history which impac- of such representations and their popular and ted on Jewish self-understanding, with particular critical reception? What role do perspective and reference to Second Temple Judaism and the mo- terminology play in determining both how the dern period; (b) consider what constitutes a Jew- Holocaust is represented and the response to such ish sacred text and how such texts are interpreted; representations? Topics studied may include the (c) explore a number of key themes and preoccu- nature and role of testimony, the Holocaust as ‘an pations within both historical and more modern event at the limits’, ‘misuses’ of the Holocaust, nati- and/or contemporary Judaism(s). In relation to vization (i.e. representations of the Holocaust in Holocaust studies, we will explore (a) the evolu- different national contexts, e.g. France, Germany, tion of German policy towards the Jews under the Israel, Poland, the UK, and the USA), memorializa- Third Reich with reference to anti-Jewish legisla- tion, museumologization, and the impact of gender tion, the establishing and functioning of ghettos, and sexuality. Half of the module will focus on concentration camps and death camps; (b) some visual representations of the Holocaust. contemporary historiographical debates over how to describe and account for the genocide, including Jewish Religious Responses the nature of non-Jewish victimhood. to the Holocaust (Isabel Wollaston, Introduction to the Biblical Studies [email protected]) (Charlotte Hempel, [email protected]; The module analyses a range of Jewish responses to the Holocaust, both as events were happening Karen Wenell) and subsequently. These responses fall into three This module offers an Introduction to the Hebrew broad (chronological) groupings: (a) Orthodox res- Bible taught by Charlotte Hempel and an Introduc- ponses emphasize continuity with what has gone tion to the New Testament taught by Karen Wenell. before; (b) Holocaust theology emerged in the mid The Hebrew Bible component introduces you to 1960s and interprets the Holocaust as a radical the broad field of academic debate pertaining to challenge in the face of which traditional catego- the Hebrew Bible. It includes discussions on the ries of meaning (e.g. covenant, election, Israel) are ancient manuscripts and their place in translation, deemed inadequate and/or in need of reinterpre- and the way its material can be interpreted by a tation; (c) post-Holocaust responses (the 1990s ff) range of different reading strategies. that are characterized by chronological distance Biblical Hebrew Language (Ann Conway from events and explore the impact of the Holo- Jones) caust on Jewish identity and Jewish/non-Jewish re- Advanced Hebrew Language (Charlotte lations, particularly attitudes towards the Palesti- Hempel, [email protected]) nians.
BAJS Bulletin 2011· 11
Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
University of Sussex University of Bristol http://www.sussex.ac.uk/ Department of Theology and Religious studies http://www.bristol.ac.uk/thrs/ UNDERGRADUATE Hebrew Texts (Jonathan Campbell, 1938: ‘Kristallnacht’ (Gerhard Wolf, [email protected]) [email protected]) This unit will centre around the Hebrew text of The so-called ‘Kristallnacht’ can be understood as a one of the so called sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls – the violent rehearsal for the Holocaust which Nazi Ger- Habakkuk Commentary. It consists of the biblical many started three years later. It also marks the book of Habakkuk, from around 600 BCE, inter- end of over a century of a prolific and (mostly) twined with interpretative comments probably by peaceful coexistence between Jews and Christian an Essene community of the first century BCE. non-Jews. The history of their mutual relation Against the relevant backgrounds for each of these since the early nineteenth century is the subject of elements the unit will concentrate on how to this course. It focuses on the complex processes of understand the Hebrew text of the commentary. political emancipation, of social integration, and of There will also be consideration of important her- cultural adaptation through which Jews became an meneutical questions. Students will be required to integral part of the German political, social and do extensive background reading. cultural life. The course should enable students to Judaism appreciate this history of Jewish/non-Jewish rela- The subject of this unit is Judaism in all its major tions in its richness, alongside its problematic as- aspects – historical, religious, and literary – over pects leading up to 1938. the centuries, from the Second Temple period until 1942: Holocaust (Eugene Michail, History, today. Jewish history, religion, and literature are [email protected]) surveyed in ten lectures. This course offers an opportunity to study the Understanding the Dead Sea Scrolls attempt by the Nazis to create a ‘Master Race’ by (Jonathan Campbell, exterminating the Jews of Europe and targeting [email protected]) other groups – including gay people, Gypsies and This unit will explain what the Dead Sea Scrolls people with disabilities – for discrimination and (DSS) are and analyse their contribution to our un- death. Studying how it happened will inevitably derstanding of the Hebrew Bible, Second Temple raise many questions about why it happened. The Judaism and nascent Christianity. Prominent will course will pay close attention to how it was be the identity of the fascinating Jewish group – possible for such a plan of mass murder to be probably an Essene community – responsible for carried out so effectively in such a short time; a the collection. The impact of the DSS on contem- plan which relied on the active involvement of porary Jewish and Christian religion will also be many people and the acquiescence of even more. evaluated. The unit will consider both broad histo- rical and religious matters and engage in the de- tailed study of particular texts. Ancient materials, including DSS, will be employed in English trans- lation. Understanding Rabbinic Judaism from the Talmud and Related Literature (Jonathan Campbell, [email protected]) This Unit will provide students with an in-depth introduction to Judaism in the Talmudic period (circa 70–900 CE). It will survey the history of the Jews in the centuries concerned before considering the nature of Jewish religion as evidenced in the primary literature of the times: the Mishnah, the Talmuds, and the Midrashim. Excerpts from that literature will be studied in English translation. The aim of the Unit is to bring students to an empathetic yet critical understanding of the nature of the classical Judaism of the Talmudic period against the relevant historical background. It will also enable them to handle the less complicated portions of the literature concerned.
BAJS Bulletin 2011· 12
Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Woolf Institute, Cambridge Centre for the Study of Muslim-Jewish http://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/ Relations http://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/cmjr Jews, Christians and Muslim in Contemporary Europe: Modern Challenges Bridging the Great Divide: the Jewish- (Lars Fischer, [email protected], Josef Meri, Muslim encounter [email protected]; Shana Cohen, No two religions are closer together than Judaism and Islam, yet today, ironically, no two religions [email protected]) are further apart. This course will explore the This three-part course focuses on the relationships history, culture and theology of Muslims and Jews, between Jews, Christians and Muslims and their reflecting both on similarities and differences as impact in modern Europe, looking at their history, well as the major challenges. The 15-week course culture and issues of citizenship. The course is is taught in partnership with the School of Inter- taught at a final-year undergraduate level and the national Service at the American University in e-learning approach allows you to study wherever Washington, DC. An 100% e-learning programme, and whenever you choose via the internet. With it will be delivered at Honours Level. Students who the support of Woolf Institute tutors, you will work successfully complete the programme will receive both individually and jointly with other students. three credits from the American University and Following an online induction week, each module will be awarded a certificate from the Woolf Insti- is taught over four weeks during which you will tute and the School of International Service at the receive set reading and various assignments on- American University. You will work with American line. Towards the end of the course you also have University and Woolf Institute scholars who will the option of preparing an essay under the super- support you through the course, and alongside vision of one of our tutors. For further informa- fellow students with whom you will be able to dis- tion, please contact Emma Harris (Administrator cuss ideas on our online forum. For further infor- of Academic Programmes): [email protected] mation, please contact Emma Harris (Administra-
tor of Academic Programmes): [email protected] Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations http://www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/cjcr University of Cambridge GRADUATE Faculty of History University of Cambridge MSt in the Study of http://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/ Jewish-Christian Relations (Lars Fischer, Ed Kessler, Helen Spurling, The Jewish Presence in Medieval Society James Carleton-Paget, Amy-Jill Levine et al.) (David Abulafia, [email protected]; Anna The MSt is a two-year, part-time University of Abulafia, [email protected]) Cambridge degree, offered by the CJCR in conjunc- The aim of this paper is to examine the Jewish tion with the Divinity Faculty and the Institute of communities of medieval Europe in their wider Continuing Education. Committed to the highest setting – communities living under Christian and academic standards, this rigorous scholarly pro- Muslim rule, sometimes benign and sometimes gramme offers a unique opportunity for students hostile. This paper show how, in the societies of to familiarize themselves in depth with Jewish- medieval western Europe and the Mediterranean Christian relations from a variety of disciplinary between about 500 and 1500, Jews were intimate- perspectives (including history, sociology, political, ly connected with and contributed to wider cultural, and biblical studies) and acquire a political, economic, social, cultural and religious Master’s degree from one of the world’s foremost developments. Of course, the relationship between universities. The course is available residentially in the Jews and the rest of society varied from place Cambridge or via e-learning. Students may choose to place and from time to time. Moreover, contrary to spend part (or all) of their second year working to common assumptions, there is not a straight on their dissertation at one of the Austrian, Czech, line downwards which would denote constant German, Polish, or Swiss universities with whom decline in toleration for Jews. In addition it will be we have Erasmus agreements. For administrative seen that it is a mistake to generalise about Jewish queries please contact Emma Harris (Administra- communities as if they were all engaged in similar tor of Academic Programmes): [email protected]. economic activities (notably moneylending) or For academic queries please contact Lars Fischer shared the same religious or cultural outlook. (Course Director): [email protected] From the perspective of Christian political autho- rity, the way Jews were treated varied considerab-
BAJS Bulletin 2011· 13
Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 ly even if the language in which they were des- Advanced Hebrew (James Aitken, cribed, the kings’ servant, appears to have been [email protected]) very similar. Finally, in order to understand the Prescribed Texts: 2 Kings 18 and 19; Psalm 48; large Jewish communities of Spain and Sicily, it is Isaiah 1:1–2:5; b) Psalms 8, 19, 22, 23, 24, 46, 51, imperative to take into account the longstanding 74, 82, 91, 104, 145. The paper is concerned with a relationship with Islam, the powerful influence of selection of texts, and is designed (apart from their Islam on Judaism in this period and the role of the intrinsic interest) to introduce students to the Jews as the preservers of Arabic culture within the special features of poetic Hebrew (parallelism, western Mediterranean. grammatical features, imagery) and also to text- critical and lexicographical problems of Hebrew Faculty of Divinity generally. Throughout the course lectures and http://www.divinity.cam.ac.uk/ private study are expected to be supplemented by fortnightly supervision work on translation from UNDERGRADUATE English into Hebrew, which will be tested in the examination. The lectures will focus mainly on lin- Elementary Hebrew (Hilary Marlow, guistic aspects of the texts, but their theological [email protected]) and literary aspects will be explored in two or Prescribed Texts: Genesis 37; 40–43; 45. The tea- three essays which students will write in the ching grammar used in this course is C.L. Seow, course of the year. Grammar for Biblical Hebrew, Revised Edition World Religions in Comparative (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995). Brown, Driver and Perspective (Tim Winter, [email protected]) Briggs, A Hebrew Lexicon should be used by This paper will approach at least two religions students from the end of the Lent term. Advice on through the study of a topic or topics specified the Hebrew text of the set texts will be given in the annually in the context of the history, beliefs and Lent Term. The Elementary Hebrew course falls practices of the main religions of the world. into two parts, which together are intended to Prescribed Texts familiarise students with the basic grammatical One God? Hearing the Old Testament forms (especially nouns and verbs) and vocabulary (Katherine Dell, [email protected]) of Hebrew and to enable them to read and Belief in God as it is presented (‘heard’) in the Old understand a straightforward prose narrative text Testament is fundamental to Judaism, Christianity from the Bible, with and without vocalisation. To and Islam. The aim of the course is to consider improve their grasp of the language students are aspects of the nature, origins and development of given exercises in translation from English into this belief, including its similarities and dissimilari- Hebrew, but the main emphasis falls on reading ties to other beliefs held in the historical environ- Hebrew text and translating it into English. During ment of the Old Testament, both in the surroun- the Michaelmas and most of the Lent Term ding nations and in ancient Israel itself. It will students study Hebrew grammar using the involve both the study and comparison of selected textbook by C.L. Seow, supplemented with material texts bearing on this theme from the Old Testa- provided by the class teacher. In the last week or ment and consideration of archaeological and tex- so of the Lent Term work is begun on the Genesis tual evidence from the ancient Near East. The in- set text and this continues for the first four weeks tention is to be both theological and rooted in the of the Easter Term. In the Easter term supervision history of religion and literature. work is needed to practise the exercises that will The Literature, History and be tested in the examination. Theology of the Exilic Age (Katherine Dell, Intermediate Hebrew (Katherine Dell, [email protected]) [email protected]) The exilic age has long been regarded in scholar- Prescribed Texts: Deuteronomy 5–15; Judges 13– ship as a watershed for the faith of Israel, with im- 16; Jonah; Job 1–2, 42.7–17. The study of the texts portant theological understandings formulated in from Deuteronomy, Judges, Jonah and Job is this period. This course seeks to give a thorough designed (apart from their intrinsic interest) to understanding of the literature, history and theo- lead students on to a fuller appreciation of the logy of the period leading up to the Exile, of the syntax of prose texts (including the significance of Exile itself and of the repercussions that followed word order and the less common uses of the it. tenses of the verb). Throughout the course lectures Judaism in the Greek and Roman Periods and private study are expected to be supplemen- (James Aitken, [email protected]) ted by fortnightly supervision work on translation This paper will be concerned with an essential from English into Hebrew, which will be tested in period for our understanding of the formation of the examination. Judaism (and of nascent Christianity). It will exa-
BAJS Bulletin 2011· 14
Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 mine the social, historical and political contexts in Theory and Practice of Jewish Law. This topic stu- which ancient Jews shaped their identity from the dies the place of halakhah (law) in modern Juda- rise, after Persian rule, of Alexander the Great (332 ism. It begins by exploring the history of the codi- BCE) up to and including the series of Roman fication of the laws, and how their implementation revolts that culminated in the one named after has been influenced by the realities of Jewish life Bar-Kokhba (132–5 CE). The paper will examine under non-Jewish rule. It then examines the diffe- such subjects as the Jewish literary heritage, bibli- rent ways that the various religious denominations cal interpretation, sectarianism and the Dead Sea (such as Reform and Orthodox Judaism) have defi- Scrolls, Jewish identity in Egypt, Josephus (the ned the place of halakhah in Judaism, and how they most significant Jewish historian of the time) and have dealt with specific questions. There will be a Philo (biblical interpreter and philosopher). The focus on important contemporary issues such as course will also introduce the historical and artis- bio-medical, sexual and business ethics, and gen- tic significance of such evidence as Jewish manus- der issues. cripts and coins through practical seminars in the Judaism and Hellenism (James Aitken, University Library and Fitzwilliam Museum. [email protected]) Life, Thought and Worship in Modern This paper will be concerned with the interaction Judaism (Daniel Weiss, [email protected]) between Jewish and Hellenistic traditions from the This course introduces students to contemporary time of Alexander the Great until the early rabbis. Judaism and gives them an insight into the de- It will examine the conceptual problems of ‘Hebra- velopment of Modem Judaism by looking at the life ism and Hellenism’ through an examination of the and outlook of the Jewish communities both in literature, history and religious life of Jews in the Britain and worldwide. It will demonstrate how period. Judaism relates to surrounding cultures and Judaism and Philosophy especially how it has responded to the challenges (Daniel Weiss, [email protected]) of modernity. This paper will explore ways in which the ideas of Creation and Covenant modern thinkers were shaped by their attempts to (Katherine Dell, [email protected]; James navigate between ‘Judaism’ and ‘philosophy,’ Aitken, [email protected]) looking at ways in which their engagement with Creation and covenant are two major theological philosophy reshaped their understanding of Juda- themes of the Hebrew Bible, found in texts either ism, as well as ways in which their engagement individually or in close interaction with each other. with Jewish tradition reshaped their understan- It has been recognized in recent years that while ding of philosophy. We will pay particular atten- covenant remains such a key issue in the biblical tion to ways in which the textual tradition of Juda- narratives, an equally important place is given to ism (in particular, the Hebrew Bible and classical creation, and the relationship between the two has rabbinic literature) might later have proved been productive in discussions of ‘Biblical theolo- challenging for thinkers seeking to engage the gy’, both from a Jewish and a Christian perspective. method and presuppositions of philosophy. While This course seeks to examine these themes, and to focusing on Jewish thinkers, we will also examine chart changing ideas across differing social and ways in which tensions between modern philoso- historical contexts as represented in the Israelite phy, on one hand, and Judaism and Jewish particu- material, including interaction with the creation larity, on the other, might also be linked to moder- myths of the ancient Near East. From this the pa- nity’s critique of religious claims and religious par- per will examine the development in scholarly per- ticularity more broadly. As such, the ways in which ceptions of these themes, how they have evolved Jewish philosophers respond to the challenge of over time, and how far it is possible, or desirable, modernity may also shed light on attempts by thin- to explore biblical theology from either a Jewish or kers in other religious traditions to do so as well. a Christian perspective. Judaism II (Daniel Weiss, [email protected]) GRADUATE A. The Holy Land. This topic includes the concept of holiness in Judaism and whether it can properly MPhil in Theological and Religious Studies be applied to territory; attitudes to the Land of Diploma in Theological and Religious Studies Israel and the city of Jerusalem in classical Jewish MSt in The Study of Jewish-Christian Relations sources; Reform and Orthodox attitudes to the (see CJCR, Woolf Institute) Land and how they have changed during the 19th and 20th centuries; the history and ideologies of Zionism; the Jewish character of the ‘Jewish State’; Syriac (J.F. Coakley, [email protected]) and finally a comparative element: do Jews, Candidates will be required to translate passages Christians and Muslims share a common under- from the set texts, and from sight. All three Syriac standing of the sanctity of Jerusalem? B. The scripts will be represented. There may also be sen-
BAJS Bulletin 2011· 15
Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 tences in English to translate into pointed Syriac. representative of three of the main types of Attend classes three times a week for beginning Aramaic literature (Biblical, Qumran, Targum). Set students and other sessions for more advanced texts: Daniel 2–3, Ezra 4.8–6.12, 7.12–26, Targum students. of Jonathan on 1 Samuel, 1–6. Rabbinic Hebrew (Nicholas de Lange, The book of Ruth (Geoffrey Khan, [email protected]) [email protected]) Candidates will be required to translate three from Grammar and exegesis. a choice of four passages from the set texts and to Hebrew Literature (Robert Gordon, comment on points of linguistic and general [email protected]; Marta Marzanska- interest to them, and to translate one unseen Mishani, [email protected]) passage taken from similar texts. Set texts: In this course students have the opportunity to Mishnah tractate Avot chapters 1-5 in R.T. Herford, study a special topic based on texts chosen from ed., The Ethics of the Talmud: Sayings of the Fathers within Hebrew literature from both the classical (1962). Selections from medieval prose and poetic and modern periods. works. Neo-Aramaic texts (Geoffrey Khan, [email protected]) Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Texts are read in a variety of Neo-Aramaic dialects. http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/index.html Ugaritic texts (Geoffrey Khan,
[email protected]) UNDERGRADUATE http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/ History of the Hebrew language (Geoffrey handbook.htm Khan, [email protected]) This course presents a description of the various Hebrew Language A vocalization systems of Hebrew that are found in medieval manuscripts. (Robert Gordon, [email protected]; Topics in Hebrew studies (Robert Gordon, Geoffrey Khan, [email protected]) [email protected]; Geoffrey Khan, In this course students are introduced to the language of the Hebrew Bible. After they have [email protected]; Marta Marzanska-Mishani, completed the basic grammar they have classes on [email protected]) a Biblical text, in which they deal with translational This course will enable students to study special and interpretive issues. topics in such areas as Hebrew language, litera- Hebrew Language B (Rachel Williams, ture, history, and culture. [email protected]; Introduction to the history and culture of Marta Marzanska-Mishani, the Middle East (Amira Bennison, [email protected]) [email protected] et al.) In this course students acquire competence in This paper provides an introduction to the history spoken and written modern Hebrew. Classes will of the Middle East and the political, religious, cul- cover modern Hebrew grammar and representa- tural and linguistic developments of the different tive texts from modern Hebrew literature. regions and periods. It aims to familiarize the stu- Intermediate Hebrew (Robert Gordon, dent with the sources of information available and with the main themes that will arise in studying [email protected]; Geoffrey Khan, Middle East societies in subsequent years of the [email protected]; Marta Marzanska-Mishani, Tripos. The course consists primarily of lectures. [email protected]; Rachel Williams, Introduction to the contemporary Middle [email protected]) East (Marta Marzanska- This paper enables students to improve their grasp Mishani, [email protected] et al.) of Hebrew and develop competence in the critical This paper provides an introduction to the politics, reading of Hebrew texts. There will be two sec- religion and culture of contemporary Middle tions on classical Hebrew and modern Hebrew res- Eastern societies. It starts with a historical intro- pectively. Candidates taking the modern Hebrew duction focusing on their entry into modernity. It option will have an oral as part of their paper. goes on to explore the languages and dialects in Intermediate Biblical Hebrew grammar social and cultural contexts of Middle Eastern (Geoffrey Khan, [email protected]) societies. The final section of the course examines This course is mainly concerned with the study of the region from the anthropological perspective, syntax within context. which will focus on piety movements, nationalism, Aramaic (Brian Mastin, [email protected]) as well as gender and social hierarchies. Candidates will be required to translate and comment on a number of passages from set texts,
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
GRADUATE more commonly, yet controversially, labelled – has http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/dmes/hebrew/ long since turned into a marketable icon of suffer- graduate.htm ing. Indeed, the encroachment on the victims’ memory of what has contentiously been called the MPhil Middle Eastern Studies (Hebrew ‘Holocaust industry’ or, with a gruesome pun, Studies) ‘Shoah business’, is frequently perceived as threat- ening to pervert remembrance of this singular, un- fathomable and most inhumanly destructive event Classical Hebrew texts in history. In this module, students enter into these Hebrew unspecified texts, composition, debates by enquiring into the ability of narrative, and pointing in literature, film and other forms of memorializa- Semitic inscriptions tion, to represent the ‘unrepresentable’, by explor- Aramaic texts ing the use of these narratives as ‘history’, and by investigating the so-called ‘Americanization’ of the Jewish biblical exegesis Shoah. In addition, they enquire into the historical Medieval Hebrew poetry and cultural contexts of the Shoah. Hebrew halakhic literature The Cairo Genizah Jewish Writing from the Diaspora Post-biblical Hebrew language and Israel (convened by Axel Stähler, [email protected]) The emergence of modern Hebrew Secular Jewish writing lends itself exceptionally literature well to comparative study. Indeed, it demands a Themes in twentieth-century Hebrew comparative approach because, as a largely dias- poric literature of a stunning variety, it is inherent- literature ly transnational and transcultural. Mainly develop- Critical study of selected authors of the ing since the early nineteenth century, secular nineteenth or twentieth centuries Jewish literature is a literature of many languages; English translation of modern Hebrew it evolves not least through the productive friction literary texts between changing conceptions of Jewishness and various often highly diverse cultural contact zones all over the world. In this module a choice of repre- Canterbury Christ Church University sentative texts are discussed so that students may Department of Theology and Religious Studies appreciate the broad range and variety of Jewish Website: http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/arts- writing since the late nineteenth century. To avoid humanities/theology-and-religious-studies/ the over-simplifications inherent in a comprehen- sive periodization, the ordering principle applied here is not strictly chronological but rather reflects Defining Judaism (Maria Diemling, on particular aspects of Jewish ‘experience’. It ran- [email protected]) ges from what has been called ghetto literature to This course introduces students to different under- Israeli ‘national literature’, and includes ‘Assi- standings of what it means to be Jewish and fosters milation and Dissociation’, ‘Zionism', ‘Wandering’, an appreciation of the essential characteristics and and ‘Diaspora–Israel’. varieties of historical Jewish identity.
University of Kent Cardiff University Comparative Literature, School of European School of Religious and Theological Studies Culture and Languages http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/share/aboutus/religion http://www.kent.ac.uk/secl/complit/index.html /index.html
The Shoah in Literature, Film and Culture Introduction to Biblical Hebrew/Classical (convened by Axel Stähler, Hebrew I (Daniel King, [email protected]) [email protected]) This module teaches the square script, reading, In the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic writing and transliteration, some elements of clas- events of the Shoah, the philosopher and sociolo- sical Hebrew grammar and syntax and it prepares gist Theodor W. Adorno interrogated the meaning students for further language study and trans- of ‘culture’ after the failure of culture. In con- lation of a text which they will do in the double temporary discourse, the Shoah – or the Holocaust, module Classical Hebrew II. The language will be as the National Socialist extermination plans are of interest to students of Religious and Theological
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Studies and to others who wish to expand their thought, the ideas and events which have moulded knowledge of canonical (Jewish and Christian) and influenced it, and the challenges it has faced in texts, to students of the ancient world, especially ancient, medieval and modern times. the Near East, and to those who want to sample a Semitic language. Further Biblical Hebrew/Classical Hebrew University of Chester II (Daniel King, [email protected]) Classical Hebrew II builds on Classical Hebrew I, Department of History and Archaeology introducing additional grammar and vocabulary. It http://www.chester.ac.uk/departments/history- is primarily devoted, however, to reading a simple archaeology Hebrew text, and thus giving students a feel for, and understanding of, the language of the Hebrew UNDERGRADUATE Bible. Hebrew Texts (John Watt, [email protected]) Debates in History – The Holocaust: A The double module involves reading selected Straight or Twisted Path to Genocide? chapters of the Hebrew Bible in the original. Students are expected to be able to translate the (Tim Grady, History, [email protected]) Hebrew into English and are required to study the The module begins by revisiting the intentionalist/ selected texts in a scholarly fashion. functionalist controversy over the origins of the Aramaic or Syriac Texts (John Watt, Holocaust. After considering the limits of this earlier debate, it moves on to consider more recent [email protected]) scholarly controversies over the nature and origins This module involves reading selected Aramaic/ of the Nazis’ genocide. More generally, the module Syriac texts in the original. Students are expected uses this discussion of the evolution of Holocaust to be able to translate the texts into English and historiography to consider the ways in which are required to study them in a scholarly fashion. interpretations of the past are continually formed, The texts to be studied are decided in conjunction contested and refined. with students and may be either entirely from the Aramaic portions of the Hebrew Bible, or entirely Department of Theology and Religious Studies from Classical Syriac literature, or some of both. http://www.chester.ac.uk/trs History and Religion of Ancient Israel (Daniel King, [email protected]) UNDERGRADUATE This module examines what can be known about the history and religion of ancient Israel and Judah, Encountering Religion: Judaism principally from the time of the origins of an entity This module engages in the study of global con- or entities which can be recognised as such, to temporary Judaism including the means of perso- about the time of the conquest of the Near East by nal encounter and fieldwork. We explore such Alexander the Great (late fourth century BC). It questions as: ‘How do Jews interpret and live out also examines the ways in which the account of their faith?’ ‘How do Jewish communities under- that history and religion in the ‘Old Testament’, stand themselves?’ and ‘What are the key concepts otherwise known as the ‘Hebrew Bible’, may be and concerns of present day Jews?’ read and interpreted. In studying the history of this ancient community or communities, the emphasis will be on those aspects of it which are of GRADUATE most interest for the understanding of ‘Old Testa- ment religion’. Jews, Christians, and Pagans, 168 BCE to Ancient, Medieval and Modern Judaism 132 CE (Paul Middleton, (John Watt, [email protected]) [email protected]) The module examines the key ideas and principles in the development and structure of Judaism during the past 2,000 or so years. As the history of the Jewish religion is hardly separable from the history of the Jewish people, it also provides an overview of Jewish history generally, and a more detailed insight into the history of those periods which are considered of special significance for the development of religious ideas. The emphasis, however, is on the intellectual and religious history of Judaism, the structure of Jewish religious
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Trinity College Dublin Sources, Documents and Literacy in the Ancient World Religions and Theology (Anne Fitzpatrick, [email protected]; Zuleika http://www.tcd.ie/Religions_Theology/ Rodgers, [email protected]) This module introduces students to the problems Certificate in Holocaust Education of reconstructing the history of the origins of the (Course Director: Dr Zuleika Rodgers, Bible on the basis of the literary and material evi- [email protected]) dence. Sources examined include the Bible, archae- This thirteen-month part-time course for educa- ology, numismatics, epigraphy, royal archives and tors aims to provide the background knowledge seals. We will also examine the role of writing in and pedagogical tools to introduce and address the the ancient world with a particular focus on the complexity of the Holocaust in age-appropriate origin and function of ancient libraries. ways. The curriculum is designed to provide adequate preparation for Holocaust education Second- and third-year courses focusing as it does on the connections between the content and the teaching of the material. The Introduction to Hebrew (Andrew Mayes, course is offered by the Herzog Centre at Trinity [email protected]) College Dublin in association with the Holocaust This course introduces the student to the language Education Trust Ireland. of the Hebrew Bible. Intermediate Hebrew (Lesley Grant, BA Jewish and Islamic Civilisations (TSM) [email protected]) BA World Religions and Theology In this course, students complete the study of basic grammar and begin in-depth reading of selected First-year courses Biblical texts. Jews in the Medieval World (Zuleika The Bible and Jewish and Christian Origins Rodgers, [email protected]) (Anne Fitzpatrick, [email protected]; Zuleika This module presents the student with an histori- Rodgers, [email protected]; Benjamin Wold, cal overview of the social, political and religious [email protected]) lives of the Jews in the Medieval world. Two histo- Semester A: The module explores the physical en- rical matrices for Jewish life and thought will pro- vironment of the world of ancient Israel using both vide the focus for the course: Christian Europe and literary and archaeological evidence. Particular the Islamic empires in Baghdad, Cairo and Al-An- attention is paid to the religious worldview of the dalus. In lectures, the students examine the diverse ancient Israelites and their neighbours in the land ways in which Judaic culture and religious thought of Palestine and in Babylonia, Persia, Egypt and the developed in each of these contexts through Hellenistic world. Semester B: The first section of reading the primary literature and modern com- this module introduces the students to Judean mentators. culture and the New Testament writings within the Prophecy in Israel context of the Greco-Roman world. By studying (Andrew Mayes, [email protected]) both documents and material culture in the class- The module examines the role of the prophet in room, students gain an appreciation of how the Israelite society. The aim is both to provide a cri- interaction with Hellenism and Rome influenced tical assessment of the view that the prophet was the development of Judean political, cultural and an isolated individual, and to achieve a better per- religious life. ception of the nature of prophecy and of the contri- Introduction to Jewish Civilization from bution of prophecy to Israel’s developing religious Antiquity to Modernity self-understanding. (Zuleika Rodgers, [email protected]) Trajectories in Early Judism (Anne The purpose of this module is to introduce the stu- Fitzpatrick, [email protected]) dent to the development of Jewish civilization from Judah under Empire the earliest period to the present. The module is (Anne Fitzpatrick, [email protected]) designed for those who are just starting their This module enables students to gain an under- study of Judaism and it equips the student with a standing of the way in which the concept “empire” knowledge of the central issues and main texts in has been applied to the ancient Near East and to the formation of Jewish identity. The intention of ask whether or not our modern notion of empire is this course is to allow the student to acquire a appropriate to the way in which ancient imperial basic knowledge of Jewish culture and history. rulers and their subjects imposed or accepted rule.
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Jews and the Roman Empire how the popular presentation of Biblical narratives (Zuleika Rodgers, [email protected]) reflects back on a reader’s understanding of the This course examines the relationship between the material found in the Bible. Roman Empire and the Jews, both in Judea and in Israel and Egypt (Andrew Mayes, the Diaspora. The course is intended to provide the [email protected]) students with a knowledge of the main issues that The overall objective of the course is to see what come into play in this complex interaction between may be said from an Egyptian perspective about a Near Eastern ethnic group whose ancestral the exodus of Israel from Egypt. The course takes customs underpin a system of ethical monotheism its starting point in a consideration of the ambiva- and polytheistic Roman imperial power in need of lent attitude of the Old Testament towards Egypt, a stable environment on the eastern boundaries of particularly with regard to the question of the ori- its Empire. The course will trace relations from the gins of Israel. Is Egypt or Mesopotamia the original period of Roman involvement in Judean affairs (63 home of Israel? This ambivalence invites a consi- BCE) through the revolts that ultimately led to the deration of the historical relationship between destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the annihi- Israel and Egypt. So the course will include an lation of the community at Alexandria, and the loss overview of Egyptian history from the Old King- of Jewish sovereignty in Palestine. dom, with particular reference to Egyptian atti- tudes towards Syria-Palestine. The Egyptian New Final-year courses Kingdom offers a number of relevant areas for study: the rise of the Egyptian empire and its mem- The Jews of Egypt bership in the group of great powers in the con- (Anne Fitzpatrick, [email protected]) temporary Ancient Near East; the Amarna Letters The module begins with an examination of the ear- with their focus on relations between Egypt and liest traditions about Egypt in the Hebrew Bible Palestine; the reign of Akhenaten and the rise of and continues to examine Judean-Egyptian politi- monotheistic religion in Egypt; the tradition of an cal relations in the neo-Assyrian, neo-Babylonian, Israelite exodus and its possible historical back- Persian and Ptolemaic periods. Topics include Jew- ground; the origin of Israelite monotheism. ish temples in Egypt, emigration of Jews to Egypt, the portrayal of Judeans resident in Egypt in the Department of Classics Hebrew Bible and other Judean sources, the trans- http://www.tcd.ie/Classics/ lation of the Torah into Greek at Alexandria, Jude- an soldiers in Egypt and the socio-historical back- The Jews of Palestine, 200BC–AD66 ground of Jewish life in Egypt. (Brian McGing, Classics, [email protected]) Holocaust Representation in Literature European civilisation has its deepest roots in three (Zuleika Rodgers, [email protected]) great cultures of the ancient Mediterranean world Advanced Hebrew – Greek, Roman and Jewish. Judaism and Hellenism (Andrew Mayes, [email protected]) encounter each other for the first time after the The aim of the module is that students become fa- death of Alexander the Great (323 BC). In the third miliar with a wider range of both biblical and non- century BC this seems to have been a largely un- biblical Hebrew texts and inscriptions, and able to problematic meeting, but something happened in analyze the exegetical issues that arise in relation the second century and the encounter became, in to these texts and inscriptions. certain quarters at least, a confrontation. When Biblical Narratives and Popular Culture Pompey arrived in Palestine with his legions in 65 BC, they stormed the Temple in Jerusalem, mas- (Lesley Grant, [email protected]) sacred the defenders and entered the Holy of This course considers the use of Biblical narrative Holies. Rome was a brutal imperialist power, the in the cinema and popular novels, examining how Jews a stubborn and divided people: perhaps the the presentation of the Biblical material differs in relationship was never going to work, and in AD 66 each case and how that presentation reflects the the region exploded into one of the biggest revolts time period, religious and political views of the that Rome ever faced. This course will examine films and novels, directors and authors. It focuses what happened and why. on the representation of the narrative material on Israel in Egypt and the Exodus examining such issues as differing constructions of ethnicity, gender and sexuality; the use of Egypt as a political symbol and the effect of genre on the presentation of the base narrative. This module allows the students to recognize the importance of Biblical material in Western popular culture and to see
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Durham dents will be introduced to wisdom literature, apo- Department of Theology and Religion, calyptic literature, testamental literature, and the http://www.dur.ac.uk/theology.religion/ rewriting of scriptural tradition. The module will stress that although one can speak of different UNDERGRADUATE forms of expression, ideas expressed within the literature show that stereotypical caricatures of Biblical Hebrew (Robert Hayward, Early Judaism often break down when subjected to [email protected]) scrutiny. Students are taught using Weingreen’s grammar of Judaism (Robert Hayward, Classical Hebrew in classes taught twice a week. [email protected]; Barbara Borts) They will be expected to learn vocabulary and An introduction to Rabbinic Judaism: the making grammar in a traditional way, at a pace which the of the Mishnah, Talmuds and the Midrashim. Ma- majority of students find comfortable. By building jor institutions and practices and Rabbinic Judaism up a strong vocabulary and grammar base, stu- (e.g. Synagogue, Beth Ha-Midrash, community dents will soon feel confident with that language organisation) and their development. Medieval and begin study of a biblical prose text in the developments: Mysticism and Kabbalah, study and Epiphany term. They will further engage with prayer. From 1492 to present: the European Dias- textual and linguistic issues in selected passages of pora and the effects of the ‘Enlightenment’, Reform Hebrew Prose, and encounter both the text-critical vs. Orthodox, persecutions, and the growth of issues posed by other versions of the Bible and American Judaism, the Shoah. The state of Israel Rabbinic interpretations. and the modern religious scene. Syriac (Robert Hayward, Aramaic (Robert Hayward, [email protected]) [email protected]) The course book for this module will be J. F. Coak- Course book for this module is: F. Rosenthal, A ley, Robinson’s Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar of Biblical Aramaic (Harrassowitz: Wies- Grammar, 5th Edition, and the exercises in this baden, 1968). Students will be expected to acquire course book will be the backbone of the program- knowledge of Aramaic grammar and syntax using me teaching the grammar and syntax of Syriac. this book: they will then turn to translation of the Regular written tests will determine the speed and following texts: Ezra 4:7–6:18, 7:12–26, Cowley, effectiveness with which the students are acqui- ‘Aramaic Papyri’ Nos. 21, 30, 31, 32, 33; selected ring knowledge of the language. The set texts will chapters of Pentateuchal Targums. Detailed biblio- be: Peshitta Genesis 1–2, John 1–2, The Eucharistic graphies and some textual notes will be made Prayer of the Liturgy of Saints Addai and Mari. available. Dead Sea Scrolls (Robert Hayward, [email protected]) GRADUATE The course will examine the impact of the dis- covery of the Dead Sea Scrolls on our knowledge of Advanced Hebrew Texts (Robert Hayward, ancient Judaism, its political and religious institu- [email protected]) tions and its sense of identity. Particular attention This module is designed to develop and increase will be paid to the identification of Jews who lived the technical skills required for independent at Qumran in accordance with rules laid down in research on the Old Testament and early Jewish key Dead Sea documents. Students will encounter texts at an advanced level. Special attention is primary written sources (in translation) found in directed towards equipping candidates with the the Dead Sea caves, and confront and engage with linguistic expertise, knowledge of textual and modern scholarly debate on the date, provenance, literary criticism, and insight into exegetical issues and setting within Judaism of those sources. necessary for in-depth analysis of ancient Hebrew Seers and Sages (Robert Hayward, literature. Candidates will have the opportunity to [email protected]; Lutz Doering, study post-biblical works in the original Hebrew [email protected]) (including texts from the Dead Sea caves and This module provides a critical introduction to Rabbinic writings) along with Old Testament texts. Jewish religious thought in the time of Jesus. It will Advanced Aramaic (Robert Hayward, focus on Ben Sira, Wisdom of Solomon, Psalms of [email protected]) Solomon, 1 Enoch, Testaments of the Twelve This module is designed to develop and increase Patriarchs, 4 Esdras, 2 Baruch, Jubilees and Tobit. the technical skills required for independent Each of these documents, except for 4 Esd, and 2 research on ancient Aramaic texts at an advanced Bar, which are treated together, will be explored in level. Special attention is directed towards lectures with opportunity for discussion. The stu- equipping candidates with the linguistic expertise, knowledge of textual and literary criticism, and
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 insight into exegetical issues necessary for in- The re-evaluation of the Palestine Mandate as a depth analysis of ancient Aramaic literature. Can- chapter in British imperial history has only just didates will have the opportunity to study various begun. Historians of Zionism and the Middle East kinds of Aramaic, including the Aramaic of the have tended to downplay the role played by Jewish Targumim and Aramaic documents preser- Britain in the development of the Zionist-Pale- ved among the Dead Sea Scrolls. stinian conflict. An underlying argument of this The Dead Sea Scrolls and the New course is that we can gain a much more profound Testament (Lutz Doering, grasp of how and why the Zionist-Palestinian con- [email protected]) flict came into being if we acknowledge and ana- Lectures will provide a thorough introduction to lyse the role played by British rule in the Holy an evaluation of the literature through which the Land. Dead Sea Scrolls may be read and evaluated (trans- lations, editions, etc). This evaluation will go hand in hand with a survey of recent developments in University of Edinburgh the field, as they have moved at a very rapid pace School of Divinity, New College since the mid-1980s. The relevance of the Dead http://www.div.ed.ac.uk Sea Scrolls for the New Testament will be explored in the following areas: the Jewish calendars, UNDERGRADUATE Messianic ideas, worship, the Torah, women, ‘magic’ and use of scripture. In addition, a number Hebrew 1 of texts will be assigned for reading and discussion (David Reimer, [email protected]) in relation to their distinctive theological em- The course introduces students to the main ele- phases. ments of biblical Hebrew grammar and is struc- Seminar for the Study of Judaism in Late tured around the teaching grammar by C. L. Seow, Antiquity (Robert Hayward, A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew (Revised Edition). [email protected]) One of the benefits of this teaching grammar is that This Seminar is open to all taught Masters and from a very early stage students read texts drawn Research postgraduate students interested in directly from the Hebrew Bible, carefully chosen to Judaism of the Second Temple and Early Rabbinic correspond with the relevant lessons. periods, up to the end of the Talmudic age. The Hebrew Intermediate (Timothy Lim, Seminar normally meets twice a term (though [email protected]) sometimes more often), and acts as host to visiting This course will consolidate the students’ under- speakers from overseas or from other UK standing of the Hebrew language gained in Hebrew Universities. These are invited to present research 1. At the start of the course, structured grammar papers, or accounts of work in progress. Their acquisition will continue from C. L. Seow, A Gram- interests will cover a wide spectrum in the general mar for Biblical Hebrew while also reading a prose area of Jewish Studies. text from the Hebrew Bible. As the course pro- gressses, texts of differing character and progress- sive difficulty (prose and poetry) will be read, and Edge Hill University students will acquire techniques for translating and interpreting such texts. Department of English and History Advanced Hebrew Language http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/english (David Reimer, [email protected]) UNDERGRADUATE This course offers an exploration of aspects of grammar and syntax, combined with reading
Hebrew texts. It aims to build students’ skills in The Birth of a Conflict: Britain and reading ancient Hebrew texts, reading inscriptions Palestine, 1840–1948 (James Renton, from Israel and its neighbours from the period [email protected]) roughly from the 0th C. BCE up to the 1st C. CE. This course explores the origins, development and Aramaic (Timothy Lim, [email protected]) impact of British rule in Palestine, with particular To read the ‘Hebrew’ Bible one must know Ara- reference to the evolution of the Zionist-Palesti- maic. To understand Jesus the Jew one must have nian conflict. The Mandate for Palestine became knowledge of the language in which he spoke. This one of the thorniest problems that faced the course will teach students the rudiments of the British Empire. The writing of the history of the Aramaic language by a study of its vocabulary and Mandate has been equally controversial and politi- grammar. The textbook by Frederick E. Green- cized. Longstanding myths propagated at the time spahn, An Introduction to Aramaic, will be used for by the British, the Zionists, and Palestinians have the course, corrected and supplemented by hand- influenced how the Mandate has been understood.
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 outs of readings. By the end of the course, students Visual Representations of the Holocaust would have read all of the Aramaic portions of the and Religion (Hannah Holtschneider, Hebrew Bible in simplified or real form. Depending [email protected]) upon the class, there may be opportunities to read In the last ten years, research on the visual repre- non-biblical texts, Elephantine Papyri, Genesis sentation of the Holocaust in art, film and museum Apocryphon, Targum, Midrash, though these will has flourished, now being posited at the cutting not be examined. edge of Holocaust Studies. The category of ‘reli- Biblical Studies: An Introduction gion’ does not occupy an explicit or prominent (Helen Bond, [email protected]; Hans M. place, yet is detectable in many of the representa- Barstad, [email protected]) tions offered. As such, this is an exciting and novel This course is intended as an introduction to the field for Religious Studies to engage in. The aim is Scriptures of the Jewish and Christian traditions to chart a history of visual engagements with the and to the modern scholarly study of these Scrip- Holocaust in a variety of media and to give stu- tures. No prior knowledge of the Bible is presu- dents the opportunity to apply methods of Cultural med, nor is any particular religious affiliation. Stu- and Religious Studies in their analysis. An analytic dents taking this course will acquire the know- thread through this diverse material will be the ledge base and skills required to become ‘compe- identification of religious motifs and inscriptions tent readers’ (John Barton, Reading the Old Testa- of Jewishness. ment) of biblical texts. Jewish-Christian Relations in Modern Biblical Texts in Translation 1 Times (UG)/ Themes and Explorations in (Hans M. Barstad, [email protected]; Helen Jewish-Christian Relations (MSc) Bond, [email protected]) (Hannah Holtschneider, This course provides both an introduction to bibli- [email protected]) cal exegesis and a detailed reading of two impor- This course charts the developments of Jewish- tant biblical texts: Genesis and Mark’s Gospel. Christian relations since the French Revolution in Hebrew Prophecy (Hans M. Barstad, order to enable a better understanding of the [email protected]) different levels of mutual interpretation. Attention Not many historical figures have had an influence will be paid to the social, political, literary and on religion and culture like the Hebrew prophets. theological interpretations of Jews by Christians At the same time, not many biblical texts have and of Christians by Jews. Concepts such as ‘dia- been similarly misunderstood and misused. Who logue’ and ‘pluralism’ will be problematised and were the prophets of the Hebrew Bible? What was examined in their historical and theological con- their function in the world in which they lived and texts. The geographical focus of this course will be acted? Germany in the nineteenth and twentieth centu- Second Temple Judaism (Timothy Lim, ries, broadening to the United States after World [email protected]) War II. Students will read a variety of sources and This course aims to introduce students to Second the course will examine the expanding scholarship Temple Judaism by the study of important facets of in Jewish-Christian relations in different academic the Jewish religion from its post-exilic origins (515 disciplines such as Cultural Studies and Sociology. BCE) to the beginning of the rabbinic period (200 CE). Alongside an historical study of the period will GRADUATE be religious topics and themes (e.g. Temple, the Dead Sea Scrolls, messianism, Pharisees) that are Advanced Hebrew Texts (Timothy Lim, particularly important for students of Biblical [email protected]) Studies. This course aims to consolidate reading of classical Religion in the Contemporary World: Hebrew and to enrich experience of textual history Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and exegesis of the Hebrew Bible. (Hannah Holtschneider, Hebrew Prophecy (Hans M. Barstad, [email protected]; Elizabeth [email protected]) Koepping, [email protected]; James Cox, The aim of the course is to develop critical reading [email protected]) of large parts of the biblical prophetic corpus. It An overview of three historically inter-related reli- considers the depiction of prophets and seers and gions. It begins with a foundational introduction to ‘men of God’ in the books of the Bible and looks in the study of religions and then moves to a study of turn at the Hebrew books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The relationships the ‘Book of the Twelve’. between the historical and contemporary studies of these religions are noted in the lectures.
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Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies University of Exeter http://www.imes.ed.ac.uk/ Theology and Religion The Arab-Israeli Conflict: http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/theology/ Nations in Collision (Anthony Gorman, [email protected]) The Creation of A Nation in the Hebrew The Arab-Israeli conflict stands as one of the most Bible (Siam Bhayro, [email protected]) enduring and, some argue, most intractable poli- This modules explores the origins of the texts tical issues in the Middle East. This course offers a comprising the Hebrew Bible. You will discuss detailed examination of this ongoing conflict from traditional and critical approaches to the history of its genesis in the late Ottoman period until the ancient Israel, from its emergence until the present day, discussing the growth of the Zionist destruction of the Second Temple. The Hebrew movement, the emergence of Palestinian nationa- Bible will be set in the context of other Near lism, the consequences of the critical years of 1948 Eastern texts, evaluations of archaeological evi- and 1967 that saw the establishment and consoli- dence and the controversies debated in contem- dation of the state of Israel and the continuing porary scholarship. dispossession of the Palestinians, and the ongoing Scribes, Apostles and Sages: attempts of forging a political solution since that Early Jewish Biblical Exegesis (Siam Bhayro, time. [email protected]) This module explores scribal activity and Jewish School of Literature, Languages and Cultures biblical exegesis by examining various Jewish http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools- corpora including the Bible, Pseudepigrapha, the departments/literatures-languages-cultures/ Dead Sea Scrolls, Mishnah and the Talmud. Linked themes and topics, such as fallen angels and The Holocaust and Representation in apostasy, are considered at each stage, providing a History and Culture (Peter Davies, combination of a chronological and thematic treat- [email protected]; Mary Cosgrove, ment of the various corpora. [email protected]; Hannah Elementary Akkadian Holtschneider, [email protected]) (Siam Bhayro, [email protected]) This course introduces students to the represen- This module will introduce the basic grammar of tation of the Holocaust in different cultural forms Akkadian (specifically Old-Babylonian), including since 1945. Examining how the Holocaust con- the use of a limited number of cuneiform signs, tinues to impact European collective and indi- exercises in transliteration and translation. The vidual memory and imagination, the course is aim will be to acquire sufficient grammar to enable structured around the analysis of memory debates the study of Hammurabi’s Legal Code in the next in distinct fields: history and historiography, course. public rituals of commemoration and material cul- Advanced Hebrew ture, literature, theology, and philosophy. Focusing (Siam Bhayro, [email protected]) on key moments of contested memory, the course This module will examine around 12 chapters of covers successive phases of Holocaust representa- non-narrative classical Hebrew (including unpoin- tion in history and culture: from the problematic ted texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls), with reference Allied suppression of the Final Solution in the to matters of philology, poetic structure, textual immediate post-war years to the more considered criticism and historical background. perspective of 1960s documentary objectivity, the Perspectives on Prophetic Texts Historians’ Debate of the 1980s, and the more (Siam Bhayro, [email protected]) recently addressed issues of German suffering This module explores the nature and function of during the war and of women’s memory of the prophets and prophecy in the ancient near east Holocaust. and in the Hebrew Bible, engaging with selected prophetic books and their critical interpretation.
Department of History
http://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/about/
The Jewish Diaspora and World History, 1290–1791 (Maria Fusaro, [email protected])
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Through lectures and seminars the module will the basics. We begin with the alphabet, and by the analyse the long-term history of European Jews end of the course we’re reading whole chapters in from their expulsion from England (1290) to their Hebrew. It sounds ambitious, but we take things emancipation by the French National Assembly slowly enough to grasp each aspect of Hebrew as (1791). Students will acquire a detailed knowledge we move through the material. The material varies of the history of the Jewish diaspora during the from year to year: sometimes we read parts of the early modern period, both in Europe and in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Jonah; or we areas of European expansion around the globe, might read parts of Ruth and Judges. We also look and the ability to trace the changing nature of the at some of the questions raised in biblical scholar- status of Jews in European society, to evaluate ship about the texts we’re studying. The course their role in the ‘Western’ economy, and their cul- tends to appeal to students from a range of back- tural contribution to European history. grounds, which makes for some interesting dis- Interpretation of the Holocaust (Richard cussion! Overy, [email protected]) Old Testament/Tanakh Texts (English) This module is designed to introduce students to (Sarah Nicholson, [email protected]) the differing historical approaches to the Holo- The opportunity to study parts of the Bible in caust, both differences in method (modernity theo- depth, reading closely and considering a variety of ry, intentionalism, structural/functional explana- perspectives, is offered in this course. The material tions), and in perspective (victims, perpetrators, varies from year to year. The course involves rea- opponents, enablers). The module will take a num- ding the text closely and critiquing current scho- ber of key texts as the basis for analysis and dis- larship on these questions and others. By the end cussion, including Lucy Dawidowicz, Daniel Gold- of the course each text has been thoroughly ex- hagen, Goetz Aly and Peter Longerich, as well as plored and students have a deeper understanding key eye-witness accounts – for example, diary of of a wide range of issues in reading and interpre- the Lodz Ghetto, and the Black Book of Russian ting biblical texts. Jewry. Hebrew Texts: Prophets and Psalms (Sarah Nicholson, [email protected]) Sociology and Philosophy Reading Hebrew texts at Honours level gives stu- http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/sociology/about dents an opportunity to explore the texts very closely in their original language. As well as exami- The Holocaust and Society (Nigel Pleasants, ning linguistic matters, we look at questions of cul- [email protected]) ture, ideology, history, theology and related mate- This is an interdisciplinary course, and not as such rial. We look at current scholarship on these kinds a history of the Holocaust. It combines historical of questions and we develop readings informed by and social scientific inquiry with philosophical critical study. Knowledge of Hebrew to Level 1 or reflection on the nature and significance of the equivalent is a pre-requisite. The texts studied Holocaust and (possibly) kindred events, pro- each year can vary, and students can usually parti- cesses and institutions. Historical and social scien- cipate in the decision of which texts to cover. In re- tific explanation and understanding of the Holo- cent years we have read texts from Joshua, Judges, caust and kindred phenomena inherently raises Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Amos, Jonah and of course questions of a philosophical nature. The module Psalms. By the end of the course students will therefore draws on theories, methodologies and know and understand the texts in considerable de- concepts from sociology, social psychology, histo- tail and depth, and will be able to discuss critically rical explanation and moral philosophy. a variety of scholarly perspectives on the material. The Search for Meaning: Judaism, Islam & Christianity (Mona University of Glasgow Siddiqui, [email protected];) Department of Theology and Religious Studies Religion has resurfaced as a major cultural and Website: political force in the world. Judaism, Christianity http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/theology and Islam, considered the three Abrahamic reli- gions, are the primary global, monotheistic faiths, UNDERGRADUATE united by a common heritage and vocabulary but divided by different doctrines, creeds and rituals. This course will introduce you to the origins of the- Classical Hebrew 1 (Sarah se three powerful religions, how their scriptures Nicholson, [email protected]) and doctrines developed and their influence in the If you’ve never learned biblical Hebrew before and world today. As religion shapes and is shaped by want to read the Old Testament/Tanakh in its ori- culture, the course will also explore issues of gen- ginal language, this course will introduce you to der, politics and the challenges of religious plura-
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 lism today. The course is not comparative but stu- Modernity and the Jews (Eva Frojmovic, dents will be encouraged to explore parallel [email protected]) themes and images across the three faiths. Movies, Migrants and Diasporas (Claudia Sternberg, [email protected]) This module is dedicated to migration and diaspo- University of Leeds ra in Europe as reflected in the cinema. It introdu- School of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural ces students to the work of filmmakers with, for Studies, Centre for Jewish Studies example, German Turkish, Black or Asian British, http://www.cjs.leeds.ac.uk/ Maghrebi French, Roma or Jewish backgrounds, productions made by transnational Eastern Euro- UNDERGRADUATE pean practitioners and films about migration and diaspora created by non-migrant/diasporic wri- Beginners Hebrew (Michele Fromm, ters and directors. Language Centre, [email protected]) Elementary Hebrew (Michele Fromm, GRADUATE Language Centre, [email protected]) Sins Sinister and Sciapods: The Margins of From Trauma to Cultural Memory. The Medieval Art (Eva Frojmovic, Unfinished Business of Representation and [email protected]) the Holocaust (Griselda Pollock, Jewish Studies Dissertation (Eva Frojmovic, [email protected]) [email protected]) This module addresses debates in literary, histo- riographical and psychological theory about the ways in which witnesses provide testimony, and University of Leicester the ways in which the legacy of a historical trauma School of Historical Studies of the magnitude of the Holocaust is represented www.le.ac.uk/hi/ and by historians, sociologists, writers, artists and http://www.le.ac.uk/hi/centres/burton/ museums. Cultural Diversity in Museum Culture: UNDERGRADUATE Jewish Museums (Eva Frojmovic, [email protected]) Facing Modernity: Jews in Central and Museums are increasingly conscious of the need to Western Europe be socially inclusive. Traditional models of privi- (Claudia Prestel, [email protected]) leging high art and ‘white western’ art have come This course will examine the complexities of Jew- under sharp criticism. On this module, we will ish life in Central Europe from the late eighteenth examine how museums have integrated (or failed century to the outbreak of World War II. During to do so) the artefacts of the Jewish minorities in that period the emancipation of Jews was on the Europe and the USA. We will look at the historical agenda of policy makers, an issue that the course reasons for the omission of Jewish culture from will explore in detail. Acculturation and assimila- many museums, and the particularities of the tion were the consequence of emancipation and models adopted for Jewish museums and Jewish the course will deal with the way the Jewish com- exhibits in ethnographic and local history contexts. munities of Central Europe dealt with it. Towards Renaissance and Baroque Urban Spaces the end of the nineteenth century Jewish nationa- and their Margins: Art and Visual culture lism emerged as a driving force in Europe and the in the Italian Ghetto (Eva Frojmovic, course will deal with the impact of Jewish nationa- [email protected]) lism on the individual and the community. The Taking anxieties around minority visibility, border emancipation of women and women’s role within crossing and seepage as a starting point, we will Judaism will also be explored. Students will gain an trace the visual strategies of the Jewish minority in understanding of the complexities of Jewish life in the Christian Renaissance, and Christian visual Central Europe when facing modernity. strategies for rendering this minority a safe and Israel/Palestine: The Story of a Land, 1882 segregated presence. We look at how the figure of to the Present ‘the Jew’ was constructed in the art of the late (Claudia Prestel, [email protected]) medieval and early modern period and what This course will explore the reasons for the conflict resources Jewish communities mobilised to con- in the Middle East and the role of nationalism, struct a positive sense of self against such repre- colonialism and post-colonialism in this ‘story of a sentations. land’. The course will deal with Zionism and the
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Jewish settlements before the foundation of the and the Jewish Councils, the Einsatzgruppen, the state of Israel in 1948 and will discuss the events extermination of the gypsies, the camp system, the leading up to the establishment of Israel. The sub- perpetrators, Jewish resistance, the reaction of the sequent Nakba (disaster, the common Arabic term non-Jewish population in occupied Europe and of for the expulsion and displacement of Palestinians the allied governments. The course will also in 1948) as well as the role of Arab nationalism address issues of gender and the uniqueness of the and the construction of a Palestinian identity will Holocaust. Problems of oral history and the nature be explored. Students will gain an understanding of memory, as well as the representation of the of the role the Holocaust played in the formation of Holocaust will form part of the course. Israeli identity and the role Al-Nakba played in the shaping of Palestinian identity. Ethnicity and gender, state and religion, human rights, the long Liverpool Hope University road to peace and the role of the first and second Department of Theology, Philosophy and Religious Intifada will be further topics of investigation. studies Reflecting on Genocide: The Holocaust in http://www.hope.ac.uk/theology-religious- Contemporary European Thought studies/theology-religious-studies-and- (Martin L. Davies, [email protected]) philosophy.html The more the factual history of the Holocaust is revealed, the more insistently people ask why it Introduction to the Jewish Tradition happened. It also makes them ask what it actually (Bernard Jackson, [email protected]) means: i.e. what does it mean to live in a world in Law and Narrative in the Hebrew Bible which Auschwitz is possible? This question is insistent because it goes beyond antisemitism and (Bernard Jackson, [email protected]) Nazi racial policies to question the nature of con- temporary social organization, the psychology of persecution, the failure of personal and public University of London morality. It suggests the dreadful insight that Auschwitz was and remains latent in the very King’s College London fabric of contemporary reality. The trauma of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies Holocaust continues to affect the European mind. http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/humanities/depts/trs This module will show how it does. It will review extracts from contemporary thinkers, writers, and UNDERGRADUATE critics such as Theodor Adorno, Hannah Arendt, Bruno Bettelheim, Emil Fackenheim, Geoffrey Introduction to Jewish Thought & Practice Hartman, Emmanuel Lévinas, Herbert Marcuse, (Diana Lipton, [email protected]) George Steiner, Élie Wiesel. This module will introduce students to the central The Nazis and Cinema: Holocaust and texts, concepts and practices of Judaism from the Representation (Olaf Jensen [email protected]) Biblical through to the medieval period. It will aim This module will examine cinematic representa- to give students an initial orientation to key topics tions of the Second World War, National Socialism in Judaism that will act as a foundation for more and the Holocaust in historical context. It will also specialised modules in subsequent years. explore the relationship between history and film Environment & the Old Testament (Sandra and compare it to the use of other sources. The Jacobs) first part of the module focuses on how the Nazi regime supported and used film for their ideology This module is designed for students who have and propaganda. The second part deals with the little or no prior experience of the Old Testament, question of how this past is represented in post- and is intended to enable them to explore the war cinema. Selected films will serve as sources; variety of Old Testament material from a range of seminars are based on readings, film screenings perspectives (historical, theological, anthropologi- and oral presentations. cal, literary, gender-critical, cultural), using the en- The Holocaust: Genocide in Europe (Olaf vironment as a key theme. Jensen [email protected]) Constancy & Creativity: Jewish This course will examine the events leading to the Interpretation of Tradition Holocaust, and the range of Jewish responses. It (Andrea Schatz, [email protected]) also aims to provide an understanding of the Modern Jews continue to address contemporary methodological and conceptual issues involved in issues by communicating across time and space, in interpreting and representing the Holocaust. words and deeds, with other generations and Topics include the discrimination of the Jewish other communities. Is this a ‘traditional’ approach? population in Germany and Austria, the ghettos How did Jews in early modern Europe think about
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‘tradition’? How did they create traditions in the Challenges of Modernity in Christianity, age of Enlightenment, how did they challenge them Judaism & Islam in the nineteenth century, and how do they argue (Paul Janz, [email protected]) about them today? The purpose of this course is to engage with spe- Paul in Context (Edward Adams, cific ethical and social challenges and conflicts as [email protected]) faced in different ways by the three ‘Abrahamic’ This module will introduce students to the study of faith traditions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam – Paul and his letters and enhance students’ skills in in light of modernity and contemporary society handling Pauline texts and problems of interpreta- and to gain a ‘comparative’ understanding of each tion relating to them. The module will examine of the three traditions in light of these challenges, specific aspects of the life, work and thought of but with the difference that each topic will be trea- Paul, such as his conversion, his letter-writing acti- ted from within specific theological parameters as vity, his view of the Jewish law and his views on expressed in Christian, Jewish and Islamic texts sex and marriage, and will introduce students to and writings. trends (especially recent trends) and methods in Law & Ethics in the Hebrew Bible (Diana Pauline scholarship. Lipton, [email protected]) Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (Rachel The course is designed to help students to under- Montagu) stand the expressions and functions of law in the This module is for students who want to learn Bib- Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and to explore the lical Hebrew from scratch. Students will be given points of contact between ancient and modern an intensive grounding in Biblical Hebrew gram- legal and ethical reasoning. Previous modules on mar. This will lead to the reading of accessible the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament are an advan- biblical texts such as the Joseph narrative or the tage, but not required. book of Ruth. Women & the Old Testament (Sandra Ritual in the Old Testament (Casey Strine) Jacobs) This module is intended to enable students to ex- This module is intended to introduce students to plore a range of Old Testament material relating to feminist approaches to Old Testament study, as ritual, from a variety of perspectives (historical, well as examining the role of women in Israelite theological, literary, gender-critical, anthropologi- society and the use of female and feminine figures cal, cultural), and to consider how insights from in narrative and metaphor. Its aims are to make the Old Testament material might offer illumina- students aware of the presuppositions that dictate tion on aspects of contemporary society. the way women are presented in the Old Testa- Religious Difference: Jewish, Christian & ment, and how modern-day women have respon- Other Perspectives ded to that presentation; to enable students to (Andrea Schatz, [email protected]) evaluate the feminist critique of the Old Testa- Jews and Christians in the modern world were ment; and to enable students to develop their own fascinated, scandalized and inspired by religious skills of textual exegesis from a feminist perspec- difference and the challenges it posed to their tive. intellectual, moral, and cultural projects. In this European Jews & the ‘Orient’ (Andrea course we will focus on explorations of Jewish life Schatz, [email protected])In political and and Jewish-Christian relations in various literary scholarly debates, in literature and the arts, the forms: in autobiographies, theatrical plays, travel ‘Orient’ was depicted, for centuries, as a place narratives, ethnographical and polemical works. where Jews were said to be at home. European Students will be able to develop a nuanced under- Jews responded to this powerful idea in many standing of Jewish, Christian and other approaches different ways, and their responses had a profound to religious difference as expressed in theoretical impact on how they understood their presence in terms, narrative creativity and everyday practice. Europe, their history as a nation in the diaspora, Hebrew Texts (Prose) (Katherine and their religious commitments. In this course, Southwood) we will examine how the notions of ‘East’ and This course is designed to consolidate and extend ‘West’ emerged, how European Jews challenged, students’ facility in Biblical Hebrew; develop stu- adopted and subverted them, and how they dents’ exegetical skills via class discussion of the created their own versions of a ‘Jewish Orient’; text being studied; extend students’ familiarity how European Jews used the concept of the ‘Jewish with and ability to use the critical apparatus in Orient’ in order to define the religious, cultural and Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. political meanings of ‘diaspora’; how Jews and the ‘Orient’ figure in new approaches to Religious Studies in a post-secular world.
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GRADUATE: teresting of these are the stories told of individuals seeking a legal judgement from the greatest of MA Jewish Studies (in cooperation with the Sages, symbolic expressions of the impact of the London School of Jewish Studies and with Leo halakhah on the lives of real people as well as of Baeck College) the law in practice rather than in theory. Kiddushin and the Agunah: Talmudic Texts
on Problems in Jewish Marital Law Identities and Communitiers in Flux: (Laliv Clenman, [email protected]) Texts and Methods in Jewish Studies The contemporary plight of the Agunah, the wo- (team-taught, coordinated by Andrea Schatz, man who is trapped in her marriage and unable to [email protected]) obtain a divorce or remarry, has its roots in the This module introduces the methodological legal nature of Jewish marriage, or kiddushin. Jew- approaches and key concepts required to conduct ish communities today are grappling with these research in selected areas of Jewish Stu- problems in Jewish marriage and divorce in a dies. Students learn how to determine appropriate variety of ways, including creating prenuptial methods and approaches for the understanding, agreements, enacting changes in civil law, pressur- analysis and interpretation of primary and second- ing recalcitrant husbands, and changing or com- dary material; and how to evaluate competing pletely transforming the marriage ceremony. arguments and positions both orally and in inde- Through readings in Tractate Kiddushin of the pendently executed written material. Babylonian Talmud, this course will explore the Introductory Biblical Hebrew with Texts legal structure of kiddushin, as well as its social (Rachel Montagu) and cultural contexts in the various Jewish com- This course is for students with no existing or munities of the time. limited knowledge of Biblical Hebrew. It aims to Intermarriage Interpreted: Readings provide a firm basis for the understanding of in Rabbinic Midrash Biblical Hebrew. (Laliv Clenman, [email protected]) Advanced Hebrew Texts. Hebrew Prose Intermarriage is a contentious issue in contem- (Esther) (Adam Silverstein, porary Judaism, but do we know how the early [email protected]) rabbis felt about intermarriage? What were their Intended for those who have a basic working attitudes and how did they perceive it? Through knowledge of Biblical Hebrew, this module pro- detailed study of narrative (aggadic) and legal vides the chance to improve familiarity with the (halakhic) midrashim from a variety of sources, we Hebrew language via reading and translating the will explore the complicated and often conflicted Hebrew text, alongside discussion of a range of rabbinic relationship with the issue of inter- interpretative issues. marriage. Issues under consideration will include The Bible & Archaeology (Joan Taylor, dating of sources, intertextuality, the use of proof- [email protected]) texts, and the relationship between exegetical ‘A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall’. Protesting methodology and the attitude of the exegete. violence and ordering chaos in the Hebrew Gender and Sexuality in Jewish Law & Bible (tbc) Society (Tamra Wright, [email protected]) Biblical texts are explored, through lenses ancient Judaism and Islam: Contacts, Conflicts, and and modern, as responses to violence (human and Cooperation (Adam Silverstein, divine, physical and verbal), and mechanisms [email protected]) (textual and ritual) for ordering chaos. The poli- Jewish-Christian Relations in Medieval and tical and social conditions that created a need for Early Modern Europe (Marc Saperstein, protest and order are examined, along with their [email protected]) implications for a psychological reading of the Religion and Public Space: Jewish Hebrew Bible. Responses to the Challenges of Secularism Subversive Stories: Aggadah and Halakhah (Andrea Schatz, [email protected]) in Talmudic Texts What is modernity? How is it tied to the European (Dr Laliv Clenman, [email protected]) Enlightenment and its concepts of religion, culture The Babylonian Talmud is well known for its in- and secularism? And how do Jews respond to these clusion of a large amount of aggadic or narrative questions? How did they define, interpret and material in the midst of the sea of law. These sto- shape modernity? In this course we will explore ries are often funny or shocking, but they are more key issues in the modern Jewish world (nation, than mere entertainment. Much of the aggadic religion and citizenship – education and cultural material is subversive in nature, rejecting, mocking integration – variations of secularism – affiliation and overturning the established halakhah. Most in- and disaffiliation); we will analyse them within
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 their historical contexts and in view of current Middle East and Mediterranean Studies theoretical inquiries; and we will deepen our http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mems/ understanding of them by studying specific situations in which the visibility or invisibility of A History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict religious difference was negotiated (e.g. in debates (Simon Waldman, on language, dress, architecture and the role of [email protected]) museums in the city). The aim of this module is to provide an in-depth In Search of Transcendence: Twentieth- historical analysis of the origin and development Century Jewish Philosophy (Tamra Wright, of the Arab-Israeli conflict from its onset in the [email protected]) early twentieth century to the present day. More Post-Holocaust Jewish Philosophy specifically, it provides an introduction to the pri- (Tamra Wright, [email protected]) mary literature and the historiographical debate Philosophy and theology have always needed to surrounding the creation of the State of Israel, the wrestle with the problem of evil, yet many thinkers collapse and dispersal of Palestinian Arab society, have argued that the Holocaust presents an un- and the ongoing conflict between Arabs and Jews precedented challenge to Jewish belief. We will over the Holy Land. look at a wide range of responses to the issues. Authors studied will include Rubenstein, May- baum, Fackenheim, Buber and Levinas. No prior Queen Mary, University of London knowledge of philosophy, except for material in- troduced on the Methods and Foundations course, School of History is required. http://www.history.qmul.ac.uk/
Department of History GRADUATE http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/history/ Leo Baeck MA in European Jewish History Selfhood, sensibility & the Politics of Difference in the European Enlightenment Core options (Adam Sutcliffe, History, [email protected]) Modern Jewish History and Culture (Daniel This module focuses on the history of selfhood in the ‘long Enlightenment’ (c.1670-1800), looking at Wildmann, [email protected]) philosophical approaches to the nature of the self, As they experienced the political and social conse- literary and cultural explorations of human emo- quences of emancipation and acculturation, Euro- tional responses to the feelings of others (‘sensibi- pean Jews were forced to confront issues of diffe- lity’), and the political ramifications of these cul- rence, exclusion, and antisemitism that were often tural and intellectual changes. Core readings will expressed in and even shaped by their writings. split roughly evenly between primary texts (most- Approaching Jewish history from the perspective ly influential works of philosophy, but including of literary analysis, this module is designed to some fiction) and notable recent historiographical trace the Jewish experience in modern Europe by studies. Starting with some key late seventeenth- surveying a range of literature in English trans- century texts by John Locke and Baruch Spinoza lation, focusing on authors from Eastern Europe, that were hugely influential in the following cen- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Austria, Italy, France, tury, we then look at the emergence of materialist and England. understandings of the self in the early eighteenth Antisemitism and the Holocaust (Daniel century, and at the explosion of interest in ‘senti- Wildmann, [email protected]) ment’ in both fiction and in moral and economic Modern European Jewish history has for centuries thought in the latter half of the century. We will been profoundly affected by anti-Judaism and anti- conclude with a consideration of the significance of semitism, influencing Jewish life in legal, social, changing concepts of the self in the political and economic, cultural and intellectual spheres from cultural upheavals of the American and French Re- the middle ages until today. The study of antisemi- volutions. Two themes will recur at various points tism is crucial for our understanding of the wider in the course: the development of individualist social and cultural context of Jewish history in approaches to ethics and belief as an alternative to Modern Europe. The programme will trace the traditional religion, and the formation of notions of development of antisemitism in Modern Europe, selfhood in juxtaposition to ‘others’, whether through its historical transformation under the across the gender divide or in contrast to non- impact of secularisation, the rise of nationalism Europeans or minorities such as Jews. and racial theories. The module will try to compare
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 the history of antisemitism in different European Hollywood and the Second World War, countries, but the emphasis will be on the role of 1939–45 (Mark Glancy, antisemitism in the Third Reich. It will survey the [email protected]) development of historical writing and the This course focuses on a key period in film history interpretation of antisemitism and the Holocaust, and it considers the methods with which film and will address forms of secular and religious critics and historians have analysed it. It is as much antisemitism since the Holocaust. about the writing of film history as it is about indi- Modern European Jewish Literature vidual films and filmmakers, and the syllabus is (Sander Gilman, [email protected]) designed to offer students the opportunity to en- Covering the period from the early Enlightenment gage with several different methods and schools of leading up to the destruction of Jewish life in criticism, while at the same time maintaining a Europe during the Holocaust, the module will continuity by centring on the films of one distinct focus on the delicate political and cultural inter- time period and country. Topics considered in- action between Gentile and Jewish societies, enab- clude feature films and the historian, films as pro- ling you to gain a deeper understanding of the fun- paganda, the cultural and social context of the USA damental changes in Jewish life during this period. during the war years and audience tastes in war- This module will look at different countries and time. apply a comparative perspective. Studying the re- Overcoming Nazism (Christina von lationship between Jewish and general history will Hodenberg, [email protected]) help you examine some of the most important The question when, how, and to what extent post- internal dynamics of general European history. war Germany overcame the Nazi past is at the core You will also study how European Jews construc- of a lively and multi-faceted scholarly debate. Re- ted, asserted and coped with ‘difference’ and cent research has not only shown that the after- concepts of ‘homogeneity’. Other areas of study math of Nazism and Nazi crimes overshadowed will include the importance of the Enlightenment, West Germany’s new beginning, but has increa- the legal and political processes of emancipation, singly focused on how the contradictory processes the impact of the Great War on European Jewish of stabilisation, integration and liberalisation of history, the concept of Jewish renaissance and the new state and society were linked with the renewal and Zionist movements in the twentieth Nazi past. Moreover, inquiries into post-1945 Ger- century. man culture have begun to differentiate carefully between remnants from the Nazi era and pre-1933 Additional options traditions that shaped postwar realities. This course provides an introduction to the relevant Understanding Religion Historically historiography. It highlights current controversies, (Miri Rubin, [email protected]) methodological debates, and opportunities for new Religion and religious cultures are of central and research projects. growing interest to scholars in the Humanities. While much training is centred on the identifica- School of Languages, Linguistics and Film tion of suitable source material – visual, material, http://www.sllf.qmul.ac.uk/filmstudies/ textual – this course offers the tools for understan- ding the historical traces of religious life. Under- French Film after Auschwitz: standing Religion Historically introduces students Testimony, Memory, Mourning (Libby to the concepts that have animated discussion of Saxton, [email protected]) religion be they defences, critiques or polemics. The brutality of the Holocaust and other twentieth- Beginning with the Reformation each session of century manifestations of racialised violence have Semester 1 introduces a primary source and prompted filmmakers to innovate – to search for engages with the idea of religion that it embodies. new, more adequate forms of representation. This Students will develop a wide range of skills in dis- module explores how the Second World War and cussion of religious ideas and practices, and will the Franco-Algerian War have been remembered become acquainted with historiography of religion and represented in French-language film. Land- through concrete examples. In Semester 2 the mark films about these events, such as Night and course traces more recent debates in historical Fog, Shoah and The Pier will be examined along- scholarship and offers a useful introduction to the side the more recent depictions found in Hidden, world of contemporary scholarship on pre-modern Days of Glory and Heartbeat Detector. Students religious cultures. will gain an understanding both of the ways in which film can investigate processes of trauma, testimony, mourning and forgetting and of key developments in French cultural memory.
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School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) pact on Judaism and continued to do so in Roman http://www.soas.ac.uk/jewishstudies/ times. Many areas of Jewish life such as language, http://www.soas.ac.uk/nme/ literature, education, ethics, religious thought, and http://www.soas.ac.uk/religions/ material culture were affected by the surrounding Hellenistic culture. The course will examine the UNDERGRADUATE ways in which Judaism changed in the context of Graeco-Roman culture and it will analyse expres- BA Hebrew and Israeli Studies sions of assimilation, acculturation, and Jewish identity. BA Study of Religions Jewish Identity From Ancient to Modern BA Hebrew and (other subject areas e.g. Times (Catherine Hezser, [email protected]) Arabic, Music) This course will discuss the manifold ways in which Jewish identity is expressed in ancient, med- Elementary Hebrew ieval, and modern Jewish culture. Were religious, (Tamar Drukker, [email protected]) ethnic, and national identity always connected, and This course allows students to achieve a basic pro- if so, in what ways? Are developments recogniz- ficiency with equal attention to the colloquial and able with regard to definitions and expressions of the formal, catering for absolute beginners. Jewish identity? How and to what extent do Intensive Modern Hebrew political, social, and economic circumstances play a (Tamar Drukker, [email protected]) role in this regard? The first part of the course will This course allows students to achieve a level of focus on Judaism in antiquity, in its transformation proficiency equivalent to higher GCSE, with equal from biblical to post-biblical and rabbinic times. In attention to the colloquial and the formal. the Middle Ages Jews lived as minorities within the Modern Hebrew Language: Intermediate dominating Christian and Islamic cultures. How (Tamar Drukker, [email protected]) did they manage to remain Jewish and how was This course allows students to develop oral, aural, this Judaism expressed? The course will examine writing and reading proficiency in Modern the processes of cultural distinction and accultu- Hebrew, with equal attention to the colloquial and ration within the Ashkenazic and Sephardic en- the formal. vironments. The following sessions will deal with Judaism: Foundation (Catherine Hezser, the changes which Jewish identity formation un- [email protected]) derwent from the Middle Ages to modern times. Finally, the role of Zionism and the foundation of This course provides a basic introduction to the State of Israel for Jewish identity will be dis- Judaism for those with no or little previous know- cussed. ledge of the subject. It will present a historical overview of the most important periods of Jewish Introduction to Israeli Culture (Tamar history and explore key aspects of Jewish religious Drukker, [email protected]) practice and belief. It will introduce students to the The course examines the evolution and origins of pluralistic ways of Jewish identity formation in an- the new Israeli culture, its ideological background, tiquity as well as in modern times. The significance its symbols and values as reflected in literature, of the family and the community in religious prac- drama, film, popular music and the visual arts. The tice, the development of the synagogue, prayer and course covers the period from pre-state period of the festival cycle, the significance of the Torah and the early twentieth century until the 1990s. Halakhah, as well as Antisemitism, Zionism, and History of Zionism (Tudor Parfitt, Israel-Diaspora relations will be discussed. [email protected]) Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism This course covers the history of Zionism from (Catherine Hezser, [email protected]) Genesis up until the present day, exploring the The purpose of this course is to provide an over- historical and political dimensions of Zionism view of classical Judaism from the time after the within a religious and cultural context and Babylonian Exile until early Islamic times. In the focusing on the ideological sources of Zionism. first semester the course will focus on the Second Israeli History and the Israel-Palestine Temple period (until 70 C.E.). We shall start with Conflict (Tudor Parfitt, [email protected]) the return from Babylonian Exile under the leader- This course provides an overview of the Israeli- ship of Ezra and Nehemia. It has been argued that Palestine conflict since its inception and examines in post-exilic times Israelites became Jews, that is, its political, historical and ideological reflection in a tribal cult was transformed into a religion in Israel. It seeks to achieve academic clarity in an which intermarriage was criticized and conversion area of controversy and great interest. As Pro- became possible. After the conquest of Palestine by fessor Tessler commented in his introduction to A Alexander the Great Hellenism exerted a huge im- History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, ‘the
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Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not a struggle Department of Music between good and evil but rather a confrontation http://www.soas.ac.uk/music/ between two peoples who deserve recognition and respect, neither of whom has a monopoly in Klezmer Music: Roots and Revival behaviour that is a praiseworthy or condemnable’. (Abigail Wood, [email protected]) This course aims to provide in depth knowledge GRADUATE and understanding of the Jewish klezmer music tradition, including its roots among the Jewish MA Israeli Studies diaspora in pre-World War II Eastern Europe, its transformation in early twentieth century America Modern Israel Through its Culture (Tamar and its revival and contemporary trends in the USA, Israel and Europe. Via this subject matter, this Drukker, [email protected]) course seeks to develop students’ music analytical The course examines modern Israel via its culture, skills, critical thinking and understanding of wider both high-brow and popular. There is discussion of issues in the study of world musics, including the ‘what is Israeli’ with consideration of the ideas of concept of diaspora, insider/outsider status of per- the ‘melting pot’ and the ‘ingathering’ as the formers, and the transformation of functional per- nation’s attempt at creating a new identity. The formance traditions for the “world music” concert course will expose the student to a variety of stage. cultural expressions which will include literature, theatre, cinema, art, architecture, as well as sub- Popular Music and Politics in Israel culture such as comics, popular music, food and (Abigail Wood, [email protected]) folklore. Popular music and politics in Israel addresses the Israel, the Arab World and the Palestinians development of popular music in Israel from pre- State days to the present. Several songwriters and (Tudor Parfitt, [email protected]) bands will be studied, to build up a picture of This course provides an overview of the Israeli- different approaches to the expression of national Palestine conflict since its inception and examines and ethnic identity in music. Particular focus is its political, historical and ideological reflection in placed upon the relationship between national in- Israel. frastructure (radio, TV, recordings, army ensemb- Zionist Ideology (Tudor Parfitt, les) and popular music and on recent develop- [email protected]) ments including growth of expression, since the This course provides an input of Israeli studies in- 1980s, of minority ethnic identities in the main- to the regional studies courses offered in the con- stream Israeli popular music scene, and musical text of Near and Middle East Studies. It identifies responses to recent political events. with the disciplines of history and politics, parti- cularly through specific Zionist thinkers and ideo- logues, but also reflects religious and cultural University College London spheres of study. Sociologically, it also examines the fragmentation of Jewish identity during the Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies nineteenth century. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hebrew- A Historical Approach To Israeli Literature jewish/home/index.php (Tamar Drukker, [email protected]) This course provides the students with the oppor- UNDERGRADUATE tunity to read a wide selection of Hebrew litera- ture from the past 100 years. Important writers are set within their cultural and historical context. BA Hebrew and Jewish Studies The different literary movements in Israel are BA Jewish History studied using different critical approaches: from BA History (Central and East European) and formalism and New Criticism to psychoanalytic Jewish Studies readings, feminist approach, gender studies, New Historicism and post-modernism. The course is The following combined honours degrees complementary to the History of Zionism course, allow for various combinations including giving a different angle to the historical develop- Hebrew, Yiddish, and Jewish Studies: ment. BA Modern Languages BA Modern Languages Plus
BA Language and Culture
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First-year core courses for text-based courses and a complementary base for study of the modern language. A Survey of Jewish History & Culture in the Advanced Classical Hebrew (Lily Kahn, Firs t Millennium BCE [email protected]) (Alinda Damsma, [email protected]) This course constitutes an in-depth examination of The emergence of Judaism from Old Testament Classical Hebrew grammar at the advanced level, religious institutions; the impact of Hellenism; sec- incorporating discussion of the current state of tarianism. scholarship concerning a broad range of morpho- A Survey of Jewish History & Culture in the logical and syntactic issues. First Millennium CE Modern Hebrew (Lower Intermediate) (Willem Smelik, [email protected]) (Daphna Witztum, [email protected]) The First and Second Revolt against the Romans; The course will expand vocabulary relevant to a the development of rabbinic literature in Palestine range of everyday topics and situations. It will and Babylon; the use of archaeological evidence; develop fluency and more accurate use of basic the Jews under Roman rule and in the Byzantine grammatical structures and vocabulary. Students period; the Babylonian academies; the Karaites; will develop the ability to engage in more involved Judeo-Arabic literature; the Cairo Genizah. written and spoken communication, such as ex- pressing and understanding feelings and opinions. A Survey of Jewish History & Culture from Modern Hebrew (Higher Intermediate) 1000–1800 The course aims at developing Modern Hebrew (Michael Berkowitz, [email protected]) language skills that will enable students to express The decline of the Gaonate in the East and the rise themselves fluently and is open to students with of new centres of Hebrew scholarship in Western sufficient knowledge of the language (level 3). It Europe; the emergence of Jewish self-governing will concentrate on developing reading, writing institutions; the formation of Ashkenazi Jewry; and oral skills and will be taught by two tutors to Sephardi Jewry to the expulsion from Spain; the provide maximum exposure. Jewish philosophical and mystical traditions; the Advanced Modern Hebrew Marrano Diaspora; the mystical messianism of The course aims at developing Modern Hebrew Sabbatai Zvi; Hasidism. language skills that will enable students to express A Survey of Jewish History & Culture from themselves fluently, to read Israeli newspapers 1800–Present and literature. The course is open to students with (François Guesnet, [email protected]) sufficient knowledge of the language (level 4) to be The course explores the Jewish encounter with determined by a placement test. It will concentrate Modernity; the Haskalah of Berlin and Eastern on developing reading, writing and oral skills. Europe; the concepts of Jewish emancipation, acculturation, and assimilation; the movement for Yiddish courses religious reform; the phenomenon of Antisemi- tism; Jewish nationalism and Zionism. Elementary Yiddish (Helen Beer, Introduction to Classical Hebrew (Lily [email protected]) Kahn, [email protected]) This course is designed to enable complete be- In-depth introduction to the grammar and syntax ginners to speak, read, write and understand Yid- of Biblical Hebrew, with full attention to pointing, dish. Each lesson will include study of new voca- and using narrative texts. Ross's grammar will be bulary, grammar and various aspects of Yiddish used. culture. Upon completion of the course students Modern Hebrew (Beginners) (Daphna will have the ability to converse confidently on a Witztum, [email protected]) variety of everyday topics and begin reading Basic grammatical outline; intensive acquisition of authentic Yiddish literature. vocabulary; reading of easy Hebrew texts (e.g. Intermediate Yiddish (Lily Kahn, simplified newspapers); introduction to essay-wri- [email protected]) ting and conversation over a fairly limited range of This course is a continuation of Elementary topics. Yiddish and focuses on developing oral fluency,
listening skills, reading comprehension and Hebrew language courses writing ability at second year level. Classes will be conducted primarily in Yiddish and will incor- Intermediate Classical Hebrew (Willem porate conversation, grammar and textual study. Smelik, [email protected]) Students’ speaking ability and vocabulary will be Further in-depth study of the grammar and syntax enhanced through discussion of topical issues and of Classical Hebrew, providing a solid foundation aspects of Yiddish culture. As the year progresses,
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 textbook material will be supplemented with the Latin West, and then move to the Judeo-Arabic authentic literary texts by classic Yiddish authors realm. Alternating between chronological and topi- such as Y. L. Peretz and Sholem Aleichem as well as cal orientations, we shall study a variety of tradi- contemporary articles from Yiddish newspapers tional, literary, philosophical, and mystical modes and online sources. of interpretation. Yiddish for Historical Study (Helen Beer, Kisses of His Mouth: The Song of Songs in [email protected]) Medieval Judaism and Christianity (Israel A year-long course designed to enable students of Sandman, [email protected]) Jewish history, with special reference to the Holo- After considering Patristic and early Rabbinic in- caust, to read Yiddish material appropriate to their terpretation of the biblical book Song of Songs, we research. The course is also suitable for students shall focus on the variety of medieval Rabbinic with basic Yiddish knowledge and a broad interest Jewish and Western Christian interpretations, con- in Jewish history. textualised by the Jewish and Christian shared heritage, their points of fundamental difference, Text courses their friendly, cordial, and hostile relations, mutual influences, and cultural parallels. Through the lens Jewish Literary Aramaic (Willem Smelik, of formal commentaries, related literature, liturgy [email protected]) and sacred time, and art, we shall see how the Texts from Genesis Apocryphon, Targum Onqelos, Bible was interpreted and lived. We shall stress Neofiti, Pseudo-Jonathan, Tosefta Targum, Aramaic close reading and critical analysis of primary texts Piyyutim, Aramaic Midrashim will be studied. (in translation), as well as the living historical Old Testament Prophetic Texts I (Willem phenomena underlying the texts. Conflict and Cohesion: Jews and Christians Smelik, [email protected]) About fifteen chapters selected from the historical in Medieval Literature (Israel Sandman, books (Joshua-Kings, Esther and Ezra-Chronicles), [email protected]) studied with reference to philology, textual criti- Medieval religious and secular literature, art, and cism, source criticism, archaeology and historical music by Christians about Jews and Judaism, and background. by Jews in Christendom. Themes: Christian ambi- Introduction to Syriac (Gillian Greenberg) guities towards Judaism; Christian conceptualisa- The course will include a comprehensive introduc- tions of Judaism; Christian attitudes towards actual tion to Syriac grammar and syntax and study of a Jews; self and other; anti-Semitism; non-Jews / wide range of texts including passages from the Christians in Jewish world-views; Jewish ambigui- Peshitta, the Syriac translation of the Hebrew Bible ties concerning Christianity; cross-confessional and of the New Testament; commentary from the dialogue and disputation; conversion; literary period of the Church Fathers and from secular crossovers; translation; shared milieux; plus texts. parallel phenomena for these aspects in the Islamic realm. Geopolitical entities: from Iceland, Introduction to Babylonian Talmud through England (before & during Jewish pre- (Sacha Stern, [email protected]) sence, and after the 1290 expulsion of the Jews), An introduction to the Babylonian Talmud, its France, Germany, Italy, Christian and Islamic re- structure and contents. Students will acquire skills gions of Spain, and into the Near East. in translating and interpreting the Talmudic text, The Jewish Mystical Tradition (Alinda and will become familiarized with its language, literary forms, and mode of argumentation. Damsma, [email protected]) Comparison will be made with other early rabbinic This course offers an introduction to Jewish mysti- works, in particular the Mishnah, Tosefta, and cism, from the prophet Ezekiel’s visions of the halakhic and aggadic Midrashim. divine chariot in the Hebrew Bible to present-day Ways of Reading: Jewish Bible so-called kabbalistic manifestations. It provides a chronological overview of historical and literary Interpretation in the Middle Ages (Israel developments, and introduces some of the greatest Sandman, [email protected]) proponents and their writings. The primary mysti- After a general introduction to the Bible, classic cal texts will be read in translation. The main focus Rabbinic interpretation in Late Antiquity, and the will be on different strands of Jewish medieval Middle Ages, we shall carefully read and analyze mysticism. This period in Jewish history was rife the first three chapters of Genesis. Then we shall with mystical and esoteric speculation, which examine a variety of medieval Jewish commen- culminated in the book Zohar, Judaism’s most taries on these chapters, paying particular atten- enduring and influential kabbalistic work. Topics tion to the commentators’ historical and intellec- relevant to Jewish mysticism such as its definition, tual orientations, and to their interpretive agendas. We shall begin in Northern France, in its milieu of
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 practice, gender issues, Messianism, will be dis- History and culture courses cussed in relation to Christianity and Islam. Hasidism and Modernity (Tali Loewenthal, Judaism and the Origins of Christianity [email protected]) (Sacha Stern, [email protected]) Hasidism began in the eighteenth century with a This course assesses the complexity of Judaism spiritual, inclusivist ethos, which could be charac- and Jewish life in the period when Christianity terized as controversially ‘post-modern’, breaking arose, the attitudes of Jesus and his successors hierarchical borders in Jewish society. In the towards Jewish law and Judaism, and the process increasingly secular and religiously politicized whereby Christianity ‘parted ways’ from Judaism modern world of the nineteenth and twentieth and became a distinct, competing religion. The centuries, would the spiritual teachings survive? course includes a study of Jewish-Christian Would the inclusivism survive? This text-based relations in the first few centuries CE. course investigates the variety of Hasidic views on Greeks and Jews: Antiquity and the topics such as rationalism, individualism, defectors Modern World (Sacha Stern, from Judaism, the relationship between Jew and [email protected]; Miriam Leonard, Greek Gentile and the role of women in hasidic life. and Latin, [email protected]) This course is structured in two complementary Literature courses parts. In the first term, it examines the encounter of Greeks and Jews (or Hellenism and Judaism) in Palestinians and Israeli Jews in Hebrew Antiquity, in the context of the Maccabaean revolt, Literature: The Politics of Representation the Jewish Diaspora, key figures such as Philo, (Tsila Ratner, [email protected]) Josephus, and Paul, early Christianity, and rabbinic The course proposes to look at the representation Judaism. In the second term, it examines how of Palestinian/Israeli Jews relationship in Hebrew perspectives on this encounter contributed to the literature since the pre-state period. It will study a development of modern European culture in areas selection of literary works aiming to trace and con- including philosophy, theology, literature, psycho- ceptualize the changes that have occurred in the analysis, and politics; how it shaped concepts such ways Israeli Jews and Palestinians perceive each as Enlightenment, secularism, and reason; and the other. It will focus on the political agenda of litera- effect it had on the modern scholarship of Classics, ry representations in relation to the inclusion/ex- Jewish Studies, and the ancient world. clusion of the Palestinian voice and the power of The Culture of Sephardic Jewry (Hilary conformity. It will debate issues of otherness, gen- Pomeroy, [email protected]) der and historicity as they are reflected in litera- The course will explore the origins and concept of ture. It will question the role literary representa- ‘Sephardi’, as well as the cultural features with tions play in the context of ideological and national which it is associated. Topics include the Iberian conflicts. expulsions and their significance for diversifying Feminist Issues in Israeli Women’s Jewish culture; the Jewish languages of the Literature (Tsila Ratner, [email protected]) Sephardim; religious and secular culture; contem- A survey of feminist thinking in Hebrew literature. porary research on the history of Sephardic Jewry. The course will study the development of feminist Transformation of Jewish Culture concepts and their manifestations in women’s wri- in Early Modern Europe (François Guesnet, ting in Israel since the 70s. It will compare these [email protected]) expressions with feminist writing in English and The course considers the criteria for defining the American literature. The Hebrew texts will be early modern period as a unique epoch in the cul- followed by their translations into English. tural and intellectual history of European Jewry. It The Short Story and Novella in Yiddish assesses the transition from the medieval to the (From Mendele to the present) (Helen Beer, early modern period (ca 1500) and from the early [email protected]) modern period to the modern period (ca 1750). This course presents the genre of the Yiddish short Differences in the developments in Western, story and novella. Students will be introduced to Central, and Eastern Europe will be stressed. The important Yiddish authors within a cultural and course will cover the differentiation of Jewish com- historical context. Authors to be studied: Ayzik munal life, shifts in religious tradition, the interde- Meir Dik, Mendele Moykher Sforim, I.L. Perets, I.M. pendence of cultural changes in the wider, non- Weissenberg, Avrom Reisen, Efraim Kaganowski, Jewish society (in legal traditions, the dissemina- Yoine Rosenfeld, I.J. Singer, Der Nister, Dovid Ber- tion of print, higher education, secular learning) gelson, and Aleksander Shpiglblatt. and within Jewish cultures. It argues that this period can be meaningfully demarcated as distinct from both earlier and later Jewish cultural
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 experiences. Open to undergraduate and graduate Politics courses students. Metropolitan Life: Jews and the City The Arab Israeli Conflict (Neill Lochery, (François Guesnet, [email protected]) [email protected]) The course is intended to engage the students in a An analysis of the Arab Israeli conflict from its ori- comparative analysis of the changes that the gins through to the present day. Special attention emergence of very large cities in the 19th and 20th will be paid to the internal dynamics within both in Europe and the United States meant for Jews the Arab states and Israel, as well as the role of ex- living in these new metropolises. It focuses on the ternal powers in the conflict. early European metropolises like London and Anglo-Israeli Relations, 1948-2006 (Neill Paris, but also at ‘Jewish metropolises’ like War- Lochery, [email protected]) saw or Budapest: cities with a hitherto unknown The course will examine the relationship between concentration of Jewish population. It discusses the United Kingdom and Israel from 1i948 until the impact of the urban encounter for Jewish the present. It will focus on the key issues that immigrants coming to a city such as New York; the determined the relationship such as arms sales nature of Jewish interaction with the city and with from the UK to Israel, UK diplomatic policy to- other groups in the city; and the implications for wards the Arab-Israelis conflict and in recent years Jewish group life and Jewish-non-Jewish social the Middle East Peace Processes. The course will relations of Jewish migration to suburbs outside examine in detail the collusion between Israel and the city. Finally, the implications of the emergence the UK during the Suez War of 1956. It will also of Tel Aviv as a Jewish metropolis in a Jewish state examine the key relationship between the Foreign will be discussed. Open to undergraduate and Office in Whitehall and Israel. The course will gradute students. adopt a chronological approach – examining the History of the Jews in Poland (François key events and issues that impacted upon the rela- Guesnet, [email protected]) tionship over time. The first session will cover the This course offers a survey of Polish-Jewish history origins of the relationship, which went a long way from its inception in the middle ages through the to shaping the initial years of the relationship. contemporary period. It will be understood as the Israel and the Occupied Territories trajectory of a Jewish community that experienced (Ronald Ranta, [email protected]) an unprecedented extent of autonomy in a multi- The course will cover Israel’s complex relationship ethnic setting. The course will offer comparative with the Occupied Territories. This will include the perspectives on the history of the Jews in Russia impact of the Occupied Territories on Israeli and other Eastern European commonwealths and society and the political system. The course will regions. It focuses on communal and political detail the changes that occurred to Israel’s civil- structures, self-organization, migrations and eco- military relations, Israel’s religious-secular poli- nomic networks, religious traditions and move- tical problem, Israel-US relations and Israel’s poli- ments, legal status, (self-)images and narratives, tical party system as a result of Israel’s relations aspects of cohabitation and antisemitism, political with the Occupied Territories. culture and movements, dimensions of gender as well as characteristics of everyday life. Open to undergraduate and graduate students. GRADUATE Jews of English-Speaking Lands (Michael Berkowitz, [email protected]) MA Language, Culture and History: Hebrew An analysis of the development of English speaking and Jewish Studies English speaking Jewish communities from the MA Language, Culture and History: Modern nineteenth century to the present, particularly in Israeli Studies North America, the UK, Australia, South Africa and MA Language, Culture and History: Holocaust Mandate Palestine. Studies Culture of Zionism (Michael Berkowitz, MA Language, Culture and History: Jewish [email protected]) History The course will explore the cultural history of the Zionist movement within the context of contem- Most of the undergraduate courses are avail- porary studies of the nature of nationalism. Zio- able to MA students, subject to additional MA- nism will be studied as an “imagined community” level assignments. and a “constructed” nationalism.
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Graduate Seminar: Introduction to Persian control and the consequences of Helle- Holocaust Studies nistic influence in the Levant. (Michael Berkowitz, [email protected]) The course will examine the Holocaust in historical context. Issues to be explored will include the con- Leo Baeck College, London cept of a holocaust, debates over the uniqueness of http://www.lbc.ac.uk the Jewish Holocaust and major issues in Holo- caust historiography. MA in Higher Jewish Studies Graduate Seminar in Modern Israeli Studies (Neill Lochery, [email protected]) MPhil/PhD (accredited by the Open On the one hand, the course will examine the University) history, politics and culture of the modern State of Israel. Major historiographical questions and con- MA in Jewish Education (accredited temporary research will be explored. On the other by London Metropolitan University) hand, it will focus on a selection of topics in Israeli (for information, please contact Gaby fiction since the mid 1970s and explore the tension Ruppin, [email protected]) between collective images and individual identities in the context of social and cultural changes in Core Module: Philosophy of Jewish Israeli society. Education (Michael Shire, Yiddish Seminar (Helen Beer, [email protected]) [email protected]) Knowledge of major philosophies of Jewish Edu- cation and what constitutes an educated Jew. Department of History Core module: From Theory to Practice of http://www.ucl.ac.uk/history Jewish Education (Leslie Bash, History of Israel and Judah from the Late [email protected]) Bronze Age to 516 BCE (Dr Jonathan Stökl, History of Jewish Education and critical under- [email protected]) standing of sociological issues relevant to Jewish Education. In this course students will learn about the available textual and archaeological evidence for Foundations of Learning (Andy Bloor) the history of the region today known as Israel- Overview of key educational theories significant in Palestine from the earliest attestations until the ongoing development of education, teaching and return from the Babylonian Exile (ca. 516 BCE). learning. The aim of the course is to equip students to assess Jewish Studies (Charles Middleburgh) this data, including the Hebrew Bible and the Introduction to Rabbinic Literature. Overview of surrounding theories independently with regard Jewish textual tradition, focusing on texts relating to their historical content. The course will put par- to Shabbat. ticular emphasis on question of Israel’s ethno- Core module (Michael Shire, genesis, the debate surrounding the united monar- [email protected]) chy and the interaction of Israel and Judah with the Educational Research and Research Methods in re- empires of its time, Assyria and Babylon. lation to Jewish Education leading to dissertation History of Judah (Yehud/Iudaea) proposal. from 539 BCE to 140 CE (Dr Jonathan Stökl, Dissertation (Michael Shire, [email protected]) [email protected]) In this course students will learn about the Students will develop and write a 15,000–20,000 available textual and archaeological evidence for word dissertation on an agreed topic. the history of the region today known as Israel- Palestine from the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Advanced Diploma in Professional Empire (539 BCE) and the subsequent return from Development: Jewish Education the Babylonian Exile until the second Jewish (for information, please contact Jo-Ann Myers, Revolt against the Romans in 135 CE under Bar email: [email protected]) Kokhba. The aim of the course is to equip students to assess this data, including the Hebrew Bible, intertestamental literature and Josephus, and the surrounding theories independently with regard to their historical content. This course will put particular emphasis on the history of Yehud under
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
University of Manchester Religion and Science in the Time of the Crusades: God, Nature and Science in Centre for Jewish Studies Medieval Jewish, Christian and Muslim http://www.manchesterjewishstudies.org/ Thought (Renate Smithuis, [email protected]) UNDERGRADUATE The aims fo this course unit are: (1) To identify, explain and analyse the key points of the medieval BA Religions and Theology philosophical and theological debates about BA Hebrew Studies science; and (2) To trace the history of the knowledge transfer between Muslims, Jews and First-year courses Christians in the field of medieval science, especially cosmology, astrology/astronomy, medi- cine and the occult sciences. By the end of this Hebrew Language 1 (Sophie Garside, course students should be able to: (1) understand [email protected]) the main points of the medieval debate on science This is a beginner’s level language course which between Muslim, Jewish and Christian scientists teaches the skills of reception (reading and liste- and philosophers of religion; (2) understand the ning), production (speaking and writing) in the history of the medieval transmission of scientific target language and mediation between the target learning from the Muslim to the Christian world; language and English (translation and interpreta- (3) show a more detailed knowledge of some key tion). The aim is to familiarize the students with primary texts of medieval scholars on matters of the spoken and written forms and grammar of the science and religion; (4) show an ability to analyse language and to enable them to begin to express rudimentarily a medieval philosophical or scien- themselves in writing, simple role-play and simple tific text by relating its key points of argument to dialogues, and to begin to read simple authentic aspects of the wider medieval debate as discussed texts and translate to and from the target language. in class and explained in the secondary literature. Biblical Hebrew (Adrian Curtis Introduction to Judaism (Renate Smithuis, [email protected]) [email protected]) This course introduces students to the basic voca- The course will define Judaism as a religious bulary, grammar and syntax of Biblical Hebrew system based on Torah, with two main aspects — (designed for those who have no prior knowledge beliefs and practices. The basic creed of Judaism — of the Hebrew language). its fundamental beliefs about God, the world, The Middle East Before Islam. An humankind, the people of Israel, and history — Introduction (John Healey, will be explored, as they are expressed in Jewish [email protected]) law, Jewish mysticism, Jewish ethics and Jewish The lectures survey the history and religion of the philosophy. The major practices and rituals of Middle East in the period from c. 2000 BCE to c. Judaism will be considered, especially those which 600 CE. Special attention is given to the history of involve the sanctification of time, space and per- writing, the kingdoms of Syria-Palestine and sons. The role of religious symbolism in Judaism Anatolia in the Bronze and Iron Ages, pre-Islamic will be analysed, particularly as it is expressed Arabia (Petra, Saba and Himyar) and the impact of through art, architecture and religious artefacts. Christianity on the whole region before Islam. This account of the broad structure of Judaism will The World of the Ancient Israelites (Adrian be set within a historical overview of Judaism from Curtis, [email protected]) Biblical to modern times, which will identify the Part A aims to introduce students to the Hebrew major events, developments and figures. Factors Bible/Old Testament, to open up for students which have created diversity (history, geography something of the rich variety of literary genres that and ideology) will be examined and an account the Bible contains in the Law, the Prophets and the given of the major modern varieties of Judaism – writings, and to show that Biblical Criticism over Orthodoxy, Reform and Conservatism. The course the last century and a half has developed a refined will conclude with a demographic and statistical set of tools for analysing these ancient texts. Part B overview of Judaism today, and with a consi- aims to make students familiar with the geographi- deration of some of the major issues which cal and cultural context in which the ancient currently exercise the Jewish community (e.g. Israelites lived and from which the Old Testament/ assimilation and loss of identity, antisemitism and Hebrew Bible emerged. the Holocaust, the State of Israel, and the status of women).
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Religion and Evolution (Daniel Langton, Biblical Hebrew Texts I (Adrian Curtis, [email protected]) [email protected]) Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is Students will undertake the translation and exe- one of the most controversial and influential ideas gesis of selected passages of the Hebrew Bible and of the modern era. For students of religious studies learn to appreciate the issues involved in trans- it is important for several reasons. Evolution has lating and interpreting an ancient text and assess been at the centre of an historic conflict between varied text-traditions. Genesis 1-3; 2 Samuel 6-7; scientific and religious worldviews that continues selected Psalms. to this day, it has impacted on both Jewish and Talmudic Judaism: Sources and Concerns Christian modern theologies, and it has given birth (Alex Samely, to a range of scientific approaches for under- [email protected]) standing the nature of religion itself. This course The course is concerned with the classical sources introduces the student to such contentious and of Judaism, including the Mishnah, the Midrashim ideologically sensitive ideas as Creationism and and the Babylonian Talmud of which it gives an Intelligent Design, selfish genes, memes, and overview of the main literary and thematic evolutionary psychology. characteristics. The course, which presupposes no The Question of Palestine/Israel (1882- Hebrew knowledge, also explores some basic 1967) (Moshe Behar, concepts such as halakhah, aggadah, Torah, and [email protected]) Oral Torah. It discusses the role of Scripture for the The course provides an introduction to causes, Talmudic discourse and addresses the question of consequences and controversies associated with the historical use of Rabbinic sources. the emergence, development and consolidation of Readings in Talmudic Judaism the conflict in Palestine/Israel from 1882 until the (Alex Samely, 1967 war. Emphasis is placed on both the socio- [email protected]) political and diplomatic aspects of the conflict. On Selected samples from Talmudic literature (such successful completion of this course unit, partici- as portions of Mishnah Megillah and Midrash pants should have developed (1) skills for critical Bereshit Rabbah) are studied both in the original analysis of one of the world’s most covered natio- and in translation. The aim of the course is to nal conflicts; (2) general understanding of main introduce students to the modern analysis of the processes in the formation of the 20th Century ME; sources of formative Judaism in its classical period. (3) some ability to apply acquired knowledge to Ancient Israel’s Prophetic Literature broader Middle Eastern histories as well as to (Adrian Curtis, regional and meta-regional themes (such as the phenomenon of modern nationalism). [email protected]) The definition of the term ‘prophet’ and the Introduction to Holocaust Studies background to the phenomenon of prophecy in (Jean-Marc Dreyfus, Jean- Israel will be considered. Some consideration will [email protected]) be given of so-called ‘primitive’ prophecy, but the The course will explore ‘the twisted path to course will concentrate on an attempt to give an Auschwitz’. It will examine the significance of account of the messages of certain key figures in Hitler and other key figures, anti-Semitic policies, the biblical prophetic tradition. the life of Jews in Germany, ghettos, the methods of Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, killing, Jewish resistance, bystander indifference, [email protected]) post-war reparations and the fate of survivors. The course covers the archaeology of the Qumran Special attention will be given to policy documents, site and introduces you to the Dead Sea Scrolls. memoirs, and diaries, film and photographs. The texts are all studied in English and the course pays particular attention to the Rules which may Second-year courses describe the movement's community law and life, the sectarian biblical commentaries which show Modern Hebrew Language 2 (Sophie how one group in Judaism of the period inter- Garside, [email protected]) preted authoritative texts, and the liturgical and This is a lower intermediate level language course poetic texts which display a rich and profound which teaches the skills of reception (reading and spirituality. The significance of the scrolls for early listening), production (speaking and writing) in Judaism and nascent Christianity is also consi- the target language and mediation between the dered. Several films are used to illustrate the target language and English (translation and inter- history and the range of scholarly opinion about pretation). these texts.
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Theories in the Academic Study of the students to some of the main concepts and Middle East: History, Literature, approaches used in the contemporary academic Society and Religion beyond Orientalism discourse on literature, as applied to examples of (Alex Samely, twentieth-century literature from the Middle East [email protected]) (in English translation); to develop the students’ comprehension and reading skills through trans- This course unit introduces students to the theore- lating and analysing a variety of modern texts in tical positions that underpin current methods and their chosen Target Language. approaches in the study of history, literature, society and religion. We deal with the effect that Introduction to the History of Jewish- theoretical assumptions have on what counts as Christian Relations (Daniel Langton, evidence, how objectivity is achieved or question- [email protected]) ned, what role the scholar’s own context plays, The course provides an initial overview of the what topics are selected for study, how power and history of Jewish-Christian relations and highlights economics affect scholarly work, and what is the the development of the thought and theology of importance of critical distance in the interpreta- various individuals, concentrating particularly on tion of texts. Some of the methods of historical, the last hundred years or so. It examines Jewish philological, literary and social study will be approaches to Jesus and the apostle Paul, Christian discussed in detail, including their grounding in approaches to Judaism and the study of Judaism, philosophy and linguistics. The assumptions of po- the history of Jewish and Christian attitudes to sitivist science, phenomenology, structuralism and dialogue and to 'the other', and such controversial hermeneutics will be addressed; and approaches issues as the Holocaust, the State of Israel, Zionism, such as Marxism, post-colonialism, feminist criti- anti-Judaism in the New Testament, and conver- cism and deconstruction will be placed into a sion practices. wider theoretical context. Sources of Holocaust Studies Themes in the Formation of Arab and (Jean-Marc Dreyfus, Jean- Jewish Nationalisms (Moshe Behar, [email protected]) [email protected]) Some consequences of the Holocaust only appear How do collective identities come into existence? after decades of silence and repression. More than How do nations emerge (or disintegrate)? What just considering the memory of the event, this best accounts for the development of nations: course will try to deal with different aspects of the ideology, the economy, societal transformation, aftermath. The changes in Jewish history after the politics, cultural formation or technological Holocaust will be particularly considered: change? This course examines these and other key demography, new Jewish consciousness, the questions and themes related to the consolidation importance of the State of Israel and the of collective identities in the 20th Century ME interpretation in Jewish theology. The course will while utilising theoretical studies that focus on study different aspect of Holocaust consequences, additional regions. As such, the course explores the in the fields of memorialisation, diplomacy and emergence and consolidation of collective identi- Jewish history. The sessions will handle, among ties on competing bases (such as ethnicity, lan- others, the following themes: - Discovering the guage, region, class, religion, etc.) camps and the catastrophe: 1944-1946 - The Modern Literatures of the Middle East Restitution and reparation policies - Holocaust (Hoda Elsadda, [email protected]; denial: facts and fights - the German Federal Philip Sadgrove, Republic facing its past - Holocaust memory and [email protected]; Sophie politics in the new Europe : an East-West divide. Garside, [email protected] et al.) This course is intended to develop students' cri- Third-year courses tical appreciation of literature, through readings in contemporary Middle Eastern texts translated from the Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish, as Modern Hebrew Language 4 (Sophie well as through reading and translating texts in the Garside, [email protected]; original languages. We shall treat literature as a Malka Hodgson, resource for our own thinking about some of the [email protected]) pressing concerns of modern life in the tension This is an advanced level language course which between the West and the Middle East. In what teaches the skills of reception (reading and liste- sense do literary works reflect the ‘realities of life’ ning), production (speaking and writing) in the in the Middle East? What are the themes which target language and mediation between the target Middle Eastern writers feel compelled to address? language and English (translation and interpreta- The aim of the course unit is two-fold: to introduce tion). The aim is to enable students to master
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 complex structures with high fluency in a range of affected by the theological challenge of the situations and for a variety of purposes. Holocaust, which has undoubtedly brought about a Biblical Hebrew Texts II (Adrian Curtis, widespread crisis of identity and meaning for [email protected]) many religious thinkers. Among other areas of Students will undertake the translation and exe- interest, it considers the wider context of Jewish- gesis of selected passages of the Hebrew Bible and Christian relations (in particular Christian anti- learn to appreciate the issues involved in trans- Judaism), the question of the uniqueness of the lating and interpreting an ancient text and assess Holocaust, the debate surrounding the phenome- varied text-traditions. Judges 4-5, Jeremiah 1-5, non of Jewish self-definition in terms of the Holo- Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) 1-3, selected passages caust, and the future of Holocaust theology itself. from the Dead Sea Scrolls. Fundamental Debates in the Study of Israelites and Canaanites (Adrian Curtis, Israel/ Palestine (Moshe Behar, [email protected]) [email protected]) The aim is to enable you to consider in detail a During the last four decades liberal democracies number of issues of current or recent debate in the have grappled with questions relating to citizen- field of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, relating to ship, immigration, multi-culturalism, gender gaps, the relationship and possible interaction between collective rights, and the civil status of ethnic or Israelites and Canaanites. Its particular focus will indigenous minorities. In Israel these issues came be on religious texts from ancient Ugarit (modern to the fore in the 1990s, manifesting themselves in Ras Shamra) and their relevance for the study of debates between the “old” and “new” historians; the Bible. disputes between the “critical” and “establish- Early Jewish Novels (George Brooke, ment” sociologists; questions of memory and [email protected]) collective identity; new forms of political organiza- The course pays particular attention to identifying tion by Israel’s Palestinian-Arab citizens, Sephar- the characteristics of early Jewish novels, both in dic-Mizrahi Jews, and women. Discussions often the form of court tales and also in the form of love revolved around the question whether Israeli stories. Literary works both from early Palestinian society embodies persistent inequalities between Judaism and also from the Jewish diaspora are stu- European Jews, Middle Eastern Jews, women, died. Some elementary knowledge of the history of Arabs, and Russian and Ethiopian immigrants, or the period 200 BCE-200 CE is covered briefly at whether it is a place of (comparatively) well-func- the beginning of the course. All the compositions tioning co-existence. are studied in English. Israeli Media (Sophie Garside, The Jewish-Christian-Muslim Controversy [email protected]) from the Earliest Times until the End of the The course will introduce students to a brief Middle Ages (Renate Smithuis, email: history of the Israeli media, which will be read in [email protected]) Hebrew. The tutorials will deal with the vocabulary, style and content of the modern Israeli The so-called ‘Abrahamic Faiths’ – Judaism, press. The material will be drawn from various Christianity and Islam – have a uniquely close rela- newspapers, from the internet, from radio and tionship to each other: they are all monotheisms, from television. The course will deal systematic- arose in the same region of the world, draw on cally with areas of concern within Israel, about the common traditions, and have intensely interacted Middle East in particularly and the world in with each other. That interaction has been of general. It will cover topics such as cultural and immense historical significance and continues to social issues, trade and industry, politics, conflicts drive global politics today. The course aims: (1) To and terrorism. identify, explain and analyse the key points of theological difference between Judaism, Christia- nity and Islam as expressed in classic texts of the GRADUATE three religions; (2) To assess the arguments that these texts have deployed to defend their positions MA in Jewish Studies against each other; (3) To trace the history of the MA in Holocaust Studies (Pathway of MA Jewish-Christian-Muslim controversy down to the European Languages & Cultures) end of the Middle Ages. Holocaust Theology (Daniel Langton, Introduction to Comparative Semitic [email protected]) Philology (John Healey, The course surveys a number of Jewish and [email protected]) Christian theological responses to the Holocaust. It On completion of this course unit successful parti- explores the differing ways that their religious cipants will be able to give informed responses to concepts, beliefs, principles and practice have been questions about the history of the Semitic language
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 family; demonstrate a knowledge of the phonologi- relations, medieval Jewish-Christian-Muslim rela- cal characteristics and basic morphology of the tions, European history and Holocaust Studies. The language family; and show an awareness of the course aims to enable you to develop an awareness methodological problems arising from the use of of the profound level of interaction between Jew- comparative philology. ish thought and culture with non-Jewish thought Dead Sea Scrolls (George Brooke, and culture in history, and to develop skills in [email protected]) analysis of the arguments of scholars of Jewish The aim of the course is to enable in-depth study Studies and to develop skills in researching, pre- through guided reading of one or more aspects of senting and defending conclusions on a topic of the Dead Sea Scrolls. This course enables you to Jewish/Non-Jewish historical interaction. come to terms with one or more aspects of the stu- Language, Time and Ethics in Modern dy of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some prior knowledge Jewish Philosophy (Alex Samely, is assumed and it is hoped that you will come to [email protected]) the course wanting to seize the opportunity for The themes of time, language and the Other have pursuing your own interests in this fascinating emerged as central concerns of the contemporary material. philosophical discourse. This course unit explores Bible and Early Judaism in Context (George the work of philosophers who have drawn upon Brooke, [email protected]) biblical and post-biblical Jewish thought in their The course has two elements. In the weekly one- contributions to this development. It deals with hour course seminar, various members of the Bib- twentieth century thinkers such as Buber, Rosen- lical studies staff will discuss approaches that they zweig and Levinas. This includes the following use, in their research, for analysing Biblical texts in specific ideas: speech thinking and creation-revela- context. The seminars will provide opportunities tion-redemption (Rosenzweig, Star of Redemtion), for students to explore and evaluate these approa- relation (Buber, I and Thou), the Other/Ethics ches and how they can be put to use. The second (Levinas, Totality and Infinity and Otherwise than element is the weekly Ehrhardt Seminar at which Being). It will also draw out some of the lines scholars from Manchester and elsewhere present connecting these thinkers to Cohen, Husserl, current research projects. Students will develop Heidegger and Derrida. skills in analysing these presentations. The course Darwinism and Jewish Thought (Daniel can be successfully taken without knowledge of Langton, [email protected]) Hebrew or Greek. However, some of the research While much has been written about Christian engage- projects discussed will inevitably turn on issues ment with Darwinian and other kinds of evolutionary related to Hebrew or Greek. theory, little attention has been paid to Jewish engage- Rabbinic Constructions of Jewish Identity ment. In fact, a wide variety of traditionalist and pro- in Antiquity (Alex Samely, gressive Jewish religious thinkers wrote on how [email protected]) Judaism could and should respond to science in This course introduces students to the current general and evolution in particular. And Social Dar- scholarly discussion on ‘Jewishness; in antiquity; it winism, the application of a biological theory to social enables students to evaluate critically the nature of theory, led to highly significant developments in the rabbinic sources in which Jewish identity is ar- modern Jewish history, such as the emergence of ‘scientific’ antisemitism and some racial conceptions ticulated or presupposed, and to identify selected of Zionism. Thus an appreciation of the influence of topics which provide the context of this theme in evolutionary theory is vital for understanding the antiquity, and provides students with an appre- development of modern Jewish thought and identity. ciation of the methodological problems arising for Key figures to be considered in this course include: a critical reconstruction of the cultural and histori- Samson Raphael Hirsch, Isaac Meyer Wise, Mordecai cal realities in the rabbinic period. Kaplan, and Hans Jonas. Jews among Christians and Muslims (Daniel Middle Eastern Jews Before and After 1948 Langton, [email protected]; (Moshe Behar, Renate Smithuis, [email protected]) [email protected]; This course introduces students to the complex – Jean-Marc Dreyfus, Jean- and understudied – history of Middle Eastern Jews [email protected]) in the twentieth Century. It will enable students to This course will approach the subject from the reach a level of factual knowledge and analytical perspective of the history of Jewish/non-Jewish expertise in both the ‘pre-Israel' and the ‘in-Israel' relations, specifically, Jewish engagement with history of Middle Eastern Jews which will, in turn, Christian and Islamic religious cultures, and with allow them to conduct research on the various Western modernity. As a team-taught course, it domains associated with the subject. draws on expertise in modern Jewish-Christian
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Transformations in Modern Jewish approaches developed by the second and now Identities (Moshe Behar, third generation after the Holocaust. The study of [email protected]) German film in its international context will open This course unit introduces some exemplary texts up a comparative view of Holocaust film as a trans- and documentary films that aim to demonstrate national body of works. core aspects in the process of identity formation in Literary Representations of the Holocaust Israel. Emphasis is placed simultaneously on (Francesca Billiani, understanding processes of socio-political and cul- [email protected]) tural change in Israel and on improving students’ The course will explore modes of representing the understanding of spoken and written Hebrew. Holocaust in post-war Italian literary writing. Secondary items will be provided in class to Starting from an analysis of how the fascist regime deepen further the interpretation and understan- progressively marginalized Italian Jewish citizens, ding of the set visual and textual material assigned. thereby creating a ‘Jewish problem’, the course addresses the problem of literary writing on the School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures Holocaust as a means of bearing witness about the http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/ genocide and of building a personal, social, collec- tive, and national identity. In this context, particu- The Holocaust in Cultural Discourse (Cathy lar attention will be paid to Primo Levi’s Se questo Gelbin, [email protected]) è un uomo seen both as a detailed example of the This course unit aims to provide students with an Italian aesthetic and social treatment of the Holo- introduction to key debates concerning the caust and as a general reflection on modes of wri- cultural representation of the Holocaust and to ting about the Genocide. examine critically a range of cultural, philosophical Representing the Holocaust in French Film and commemorative responses to the Holocaust and Text (Ursula Tidd, and the meanings and controversies thereby gene- [email protected]) rated. A range of artistic media (literature, film, Since the end of the Second World War, France has memorials) will be analysed with the purpose of had a problematic relationship to the discussion exploring questions concerning the ethics and and representation of the Holocaust. Responses to aesthetics of cultural Holocaust representation. returning Holocaust survivors ranged from incom- Engaging initially with Theodor Adorno’s land- prehension to silence. Isolated voices sought to re- mark pronouncement that ‘to write poetry after present the experience of the concentration camps, Auschwitz is barbaric’ and its subsequent amend- yet these were muted by the overriding political ments, key issues to be addressed on this course imperatives of post-war Gaullist constructions of unit will be: the role of aesthetics, ethics and genre France as an heroic nation which had resisted in representing atrocity; the considerable diversity fascism and the German occupation. Since the in cultural responses to the challenge of the Holo- 1970s, this resistance myth has not only been caust; generational differences in representing fundamentally challenged but the Holocaust has Holocaust experience; the role of trauma and become a major focus for debate in French politi- translation in memorial inscription and symbo- cal, philosophical and cultural life. At the heart of lisation. such debates lie problematic questions relating to Screening the Holocaust (Cathy Gelbin, the act of remembering the Holocaust as a trauma- [email protected]) tic historical event and the ethics and aesthetics of This course unit examines the filmic treatment of its representation. Indeed, a key question to be the Nazi atrocities from the late 1940s through to addressed on this course is how might it be the present. Tracing the ongoing debates around possible to represent Holocaust experience at all? appropriate modes of Holocaust representation, we will examine the major political and aesthetic issues at stake in feature film in particular. In so University of Nottingham doing, we will consider film’s potential to convey the personal dimension of the Holocaust together Department of Theology and Religious Studies with art’s ethical implications in the face of www.nottingham.ac.uk/theology/index.aspx atrocity. Among other themes, we will look at the unique vision of the Holocaust in East Bloc cinema, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (Carly which pioneered central modes of Holocaust Crouch) representation before 1989. Having looked at Students are progressively introduced to the issues of gender, sexuality and generation in films basics of the reading and grammar of Biblical from both sides of the Iron Curtain, we will finally Hebrew, through the use of a standard textbook turn our attention to the aesthetic and thematic and sentences from appropriate biblical texts.
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Introduction to the Study of the Hebrew 1830s – also the year of Heinrich Heine’s voluntary Bible (Carly Crouch) exile from Germany – and the start of the Second This module is an introduction to the literature, World War, which would physically eradicate history and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, more than half of Europe’s Jews. In between these also known as the Old Testament. Attention will be dates, Jews both received greater freedom and paid to the biblical text as history, as literature and were subjected to more persecution than ever as scripture in the Jewish and Christian traditions, before in their long history. Yet it was also in both in general and with particular reference to between these dates that Jewish writers and thin- specific narrative and prophetic texts. kers made the greatest contribution to the Euro- Introduction to Judaism pean Geistesleben, helping to shape the intellectual This module will introduce Judaism in the period climate that still determines our world today. This from its formation to modernity. We will study module will focus on seminal texts by Heinrich major texts of Second Temple and Late Antique Heine, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Joseph Roth, Judaism, the major developments of medieval Franz Kafka, Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scho- Jewish culture under Islamic and Christian rule, lem and discuss the work of other major Jewish and key topics in early modern and contemporary authors and thinkers such as Moses Hess, Samson Judaism. Special emphasis will be given to the Raphael Hirsch, Theodor Herzl, Franz Rosenzweig, textual strategies of Jewish readings of the Bible Max Brod, Stephan Zweig, and Martin Buber. and to its continuing importance as a central reli- gious symbol. The module will give students an School of History overview of Judaism as a diverse tradition that has http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/history/index.aspx always engaged its Roman, Christian, Persian and Muslim surroundings. The History of a Relation: Jews in Modern The Jewish Context of Jesus and Early Europe (Karen Adler, Christianity (Roland Deines, [email protected]) [email protected]) This special subject surveys and analyses the place This module deals with the Jewish context of Jesus of Jews in modern European history. Throughout and the Early Christians. It includes an introduc- the modern period – and, indeed, before – Jews tion to Jewish history and deals with the main lived in Europe as part of a minority. The module is sources for this. Within the literary sources, the therefore essentially about a relation between emphasis will be on the Greek translation of the Jews and non-Jews, a relation that was extremely Jewish Bible (Septuagint), the Jewish philosopher enduring, productive and resilient. It is the and exegete Philo of Alexandria, and the historian contention of this module that the story of the of the first revolt against the Romans, Flavius relationship’s development and evolution can tell Josephus. Besides the written sources, the political us a great deal of the history of Europe as a whole. geography and some important archaeological finds and excavations will be treated which will help an understanding of the social history. Jewish Theology and Philosophy: University of Oxford from Philo to Levinas The module will provide an overview of the most Faculty of Oriental Studies important theological and philosophical ideas, http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/hjs/index.html theories and arguments that Jewish thought developed from the Hellenistic period of Philo of UNDERGRADUATE Alexandria to the postmodern times of Emmanuel Levinas. The method of instruction will combine BA in Hebrew historical and speculative approaches, using the BA in Jewish Studies perspective of the ‘history of ideas’. GRADUATE Department of German Studies http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/german/index.aspx MSt In Classical Hebrew Studies (Faculty of
Oriental Studies) Jewish Intellectuals in Germany MSt in Jewish Studies (Oxford Centre for 1830–1940 (Bram Mertens, Hebrew and Jewish Studies [email protected]) MSt In Jewish Studies in the Graeco-Roman This module concentrates on the most turbulent time in the history of the Jewish people in Europe, Period (Faculty of Oriental Studies) between the first wave of emancipation laws in the
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MSt in Modern Jewish Studies (Faculty of Modern Jewish Politics and Ideologies Oriental Studies) (David Rechter, MSt in Yiddish Studies (Faculty of Medieval [email protected]) and Modern Languages) Preliminary Biblical Hebrew (Jennifer MPhil. in Jewish Studies in the Graeco-Roman Barbour, [email protected]) Period (Faculty of Oriental Studies) Hebrew texts (Qohelet, Proverbs, Hebrew MPhil Judaism & Christianity in the Graeco- inscriptions) (Jennifer Barbour, Roman World [email protected]) MPhil in Modern Jewish Studies (Faculty of Modern Hebrew Texts: Gordon to Oriental Studies) Shammas (Jordan Finkin, [email protected]) Elementary and advanced classical Hebrew (Hugh Williamson, Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies [email protected]) http://www.ochjs.ac.uk/ Modern Hebrew (Gil Zahavi, [email protected]) GRADUATE Reading classes on a wide variety of Biblical texts (Hugh Williamson, One-year MSt in Jewish Studies [email protected]) Ancient Israelite history (Hugh Williamson, Biblical Hebrew (Stephen Herring, [email protected]) [email protected]) Second Temple History (Martin Goodman, Elementary: the course is designed to enable stu- dents with little or no experience in Biblical [email protected]) Hebrew to become conversant in reading basic Second Temple Judaism (Martin Goodman, narrative texts and to translate short passages [email protected]) from English into Hebrew. History of the Talmudic Period (Martin Intermediate: the course is designed for those stu- Goodman, [email protected]) dents who are already conversant in reading Varieties in Judadism, 100 BCE to 100 CE narrative Biblical Hebrew. The students’ know- (Martin Goodman, ledge of Biblical Hebrew grammar and syntax will [email protected]) constantly be reviewed and deepened as the set The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism (Martin texts are studied and as they prepare Hebrew Goodman, [email protected]) prose compositions. Advanced: this course is designed for those who Maimonides (Joanna Weinberg, already have considerable experience in Biblical [email protected]) Hebrew prose as well as some background in Rabbinic texts (Midrash, Mishnah, Tosefta) Classical Hebrew poetry. This course will, there- (Joanna Weinberg, fore, focus on developing these skills through rea- [email protected]) ding more difficult Biblical texts, as well as some Medieval Jewish history/thought (Joanna inscriptions. Weinberg, [email protected]) Modern Hebrew (Daphna Witztum, History of Jewish-Muslim Relations (Adam [email protected]) Silverstein, [email protected]) Elementary: the aim of this class is to help stu- Modern Jewish Thought (Miri Freud-Kandel, dents to acquire proficiency in reading, writing, [email protected]) comprehending and translating comparatively Modern Jewish Society (Miri Freud-Kandel, simple texts, as well as acquiring conversational skills. [email protected]) Intermediate: the aim of this class is to give stu- Judaism in History and Society (Miri Freud- dents proficiency in reading, writing, comprehen- Kandel, [email protected]) ding and translating more complex texts, as well as The Jews of Europe, 1789–1945 (David acquiring conversational skills. Rechter, [email protected]) Advanced: the aim of this course is writing, Modern Jewish History (David Rechter, reading and comprehension at an advanced level [email protected]) with a particular focus on academic and related Jewish Politics and the Jewish Question, texts. 1840–1945 (David Rechter, [email protected])
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
Yiddish (Haike Beruriah Wiegand, the translation technique of the individual books [email protected]) studied, textual criticism and exegesis of the ori- Elementary: this course is aimed at students with ginal Hebrew. Relevant texts in Hebrew and Greek no prior knowledge of Yiddish (although know- from Qumran will also be taken into consideration. ledge of the Hebrew/Yiddish alphabet is highly The aim of the course is to demonstrate the value desirable). The course is designed for students to of the Septuagint and the three later Jewish revi- develop basic reading, writing and conversational sions (Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion) for skills, as well as mastering some basic grammar. It textual criticism of the Hebrew Bible, and the im- will provide a historical and cultural context of the portance of Greek renderings of the Hebrew Bible Yiddish language. for Hellenistic Judaism and the Greek-speaking Intermediate: this course is aimed at intermediate Church. students of Yiddish (after one year of Yiddish at The Diaspora in the Roman Empire: Jews, university level). The course is designed for stu- Pagans and Christians to 450 CE dents to develop more advanced reading and (Fergus Millar, [email protected]) writing skills, as well as mastering some more This course explores the Jewish diaspora which advanced Yiddish grammar. It will also provide a was spread over large parts of the Greek-speaking basis for reading Yiddish literature and articles eastern half of the Roman Empire, and is also from the Yiddish press. found in the city of Rome, and later in the Latin- Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient speaking west. It is well known from pagan, Jewish Israel: the Iron Age (1200–332 BCE) and Christian literature, especially the Acts of the (Garth Gilmour, [email protected]) Apostles, and from inscriptions, papyri and the This course aims to provide an introduction to and archaeological remains of synagogues. For the first overview of the discipline of Near Eastern Ar- three centuries CE both Judaism and Christianity, chaeology with particular reference to the Iron Age which grew out of it, were minority beliefs, tolera- and the Persian Period. The course will provide the ted and on occasion persecuted. With the conver- student with the archaeological background to the sion of Constantine in 312, the relations of the historical events of the Iron Age (1200–586 BCE) three religions changed dramatically. and the Persian period (537–332 BCE); equip the A Survey of Rabbinic Literature (Joanna student with the basic elements of the subject, Weinberg, [email protected]) including the role of excavation, the limits of time The aim of this course is to acquaint students with and space, basic terminology, important sites and some of the main features of early Rabbinic litera- personalities, significant finds, and the relevance ture by means of selected texts which will be read to the biblical account; and to enable the student to in English translation. (The original Hebrew texts assess the right and wrong uses of archaeology. will be reproduced for those who are able to read The Religion of Israel (Deborah Rooke, Hebrew.) The first class will be devoted to a dis- [email protected]) cussion of the historical background of the sour- This course is intended to explore the religion of ces. In subsequent classes selected texts drawn Israel during the Iron Age, from c. 1200–500 BCE. from the entire range of rabbinic literature will be In biblical terms, this covers the period between analysed with consideration of their content, the appearance of the Israelites in Canaan and the literary structure and historical Sitz im Le- early post-exilic period. ben. Students should prepare the set texts together Jewish History 200 BCE to 70 CE (Martin with the relevant secondary literature in advance Goodman, [email protected]) of each class. This course covers the political, social, economic, Unhappy In Their Own Way: Hebrew and and religious history of the Jews from 200 BCE to Yiddish as a Literary Family (Jordan Finkin, 70 CE. The set text will be Josephus, The Jewish [email protected]) War, but students will also be expected to learn In the period of the modern formative develop- how other literary sources, archaeological material ment of Hebrew and Yiddish literature – litera- and religious texts can be used to understand the tures which were largely written by the same history of this period. authors, living in the same communities – these Septuagint (Alison Salvesen, literatures’ relationship to the Jewish culture of [email protected]) which they were a part may be paraphrased as one The texts are chosen for their exegetical and/or fruit, two juices. This course aims to explore this text-critical interest, and for their relevance to rich complexity by analyzing the startling variety formative Judaism and Christianity. The course in literary language, forms, thematic content, etc., covers general issues of the historical origins of the especially as reflected in the similarities as well as Septuagint version in the Alexandrian Jewish differences between them. Reading these two Diaspora and its subsequent revisions in Palestine, literatures together offers a corrective to
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 monolithic or reductive ideas about the nature of The Emergence of Modern Religious Hebrew or Yiddish language and literature, and Movements in Judaism (Miri Freud-Kandel, complicates our understanding of modern Jewish [email protected]) culture. The aim of this course is to consider the historical, Jewish Liturgy (Jeremy Schonfield, theological, and social motivations behind the de- [email protected]) velopment of the three major religious movements This course will focus primarily on the way the of Modern Judaism: Reform, Conservative, and traditional liturgy for home and synagogue Orthodox. The focus will fall on their emergence in encapsulates biblical themes and rabbinic thinking the nineteenth century in western Europe. The about the world. We will consider key scriptural subsequent development of Reform and Conserva- scenes and their midrashic interpretations, in tive Judaism in America will also be studied. In order to define some of the core ideas of the sacred addition, the division of Orthodoxy into a moder- narrative from creation to the messiah, and will nist and traditionalist camp will be analysed parti- then trace their language and motifs in liturgical cularly with reference to Anglo-Jewry. passages. It will become clear that central rabbinic Israel: State, Society, Identity (Raffaella Del ideas are explored in the liturgy in occasionally Sarto, [email protected]) subversive ways, as the prayer book interprets There are probably few states in the world that human experience from birth to death. trigger such strong opinions and emotions as the Jewish-Muslim Relations through the Ages State of Israel. While these responses are generally (Adam Silverstein, linked to Israel’s foreign relations and the Arab- [email protected]) Israeli conflict, this course aims at primarily ‘loo- This course surveys and analyses the interaction king inside’ Israel. It will introduce students to the between Jews and Muslims, from the rise of Islam politics, society, and institutions of modern Israel until the Modern period. The course aims to by paying special attention to the prevailing so- introduce students to the legal and political forces cietal diversity and fragmentation as well as their that shaped the Jewish-Muslim encounter, while political implications. In particular, the dynamics also considering the cultural output that resulted of Israeli politics, society, and foreign relations will from this interaction. The diversity of Jewish be linked to the construction of Israel’s identity experiences of ‘Islam’ will be stressed throughout, (and the different interpretations of the latter) and various periods and regions of the Islamic from the early days of the state until the advent of World will be compared and contrasted in this the peace process in the 1990s and its collapse. context. Jewish-Christian Thought and Dialogue (Aaron Rosen, University of Reading [email protected]) This course will consider Jewish-Christian dialo- UNDERGRADUATE gue as an evolving theological conversation – sometimes amicable, sometimes virulent – from Department of History antiquity to the present. The touchstones in this http://www.reading.ac.uk/history/ conversation will be figures ranging from Jesus to Augustine, Maimonides, Martin Luther, Franz Deviance and Discipline: Church and Rosenzweig, and Emmanuel Levinas. Our aim will Outcasts in the Central Middle Ages be to understand these thinkers not only in their historical context but to consider their changing (Rebecca Rist, History, reception through history, and especially in the [email protected]) present. We will ask, for instance, how Jesus has This module will explore the pronouncements of been understood by modern Jewish thinkers such canon lawyers on topics central to an understan- as Abraham Geiger and Martin Buber, and how ding of Medieval European Society such as theories Christian theologians such as Paul Tillich have of Just War, Christian-Jewish relations, the treat- responded to these efforts. We will conclude by ment of pagans and Muslims in Christian society considering the recently articulated practice of and the status afforded homosexuals, prostitutes, ‘Scriptural Reasoning’. Fittingly, this will take us to lepers and other social outcasts. The course will a point which both spills beyond the confines of also explore the growth in the study of Canon Law the Academy and opens the door to an ‘Abrahamic’ in Medieval universities and the influence of the conversation that is not just dialogue, but also work of decretists and decretalists on papal, eccle- trialogue. siastical and conciliar legislation.
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Department of English Language and Literature University of Southampton http://www.reading.ac.uk/english-language-and- Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/Non- literature/ Jewish Relations http://www.soton.ac.uk/parkes/ Fiction and Ethnicity in Post-War Britain and America (David Brauner, History [email protected]) http://www.southampton.ac.uk/history/ This module aims to provide students with know- ledge and understanding of a range of fiction pro- UNDERGRADUATE duced by writers from minority cultures in Britain and American in the post-war period. It aims to BA History: Pathway Jewish History and introduce students to the key critical debates con- Culture cerning the representation of ethnicity in fiction and to develop an informed awareness of some of the major developments in, and the relationship The Old Testament between, the theory and practice of post-war ‘eth- (Dan Levene, [email protected]) nic’ fiction on both sides of the Atlantic. Authors The aims of this unit are to introduce you to studied on the module may vary from year to year primary and secondary sources relating to the Old but will include some of the following: Zadie Smith, Testament; develop your skills of acquiring, using Linda Grant, Howard Jacobson, Dan Jacobson, Clive and critically evaluating these sources; familiarize Sinclair, Simon Louvish, Kazuo Ishiguru, Caryl you with the process of identifying problems and Phillips, Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Hanif Kurei- ways of solving them by constructing logical and shi, Philip Roth, Percival Everett, Charles Johnson, substantiated arguments in both written and oral Richard Powers, Amy Bloom, Gloria Naylor, Bha- forms; give you a sound introduction to Biblical rati Mukherjee and Gish Jen. Hebrew. The End of the World: Apocalyptic Visions of History University of Roehampton (Helen Spurling, [email protected]) http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/index.html ‘The End of the World’ will introduce you to the cultural and historical contexts of apocalyptic thought in Late Antiquity as well as exploring how Religion in Context 1 (Judaism) (Eric concepts of the end of time and afterlife evolved in Jacobson, [email protected]) dynamic interaction with socio-historical circum- This module is an introduction to Judaism in its stances. Apocalypses are important because they religious, cultural and historical forms. It provides represent an expression of social and cultural a survey of religious practices, canonical literature, concerns, but also are of great significance for culture and history of Judaism from biblical times shedding light on attitudes to historical events and to the present. Emphasis will be placed on cultiva- to surrounding cultures at a crucial period in the ting an understanding of Judaism as a living cul- development of world history. This module will ture and religion, and the contribution of Jews and explore the nature and significance of Jewish and Judaism to world culture and the humanities. The Christian apocalyptic traditions in Late Antiquity source of its religious inspiration – the Torah or up to and including the rise of Islam. Hebrew Bible – and the rabbinical codifications The Making of Englishness: and commentaries will provide a primary intro- Race, Ethnicity and Immigration in British duction to ancient Judaism. Several varieties of Jewish thought will be presented, from mysticism Society, 1841 to the Present (Tony Kushner, and Kabbalah in the medieval period to Jewish [email protected]) Enlightenment and the study of Judaism in the last How do we define Britishness (or more often, ‘Eng- few centuries. The module will also focus on con- lishness’)? How have identities changed over the temporary Jews and Jewish culture in the context past 150 years? This course covers these broad of the historical developments of the modern questions with specific regard to questions of ‘race’, period, such the Holocaust, the State of Israel and ethnicity and immigration. Although the importance the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. of these issues in contemporary debates is very clear, this course adopts a historical approach and charts how they have developed from the mid-Vic- torian period onwards. It asks whether Britain is a peculiarly tolerant country in an international con- text. How welcoming have state and society been to
newcomers? Have issues of race played a major part
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 in British politics? Turning to the minorities them- the Holocaust. Starting from the emergence of a selves, the course examines their identities and modern literature in Yiddish in the second half of internal dynamics in British society. The approach the 19th century, we will analyse the development adopted is comparative, and a wide range of groups of modern Jewish literature, theatre, visual arts, and responses to them are examined including Jews, music and cinema. We will pay special attention to Irish, Afro-Caribbeans, Germans, Asians and many the broader political and social context in which others. the transition from a traditional Jewish society to Refugees in the Twentieth Century (Tony modernity took place. In particular, we will Kushner, [email protected]) analyse the role of the wave of pogroms of 1881– This third year special subject explores legal and 1882 in the acceleration of the process of moderni- other definitions of refugeedom. It is then followed sation and in the radicalisation of the Jewish by three case studies. The first is on east European intelligentsia. We will observe in what way the Jews at the turn of the twentieth century and the deep changes that affected the Jewish society were second examines Refugees from Nazism. The third echoed in the cultural production. and final case study examines contemporary asy- From Pogrom to Broadway. Modern lum seekers and refugees. A comparative approach Yiddish culture in Western Europe and is utilised, using primary sources to enable the America (1881–1939). Part 2 (Claire Le Foll, study of official responses, that of the press and [email protected]) public opinion and finally the refugees themselves The second part of this module will scrutinize the through testimony and literature. development of a modern Jewish culture in the German Jews in Great Britain after 1933 main centres of emigration of East-European Jews (Hannah Ewence, [email protected]) (London, New York, Paris, Berlin) before the This module tries to build a bridge between the Second World War. This module will highlight the fields of German-Jewish history and the history of rich diversity of the cultural identity of East- Jews in Britain. It will give an overview of the European Jews all over the world. We will base our situation of Jews in Germany in the nineteenth and study on the analysis of historical sources and of twentieth centuries, focusing on the Weimar Re- cultural works (novels, pictures, movies). public and the years shortly before and after 1933. The Holocaust: It explores the emigration policy of the regime in Policy, Responses, and Aftermath (Shirli Germany and the British attitudes toward Gilbert, [email protected]) immigration. The module will then take a closer More than 60 years after the liberation of look at the processes of immigration (organisation; Auschwitz and the end of the Holocaust – the arrival; distribution in the country) and at the systematic mass murder of six million European different ways of integration and adaption in Jews, as well as homosexuals, communists, Roma, Britain. Special attention will be given to personal and other victims during the Second World War – memoirs and other personal documents as a the subject still generates extensive discussion and source for the research of this topic. controversy, in intellectual circles as well as in the Modern Jewish Culture and the Big City wider political world. In this course, we will study (Joachim Schlör, [email protected]) the origins, implementation, and aftermath of the Jewish forms of settlement are an important area genocide, from the Nazi rise to power and the of study and research in the inter-disciplinary field implementation of the ‘Final Solution’ through to of Jewish Studies. There is a broad variety of such the post-war Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. In forms of settlement, from the medieval Jewish addition to Nazi policy, we will explore victims’ streets and quarters via the shtetl in Poland to the experiences of daily life in ghettos and camps urban quarters of Berlin, London, or New York. through surviving diaries, songs, community Throughout several centuries, though, an image chronicles, memoirs, and other texts. We will also has been created of a special “relationship” tackle some of the questions that still challenge between Jewish and urban cultures. This unit will our understanding of the Holocaust today, such as: try to explore this relationship and to give some Was the Holocaust unique? How has the Holocaust insight into the spatial dimension of Jewish culture become so prominent in American life? Why have and history. It will also show the range of inter- some recent writers drawn attention to the disciplinary methods necessary to cover the field. ‘Holocaust Industry’ and the ‘exploitation of From Pogrom to Broadway: suffering’? What are the politics of memory and Modern Jewish Culture in Eastern Europe. commemoration? Part 1 (Claire Le Foll, [email protected]) Responses to the Holocaust (Shirli Gilbert, This module will explore the extraordinary flower- [email protected]) ing of a secular Jewish culture in Russia and Poland In this course we will explore the history of the in the decades that preceded its destruction during Holocaust on two levels: the responses of those
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 targeted for genocide, and post-war memory of cises will develop skills required by the assessed these events among survivors, the populations of essays and dissertation. Classes will cover approa- Europe, and beyond. We will use a range of ches to documents, literary, and visual texts, and sources, from diaries, songs, and testimonies to the broader thematic and methodological quest- artworks, literature, and film. Through these ions raised by the interdisciplinary nature of the sources we will tackle some of the questions that MA programme. The module will offer skills deve- still challenge our understanding of the Holocaust lopment in archive research, bibliographical sear- today, such as: Did the victims do enough to resist? ches, and presentations. Students will also be given Did the Allied governments do enough to help an introduction to central aspects of Jewish history them? Are there limits to how such catastrophic and culture: Introduction to Jewish Law, Jewish events can be represented? What are the politics of Calendar and Festivals, Kashrut (dietary laws), memory and commemoration? In the first part of Settlement and central elements of a Jewish the course we will explore victims’ responses. How community, Introduction to the Hebrew and Yid- did individuals live in conditions of persecution dish Languages, Jewish culture and music and con- and systematic mass murder? In the second part of cepts of Jewish identity. the course we will look at some external responses Core module: Jewish History and Culture to the genocide, beginning with an examination of This course introduces students to some of the key the actions of the Allied governments and Chur- questions, perspectives, and methodologies that ches during the war. We will then shift our focus to constitute the broad field of Jewish History and explore the challenges of coming to terms with this Culture. We will interrogate the concepts of histo- traumatic past in the post-war decades. ry, memory, and culture themselves, and explore Music and Resistance (Shirli Gilbert, different approaches – some established, some still [email protected]) contested – that have been adopted towards this Music might, at first glance, seem peripheral to the diverse interdisciplinary field. study of history. On deeper examination, however Core module: Relations between Jews and – and as historians in recent years have increasing- non-Jews ly begun to recognize – it is a valuable source that This unit introduces the evidence and its problems can help us to understand how people in the past relating to specific and crucial periods for the have experienced, shaped, and understood the study of Jewish/non-Jewish relations, including world around them. Music can offer insight into Graeco-Roman antiquity; the middle ages; the how people have interpreted and responded to early modern and late modern eras. It studies the their circumstances, and how power is used and every-day interaction of Jews and non-Jews in abused. This course will explore how music has various environments such as the Hellenistic been used by formal resistance and liberation world, the Roman Empire, medieval Europe, early organizations, as well as by millions of ordinary modern England, nineteenth and twentieth centu- people during periods of political turmoil, perse- ry Britain, continental Europe and the USA. It also cution, and war. We will also consider how it has considers the influence of theology on the repre- been used as a vehicle for propaganda, torture, and sentation and treatment of Jews in the Christian control. Focusing in particular on the twentieth era. Theories of Jewish/non-Jewish relations, in- century, we will look at examples ranging from the cluding the seminal work of James Parkes, will be Nazi regime and the Holocaust, to the role of used throughout. popular song in the South African anti-apartheid Britain, the USA and the Holocaust, 1933– struggle. Through these and a range of other 1995 (Tony Kushner, [email protected]) examples, we will consider the roles that music has The unit will examine the record of two liberal de- played as an actor in history, its potential signi- mocracies faced by the Nazi seizure of power and ficance as a historical source, and its value as a the persecution of German Jews in the 1930s, and medium through which we can approach and the reaction to news of the Final Solution in the begin to understand the past. 1940s. It will look at the place of the Holocaust in post-1945 culture, patterns of memorialisation, GRADUATE the lives of survivors, historical debates and con- troversies about the meaning and significance of MA Jewish History and Culture the Holocaust in these two countries. MRes Jewish History and Culture
Core module: Research skills This module introduces students to resources for analysis in Jewish history and culture, including libraries, archives and electronic sources. Exer-
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011
English Studies with some theoretical material on life/culture in http://www.soton.ac.uk/english/index.html the city. It will problematise the development of the capital city in the course of the 20th century, Jewish Fictions (Devorah Baum, exploring, for example, how its emergence impacts [email protected]) on the people who live there and how the inhabi- What is Jewish identity? Different writers have tants in turn shape the metropolitan space. Fur- defined it as religious, racial, ethical, national or thermore this unit will demonstrate how society cultural, and many have grappled with its changing and, in particular, artists within the cityscape res- meanings in the modern world. The diverse, elusive pond to historical and political situations, and how nature of ‘Jewishness’ has given rise to some of the this response consists of a diversity of voices. most fascinating texts of the nineteenth and twen- Minorities and Migrants: tieth centuries, which we will be studying in this Exploring Multicultural Germany (Andrea module. Reiter, [email protected]) Post-War American Jewish Literature This course will examine the cultural and social (Devorah Baum, [email protected]) critique of a range of writers and producers of cul- Although only about a century old, American Jewish tural products to ask questions about race and eth- literature has exerted an enormous influence nicity, exile and identity in 20th-century Germany throughout its short history, and the Jewish writer and Austria. It will look at immigrations and re- has nowhere been more accommodated into the migrations to these countries, the discourses mainstream than in the place that Israel Zangwill surrounding them, and fictional and autobiogra- first called the “melting pot”. In his extended literary phical responses to the experience of migration meditation on what it means to be an American and exclusion. We aim to contextualize and prob- writer today, novelist, John Updike, creates a Jewish lematize identity and difference by looking at the alter ego to play the role of the quintessential Ame- history and writings of German refugees, German- rican author. So is America a promised land for the Jews, Afro-Germans and Turkish Germans. We will Jews? explore the tensions between historical facts and Holocaust Literature (Judith Petersen) the self-image of the migrant and the nation by This module will examine some of the most impor- taking a double view: of the ways in which the tant testimony, fiction and poetry to represent the majority culture has dealt with newcomers and the Holocaust from the 1940s to the present. question of diversity; and of how minorities have challenged their assigned positions and developed German Studies strategies of subversion or resistance. http://www.soton.ac.uk/ml/german/ge.html
Writing Exile (Andrea Reiter, University of Warwick [email protected]) This module will introduce you to a major body of Sociology texts written by exiled people or about issues of http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/ exile. It will make you consider to what extent Exile and Diaspora are relational concepts i.e. pre- GRADUATE supposing the existence of a ‘homeland’ and the (MA in Social and Political Thought) option of, or longing for, a return to it. It will show you how, in the course of time, discourse-specific Sociology of the Holocaust (Robert Fine, figures such as the pariah and the parvenu (e.g. [email protected]) Hannah Arendt), the Golem or Ahasver (literary This course takes up the challenges posed by Zyg- discourse) have come to exemplify the exiled munt Bauman to develop a sociological understan- person. Finally, this module will give you an under- ding of the Holocaust and explore the significance standing of how the concepts of time and space of the Holocaust for our understanding of socio- have come to be reconfigured in an increasingly logy. It addresses Bauman’s proposition that the globalized world and the impact of modern com- Holocaust represents not so much the breakdown munication technologies and transport. of modernity but its inner potentiality. Among the Metropolitan Cultures: Vienna and Berlin questions we examine are the following: Why do (Andrea Reiter, [email protected]) we use the name ‘Holocaust’ or ‘Shoah’? How does This unit will introduce you to German metropoli- the idea of ‘totalitarianism’ help us understand the tan culture and politics in the 20th century with Holocaust? What is meant by the idea of ‘crimes particular reference to Vienna and Berlin, using a against humanity’? Why has modern antisemitism variety of different cultural forms (primarily litera- been such a powerful political force? What is the ture, film, architecture). It will also familiarize you relation between the Holocaust and other modern
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Survey of Jewish Studies (and related) courses 2011 genocides? What can we learn from the Holocaust caust? Why cannot there be poetry after about the capacity of ordinary men to commit Auschwitz? How does the Holocaust test the limits extraordinary atrocities? What sense does it make of representation? Is there such a thing as a ‘Holo- to use the concepts of ‘radical evil’ and ‘banality of caust industry’? evil’ in understanding and responding to the Holo- ______Ongoing doctoral research Supervisor: Geoffrey Kahn 1. Elizabeth Robar, Short and long prefix conjugation forms in Biblical Hebrew Bangor University 2. Melonie Schmierer, The historical development of Eastern Aramaic Supervisor: Nathan Abrams 3. Illan Gonen, The Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect 1. Sharon Churchman-Morris, Jews in British Film of Zakho and Television 4. Lidia Napiorkowska, The Jewish and Christian 2. Jennifer Krase, The Jews of North Wales Neo-Aramaic dialects of Urmi 3. Gerwyn Owen, Jews in Italian Cinema 5. Ronny Vollandt, Medieval Christian Arabic Bible 4. Cai Parry-Jones, The Jewish Diaspora in Wales Translations
University of Birmingham Supervisor: Daniel Weiss 1. (with Lars Fischer) Jonathan Gilmour, Joseph B. Supervisor: Charlotte Hempel Soloveitchik on Interfaith Dialogue 1. Hanne Kirchheiner, The Remnant of Israel. Qumran Social Identity in the Light of Exegesis Canterbury Christ Church and Anthropology 2. Robert Foster, The Use of Exemplars in the Book of James Supervisor: Maria Diemling 3. Drew Longacre, The Significance of the Dead 1. Maryanne Pritchard, The construction of Jewish Sea Scrolls for Understanding the History of the identity in British-Jewish literature Textual Transmissions of the Hebrew Bible University of Kent University of Cambridge Supervisor: Axel Stähler Supervisor: Anna Abulafia 1. Vered Weiss, Oh Other Where Art Thou? The 1. Linda Stone, The Perception of Jews in twelfth- Location of the Other in Hebrew, English, and century Christian exegesis in the Glosses on the Spanish Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Psalms Literature
Supervisor: Graham Davies Trinity College Dublin 1. A. Gray, Metaphor in Psalm 18 2. J.G. Davidson, Theological Significance of Nouns Supervisor: Zuleika Rodgers referring to God in Deutero-Isaiah 1. Stephen Murray, Zionism from an Irish 3. C. Thomson, The Removal of Sin in Zechariah Perspective, 1933–1948 4. N. A. Wormley, Law and Stories in Numbers: The 2. Emily Parker, Political Philosophy of Philo and Curriculum for Foundation Learning in Israel Josephus
3. Paul Perry, Early Christian Pilgrimage in its Supervisor: Lars Fischer Jewish Context 1. (with Daniel Weiss) Jonathan Gilmour, Joseph B. 4. David Simmonds, The Limerick Pogrom in Soloveitchik on Interfaith Dialogue Context 5. Natalie Wynn, Irish Communal responses to Supervisor: William Horbury Jewish Emigration from Eastern Europe 1. N. Hilton, Biblical Interpretation in III Baruch
2. Y. M. Chan, Jerusalem Tradition in Zechariah 1–8 Supervisor: Anne Fitzpatrick 3. K. Conway, Epangelia in Paul in its Jewish Setting 1. Philip Crowe, The Temple Economy in the Second 4. D. Pevarello, The Sentences of Sextus and Jewish Temple Period and Christian Asceticism 2. Magdalene Szklarz, The Book of Job 5. D. Hakala, The Decalogue in Ancient Catechesis 3, Heidi O'Rourke, Amun and Yahweh:
An Examination of the Jewish Temple of
Elephantine during the Persian Period
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Ongoing doctoral research
Durham University Supervisor: Daniel Wildmann (History) 1. Lida Barner, ‘Who shall be you people?’ Supervisor: Lucille Cairns Conversions to Judaism in Germany, Austria, 1. Caroline Tucker, French women’s wartime and Switzerland, 1865–1933 diaries and memoirs from Occupation to 2. Ania Motyczka, After the Holocaust: Jews and Liberation 1939–1945 Polish Catholics, 1944–1968” 2. (co-supervisor) Richard Harness, Narratives of collaboration in Post-War France SOAS
Supervisor: Robert Hayward Supervisor: Catherine Hezser 1. Tyson Putthof, Mystical Transformation in Jewish 1. Jessica Bloom, Names and naming in the Book of Thought of Late Antiquity Genesis 2. Leo Li, A Bakhtinian Approach to Exodus 12–15 3. Steven Harvey, Isaiah 30 and notions of teaching UCL authority in Second Temple Judaism
Supervisor: Helen Beer University of Edinburgh 1. Sima Beeri, “Literarishe bleter" and Nachman Mayzel Supervisor: Hannah Holtschneider 2. Zosia Sochanska, The Cultural and Literary Katie Legget, Ecclesiology after the Holocaust Contexts of the Work of Dvora Vogel 3. Ester Whine, Leo Koenig’s Contribution to Yiddish Supervisor: Timothy Lim Culture John M. Starr, A Quantitative Analysis of the Aramaic Qumran Texts Supervisor: Michael Berkowitz 1. Angela Debnath, International Interventions in Kingston University Genocide and Systematic Violence 2. Frank Dabba Smith, Ernst Leitz and the Leica Supervisor: Philip Spencer Company during the Second World War Ian Rich, Perpetrator motivation and the question 3. Ian Harker, Ernst Biberstein: Lutheran Pastor of Imperialism (Shoah/comp. genocide research) and SS-man 4. Felicity Griffiths, Ethnicity and Minority Groups Liverpool Hope University in the Colleges of London University 5. Lida Baner, Intellectual Property under the Supervisor: Bernard Jackson Nazis: Jews and Patents 1. Antonia Richards, Law and Narrative in the Book of Esther: Jewish Identity in the Diaspora Supervisor: François Guesnet 2. Elisha Ancselovits, Halakha as a Wisdom Agnieszka Oleszak, Sarah Schenirer and Beys Tradition Ya’akov, 1917–1939. Gender and Religious Identity Construction in Orthodox Judaism King’s College London Supervisor: Neill Lochery 1. Helene Bartos, German-Israeli Relations Supervisor: Andrea Schatz 1965–1990 1. Ella Fitzsimmons, Veils and Words. Women’s 2. Azriel Bermant, Britain’s Policy towards Religious Clothing and the Boundaries of the Arab-Israeli Conflict under the Thatcher Secularism Government 3. Toby Greene, The impact of Islamist terrorism on Queen Mary, University of London UK policy towards the State of Israel 4. Mohammed Hussein, Hamas and the Supervisor: Miri Rubin (History) Islamification of the Palestinian Authority Areas 1. Kati Ihnat, Engagement with Jews in Twelfth- 5. John Lipman, The Suez Crisis 1956 and the British Century Monastic Culture Press 2. Milan Zonca, Authority and Deviance in Medieval 6. Thomas Wilson, Israeli Settlers and Israel’s Western Jewry Religious Right since the Peace Process
Supervisor: Nadia Valman (English) Supervisor: Ada Rapoport-Albert 1. Mindy Rubin, Stage Adaptations of Ivanhoe and 1. Yaffa Aranoff, The Portrayal of Biblical Women Debates about Jewish Toleration, 1780–1900 in Hasidic Literature
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Ongoing doctoral research
2. Nathaniel Berman, ‘Improper Twins’: University of Nottingham The Ambivalent ‘Other Side’ in the Zohar and Kabbalistic Tradition Supervisor: Karen Adler (History) 3. Sara Hall, Towards a New Cultural History Alexandre de Aranjo, Jewish Refugees from Egypt of Czernowitz: The Yiddish and Ukrainian Press and Hungary in Britain and France in the 1950s 4. Ariel Klein, The Sifra di-Tseni’uta of the Zohar 5. Agata Paluch, R. Nathan Neta Shapira of Krakow University of Oxford (1585–1633) and the Ashkenazi Kabbalah
6. Gillian Rosen, The Institution of 'hadlakat ha-Ner' Supervisor: Martin Goodman (Sabbath Candle Lighting) by Women 1. Jonathan Kirkpatrick (Balliol), Pagan cult in 7. Julian Sinclair, Rav Kook’s mysticism Roman Palestine 8. Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz, The religious lives
of Orthodox Jewish women in London, with a focus Supervisor: David Rechter on folk practices 1. Larissa Douglas (St Antony’s), Representative 9. Wojciech Tworek, The issue of time in the Government, Majority Rule and Jewish Minority doctrine of R. Shneur Zalman of Lyadi Representation During the Constitutional Era in
Habsburg Austria, 1895–1914 Supervisor: Sacha Stern
Kineret Sittig, A critical edition with Supervisor: John Day translation and commentary of Iggeret haShabbat 1. Adam Carlill (St. Peter’s): Cherubim and by Abraham ibn Ezra Seraphim 2. Beth Steiner (Lady Margaret Hall), Isaiah 24–27 University of Manchester 3. Daniel Christian (Wycliffe Hall), Parody in the Old Testament Supervisor: George Brooke 1. Helen Jacobus, Calendars at Qumran Supervisor: Joanna Weinberg 2. Dohnson Chang, Covenant Renewal in Second 1. Benjamin Williams: Midrash commentary in the Temple Judaism sixteenth century 3. Marvin Miller, Jewish Epistolography in Second 2. Ben Merkle: Christian scholars and Hebraism Temple Times in Heidelberg (joint supervision with Howard Hotson) Supervisor: Adrian Curtis 1. Jennifer Williams, Approaches to Childlessness Supervisor: Hugh Williamson in the Hebrew Bible 1. Troy Cudworth, War in the Books of Chronicles 2. Ekaterina Kozlova, Hagar and Ishmael Supervisor: Cathy Gelbin 3. Philip Yoo, Ezra’s Law Book and Pentateuchal 1. Heather Hilton, Holocaust and 9/11 Narratives analysis
Supervisor: Daniel Langton University of Reading 1. Susannah Byrom, Mormonism and Evolutionary
Theory: A History Supervisor: David Brauner 2. Ros Livshin, Nonconformity in Minority 1. Clare Reed, Crises of Identity in Jewish-American Communities: Representations of the Anglo-Jewish Lesbian Fiction, 1980–2010 Experience in the Oral Testimony Archive of the
Manchester Jewish Museum 3. Francesca Frazer, Samuel Sandmel: Post- University of Roehampton Holocaust US Communal Leader, New Testament Scholar, and Pioneer in Jewish-Christian Relations Supervisor: Eric Jacobson 4. Simon Mayers, English Catholic Attitudes 1. Katie Meltzer, National Identity in Sacher- towards Jews and Anglo-Jewish Attitudes towards Masoch’s Historical Fiction Catholics at the End of the Nineteenth and Early 2. Chris Horner, Hannah Arendt and the Fate Twentieth Centuries of Judgment 3. Ariel Kahn, Kabbalah as Narrative Technique Supervisor: Alex Samely in I. B. Singer, Kafka and Agnon 1. Hedva Rosen, Aspects of the literary structure of the Mekhilta 2. Andrew Wilshire, Rights and Responsibility: Emmanuel Levinas’s Critique of Liberalism
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Ongoing doctoral research
University of Southampton Supervisor: Andrea Reiter 1. Bettina Koehler, Contemporary German-Jewish Supervisor: Tony Kushner Literature (esp. Maxim Biller) as a Counter Discourse 1. Hannah Ewence, Gender, identity and memory 2. Diana Popescu, The contribution of post-Holocaust of East European Jewish migrants to the UK visual art to the shaping of Jewish and Israeli 2. Jan Lanicek, The Czech Government in exile and identities the Holocaust 3. Meike Reintjes, German Jewish Women Poets 3. Agnese Pavule, Elite Female Jewish Philanthropy in British Exile and Jewish identity in Victorian England 4. Mike Witcombe, Philip Roth 4. Lawrence Cohen, The Norwood Jewish 5. Silke Schwaiger, Edition Exil, Vienna and Migrant Orphanage Authors 5. Micheline Stevens, Childhood and Jewish 6. Georg Burgstaller, The world of the early Philanthropy in late Victorian Philanthropy twentieth-century Austrian music theorist 6. Tom Plant, Anglo-Jewish Identity and Youth Clubs Heinrich Schenker in the Twentieth Century 7. Malgorzata Wloszycka, Debates about the Supervisor: Joachim Schlör Holocaust in Postwar Poland at the local level 1. Hannah Farmer, An Act of Charity: Philanthrophy and Jewish Women’s Identity in 1890s Chicago
______Members recent publications Cairns, Lucille. Post-War Jewish Women’s Writing in French. Oxford: Legenda, 2011. Abramson, Glenda. ‘Amichai und Autobiographie,’ Eadem. ‘“La Mémoire de la Shoah”: the Contentious in Renate Eichmeier and Edith Raim, eds. Case of Soazig Aaron’s Le Non de Klara,’ in French Zwischen Krieg und Liebe: Der Dichter Jehuda Studies 64, 4 (2010), 438–450. Amichai. Berlin: Metropol Verlag, 2010, 143-166. Eadem. ‘Lieux de mémoire juifs: Francine Eadem. ‘The Wound of Memory: Uri Zvi Green- Christophe’s Après les camps, la vie (2001) and berg’s “From the Book of the Wars of the Gen- Marceline Loridan-Ivens’s La Petite Prairie aux tiles”,’ in Shofar 29, 1 (2010), 1–22. bouleaux (2003),’ in L’Esprit créateur 51, 1 Eadem. ‘The First of Those Who return: Incar- (2011), 139–153. nations of the “New Jew” in Modern Hebrew Cantor, Geoffrey. Religion and the Great Exhibition Literature,’ in Journal of Israeli History 30, 1 of 1851. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. (2011): 45–65. Idem. ‘Modern Judaism,’ in John Hedley Brooke and Abulafia, Anna Sapir. Christian-Jewish Relations Ronald L. Numbers, eds. Science and Religion 1000-1300. Jews in the service of medieval around the World. New York: Oxford University Christendom. Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2011. Press, 2011. 44–66. Eadem. ‘The Jews,’ in Julia Crick and Elisabeth van Cohen, Raymond. ‘Israel and the Holy See Houts, eds. A Social History of England, 900–1200. Negotiate: A Case Study in Diplomacy across Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, Religions,’ in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 5, 3 256–264. (2010), 213–234. Berkowitz, Michael. ‘“Jews in Photography”: Con- ceiving a Field in the Papers of Peter Pollack,’ in Davies, Philip. ‘Urban Religion and Rural Religion,’ Photography & Culture 4, 1 (2011), 7–28. in F. Stavrokopoulou and J. Barton, eds. Religious Idem. Review essay on The Invention of the Jewish Diversity in Ancient Israel and Judah. London and People by Shlomo Sand (review no. 973), in New York: T&T Clark, 2010, 104–117. Reviews in History; available at: Idem. ‘Son of David and Son of Saul,’ in Todd http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/973 Linafelt, Claudia V. Camp and Timothy Beal, eds. Bhayro, Siam and Ben Outhwaite, eds. ‘From a The Fate of King David: The Past and Present of a Sacred Source’: Genizah Studies in Honour of Biblical Icon. London: T&T Clark, 2010, 123–132. Professor Stefan C. Reif. Leiden: Brill, 2010. Idem. ‘The Hebrew Canon and the Origins of Brauner, David. ‘“What was not supposed to Judaism,’ in P.R. Davies and D.V. Edelman, eds. happen had happened and what was supposed The Historian and the Bible. London: T&T Clark, to happen had not happened”: Subverting 2010, 194–206. History in American Pastoral,’ in Debra Shostak, Idem. ‘The Deuteronomistic History and “Double ed. Philip Roth: American Pastoral, The Human Redaction”,’ in K. Noll and Brooks Schramm, eds. Stain and The Plot Against America. London: Raising up a Faithful Exegete: Essay in Honor of Continuum, 2010, 19–32. Richard D. Nelson. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2010, 51–59.
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Members’ recent publications
De Lange, Nicholas. An Introduction to Judaism. 2nd Gilbert, Shirli. ‘Jews and the Racial State: Legacies edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, of the Holocaust in Apartheid South Africa 1945– 2010. 1960,’ in Jewish Social Studies 16, 3 (2010), Idem. ‘From eros to pneuma. On the Greek trans- 32–64. lation of the Song of Songs,’ in M. Loubet and Eadem. ‘Music in the Nazi Ghettos and Camps,’ D. Pralon, eds. Eukarpa. Études sur la Bible et ses in Jonathan C. Friedman, ed. The Routledge exégètes en hommage à Gilles Dorival Paris: Cerf, History of the Holocaust. London: Routledge, 2011, 73–83. 2011, 436–451. Idem. Translation of Amos Oz, Rhyming Life and Guesnet, François. ‘Agreements between neigh- Death. London: Vintage, 2010. bours. The “ugody” as a source on Jewish- Idem. Translation of Amos Oz, Scenes from Village Christian relations in early modern Poland,’ in Life. London: Chatto & Windus, 2011. Jewish History 24, 3-4, (2010), 257–270. Idem and Yaacob Dweck. Translation of S. Yizhar, Khirbet Khizeh. London: Granta Books, 2011. Diemling, Maria. ‘American Midrash: Biblical Mo- tifs in the Work of Bruce Springsteen,’ in Lucie Hayward, C. T. R. Targums and the Transmission of Dolezalová and Tamás Visi, eds. Retelling the Scripture into Judaism and Christianity. Leiden: Bible: Literary, Historical, and Social Contexts. Brill, 2010. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 2011, 355–368. Idem. ‘Targum,’ in Martin Goodman and Philip Alexander, eds. Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 235–252. Fine, Robert. ‘Nationalism, postnationalism, antise- Hempel, Charlotte, ed. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Texts mitism: thoughts on the politics of Jürgen Haber- and Context. Leiden: Brill, 2010. mas,’ in Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politik- Eadem. ‘Introduction,’ and ‘The Context of 4QMMT wissenschaft 39, 4 (2010), 409–420. and Comfortable Theories,’ in eadem, ed. The Idem. ‘Dehumanising the dehumanisers: reversal Dead Sea Scrolls: Texts and Context. Leiden: Brill, in human rights discourse,’ in Journal of Global 2010, 1–11, 275–292. Ethics 6,2 (2010), 179–190. Eadem. ‘Family Values in the Second Temple Fischer, Lars. ‘The Non-Jewish Question and Other Period,’ in Katherine Dell, ed. Ethical and Un- “Jewish Questions” in Modern Germany (and ethical in the Old Testament: God and Humans in Austria),’ in Journal of Modern History 82, 4 Dialogue. London: T. & T. Clark, 2010, 211–230. (2010), 876–901. Eadem. ‘Sources and Redaction in the Dead Sea Idem. ‘Continuity and Discontinuity in Nineteenth Scrolls: The Growth of Ancient Texts,’ in and Twentieth-Century German History,’ in M. Grossman, ed. Rediscovering the Dead Sea Canadian Journal of History 45, 3 (2010): Scrolls: An Assessment of Old and New Approaches 565–588. and Methods. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2010, Idem. ‘Anti-“Philosemitism” and Anti-Antisemitism 162–181. in Imperial Germany,’ in Adam Sutcliffe, Jonathan Eadem. ‘The Teaching on the Two Spirits and the Karp, eds. Philosemitism in History (New York: Literary Development of the Rule of the Cambridge University Press, 2011): 170–189. Community,’ in Geza Xeravits, ed. Dualism in Qumran. London, New York: T & T Clark, 2010, 102–120. Eadem. ‘Pluralism and Authoritativeness – The Gelbin, Cathy. The Golem Returns: From Ger- Case of the S Tradition,’ in Mladen Popović, ed. man Romantic Literature to Global Jewish Culture. Authoritative Scriptures in Ancient Judaism, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2011. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 193–208. Eadem. ‘Double Visions: Queer Femininity and Eadem. ‘Shared Tradition: Points of Contact Holocaust Film,’ German Monitor 73 (2011), Between S and D,’ in H. Najman, S. Metso, and E. 129–142 Schuller, eds. The Dead Sea Scrolls: Transmission Eadem and Sander L. Gilman, eds. European Review of Traditions and Production of Texts. Leiden: of History 18, 1 (2011): Jewish Culture in the Age Brill, 2010, 115–131. of Globalisation. Eadem. ‘Aaron,’ in H.-J. Fabry et al., eds. Geller, Jay. “‘A State within a State”: Freud’s Dis- Theologisches Wörterbuch zu den Qumrantexten avowal of Anti-Semitism,’ in Clio’s Psyche 17, 3 (ThWQ). Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2010, 76–81. (2010), 205–209. Eadem. ‘Damascus Document,’ in J. J. Collins and D. Harlow, eds. The Eerdman's Dictionary of Early Judaism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010, 510–512.
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Members’ recent publications
Eadem. ‘1QS 6:2c–4a–Satellites or Precursors of Idem and D. Piattelli, ‘A Recent Study on the the Yahad?’ in A. Roitman, L. H. Schiffman, and Babatha and Salome Archives,’ in Review of Shani Tzoref, eds. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Con- Rabbinic Judaism 13, 1 (2010), 88–125. temporary Culture. Proceedings of the Internatio- nal Conference held at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem (July 6–8, 2008). Leiden: Brill, 2011, Kahn, Lily Okalani. Colloquial Yiddish: The Complete 31–40. Course for Beginners. Routledge, 2011. Henshke, Yehudit. ‘Emphatic Consonants in MS Eadem. ‘The Grammatical Composition of the Early Cambridge of the Mishnah,’ in Lĕšonénu 72 Hasidic Hebrew Tale,’ in Journal of Semitic (2010), 421–450. Studies 56, 2 (2011), 327–343. Eadem. ‘The Jewish Languages and the Revival of Kessler, Ed. ‘Jewish Thought and Practice,’ in Spoken Hebrew,’ in Etmol 214 (2010), 17–20. Santanu K. Patro, ed. A Guide to Religious Hezser, Catherine, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Thought and Practices. London: SPCK, 2010, Jewish Daily Life in Roman Palestine. Oxford: 90–117. Oxford University Press, 2010. Idem. ‘Changing Landscapes: Jewish-Christian- Eadem. ‘Form-Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,’ in Muslim Relations Today,’ in Melilah 2010/3, Reimund Bieringeret al., eds. The New Testament 1–23. and Rabbinic Literature. Leiden and Boston: Brill, Idem. ‘Jewish-Muslim dialogue in light of Jewish- 2010, 97–110. Christian relations,’ in Theology 114, 1 (2011), Eadem. ‘Material Culture and Daily Life,’ in Martin 23–31. Goodman, ed. Rabbinic Texts and the History of Idem. ‘Mary – The Jewish Mother,’ in Irish Theolo- Late-Roman Palestine. Oxford: Oxford University gical Quarterly 76, 3 (2011), 211–223. Press, 2010, 301–317. Idem. ‘Rethinking the Christian-Jewish relation- Eadem. ‘From Oral Conversations to Written Texts: ship: some reflections from a Jewish theologian,’ Randomness in the Transmission of Rabbinic in Pastoral Review 7, 4 (2011), 16–23. Traditions,’ in Annette Weissenrieder and Klier, John D. Russians, Jews, and the Pogroms of Robert B. Coote, eds. The Interface of Orality and 1881–1882 [edited by Lars Fischer, François Writing. Speaking, Seeing, Writing in the Shaping Guesnet, Helen Klier]. Cambridge: Cambridge of New Genres. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck (2010), University Press, 2011. 36–51. Krivoruchko, Julia. ‘Judeo-Greek in the Era of Eadem. ‘Slavery and the Jews,’ in Keith Bradley and Globalization,’ in Language & Communication 31 Paul Cartledge, eds. The Cambridge World History (2011), 119–129. of Slavery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011, 438–455. Holtschneider, Hannah. The Holocaust and Repre- Langton, Daniel. ‘Jewish Readings of Paul,’ in sentations of Jews: History and Identity in the Stephen Westerholm, ed. Blackwell Companion to Museum. London: Routledge, London, 2011. Paul. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2011, 455–471. Idem. ‘Marginal Minority Experience: The Case Jackson, Bernard S. ‘Human Law and Divine Study of the Nineteenth-Century Jewish Justice: Towards the Institutionalisation of Theologian and Novelist, Grace Aguilar,’ in Halakhah,’ in JSIJ 9 (2010), 1–25; available at Perspectives (Winter 2010), 10–14. http://www.biu.ac.il/JS/JSIJ/9- Idem. ‘Piety, Tradition and Community in the 2010/Jackson.pdf Thought of Lily Montagu: An Anglo-Liberal Idem. ‘Marriage and Divorce: From Social Insti- Jewish Theology of Relation,’ in Women in tution to Halakhic Norms,’ in Charlotte Hempel, Judaism 7 2 (2010), 1–31. ed. The Dead Sea Scrolls. Texts and Context. Idem and Renate Smithuis, ed. Melilah 7 (2010). Leiden: Brill, 2010, 339–364. Levine, Amy-Jill. ‘This Widow Keeps Bothering Me Idem. ‘Jewish Approaches to Law (Religious and (Luke 18:5),’ in David L. Balch and Jason T. Secular),’ in Law & Justice. The Christian Law Lamoreaux, eds. Finding a Woman’s Place. Essays Review 164 (2010), 63–74. in Honor of Carolyn Osiek. Princeton Theological Idem. ‘Law, Narrative and Theology: Daube on the Monograph Series. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Press, Prodigal Son,’ in E. Metzger, ed. David Daube: A 2010, 124–150. Centenary Celebration. Glasgow: Traditio Iuris Eadem. ‘Culture of Early Judaism,’ in New Inter- Romani, 2010, 71–87. preters Bible One Volume Commentary. Nashville, Idem. Agunah: The Manchester Analysis. Liverpool, TN: Abingdon Press, 2010, 979–982. Deborah Charles Publications, 2011. Eadem.‘Preface/Foreword/Introduction/Preamble Idem. ‘The “Institutions” of Marriage and Divorce /Exordium,’ in Stephen D. Moore, The Bible in in the Hebrew Bible,’ in Journal of Semitic Studies Theory: Critical and Postcritical Essays. Atlanta: 56, 2 (2011), 221–251. Society of Biblical Literature, 2010, xi-xiv.
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Members’ recent publications
Eadem. ‘What Do We Call Our Scripture?’ in Echo- Idem. ‘Introduction,’ in Rachel Margolis, A Partisan ing the Word: The Catholic Religious Education from Vilna. Boston: Academic Studies Press, On-Line Journal 9, 1 (2010). 2010, 11–51. Eadem and Ted Smith, ‘Breaking the Habit of False Idem. ‘Coming to Terms with the “Dark Past”: Con- Witness: A Reading of the Proposed Presbyterian fronting the Holocaust in Poland and Lithuania,’ Report on Israel and Palestine,’ in Christian in Jolanta Żyndul, ed. Parlamentaryzm, konser- Century (29 June 2010). watyzm, nacjonalizm: Sefer jowel. Studia Lim, Timothy H. ‘Authoritative Scriptures and the ofiarowane Profesorowi Szymonowi Rudnickiemu. Dead Sea Scrolls?’ in Timothy H. Lim and John J. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, 2010, Collins, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea 332–349. Scrolls. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, Idem. ‘The Legacy of Emanuel Ringelblum,’ in Yad 303–322. Vashem Studies 38, 1 (2010), 229–238. Idem. ‘The Defilement of the Hands as a Principle Idem. ‘Moreshato shel Emanuel Ringeblum, in Yad Determining the Holiness of Scriptures?’ vashem kibuts mekhkarim. Jerusalem: Yad in Journal of Theological Studies 61,2 (2010), Vashem, 2010, 183–190. 501–515. Idem. ‘Jan Błoński,’ in Polin 23 (2010), 523–528. Idem. ‘Multilingualism?’ in John J. Collins and Idem. ‘Vstupnie slova: tsili i dosyagnenia “Polin”: Daniel C. Harlow, eds. The Dictionary of Early doslidzhenia polskogo evreistva,’ in Polin: Judaism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011, 973– doslidzhenia istorii i kultury evreiv skhidnoi 975. evropi. Kiev, 2011, 7–22. Idem. ‘How Good was Ruth’s Hebrew? Linguistic Idem and Karen Auerbach, ‘Insiders/Outsiders: “Otherness” in the Book of Ruth,’ in M. Goff, Poles and Jews in Recent Jewish Fiction and Daniel Harlow, Karina Hogan, and Joel Kaminsky, Autobiography,’ in Richard I. Cohen, Jonathan eds. The ‘Other’ in Second Temple Judaism. Frankel and Stefani Hoffman, eds. Insiders and Grand Rapits, Cambridge: Wm B. Eerdmans, Outsiders Dilemmas of East European Jewry. 2011, 101–115. London, Oregon: Littman, 2010, 70–100. Idem and John J. Collins, eds. Oxford Handbook of Idem and Michał Galas, ‘Introduction,’ in Polin 23 the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oxford: Oxford University (2010), 3–48. Press, 2010. Idem and Israel Bartal, ‘Ogladova stattia: Evrei Eidem. ‘Current Issues in Dead Sea Scrolls Galichini pid vladuyu Gabsburgiv,’ in Polin: Research,’ in Timothy H. Lim and John J. Collins doslidzhenia istorii i kultury evreiv skhidnoi eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls. evropi. Kiev, 2011, 23–51. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 1–18. Rapoport-Albert, Ada. Women and the Messianic Millar, Fergus. ‘Jerome and Palestine,’ in Scripta Heresy of Sabbatai Zevi, 1666–1816. Oxford, Classica Israelica 31 (2010), 57–77. Portland: Littman, 2011. Idem. ‘The Palestinian Context of Rabbinic Juda- Ray, Larry. Violence and Society. London: Sage, ism,’ in Martin Goodman and Philip Alexander, 2011. eds. Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late Roman Idem. ‘Migration and Remembrance: Sounds and Palestine. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, Spaces of Klezmer “Revivals”,’ in Cultural 25–49. Sociology 4, 3 (2010), 357–378. Idem. ‘Inscriptions, Synagogues and Rabbis in Late Antique Palestine,’ in Journal for the Study of Judaism 42 (2011), 253–277. Rechter, David. ‘The Jewish Public Sphere in Habsburg Czernowitz,’ in Markus Winkler, ed. Outhwaite, Ben and Siam Bhayro, eds. ‘From a Presselandschaft in der Bukowina und den Sacred Source’: Genizah Studies in Honour of Nachbarregionen: Akteure – Inhalte – Ereignisse Professor Stefan C. Reif. Leiden: Brill, 2010. (1900–1945). Munich: IKGS Verlag, 2011, 49–65. Reif, Stefan. ‘Prayer and Liturgy,’ in Catherine Polonsky, Antony. The Jews in Poland-Lithuania Hezser, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Daily and Russia 1350 to the present day vol. 2: 1881– Life in Roman Palestine. Oxford: Oxford Univer- 1914. Oxford, Portland: Littman, 2010. sity Press, 2010, 545–565. Idem, ed. Polin: doslidzhenia istorii i kultury evreiv Idem. ‘Prayer and Liturgy (including Andalus),’ in skhidnoi evropi. Kiev, 2011. Norman A. Stillman, ed. Encyclopedia of Jews in Idem, ed. Polin 23 (2010) the Islamic World, vol. 4. Leiden: Brill, 2010, Idem. ‘Introduction,’ in Renata Kessler, ed. The 94–99. Wartime Diary of Edmund Kessler: Lwów, Poland, Idem. ‘Cairo Geniza,’ in Norman A. Stillman, ed. 1942–44. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2010, Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, vol. 1. 3–14. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 534–539.
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Members’ recent publications
Idem. ‘Reviewing the Links between Qumran and Idem. ‘Divine Image,’ in The New Humanist 125, 3 the Cairo Genizah,’ in Timothy H. Lim and John J. (2010); available at Collins eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea http://newhumanist.org.uk/2289/divine-image Scrolls. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, Idem. ‘Making Space for the Other: Jewish Artists 652–679. and the Church,’ in Common Ground (Summer Idem. ‘Psalm 93: An Historical and Comparative 2010), 3–4. Survey of its Jewish Interpretations,’ in Idem. ‘Kitaj, Ronald Brooks (1932–2007)’, Oxford Katherine Dell, Graham Davies and Yee von Koh, Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Univer- eds. Genesis, Isaiah and Psalms: A Festschrift to sity Press, Jan 2011 [http://www.oxforddnb.- Honour Professor John Emerton for his Eightieth com/view/article/99170] Birthday. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 193–214. Idem. ‘Peace in Early Jewish Prayer,’ in Deutero- canonical and Cognate Literature. Yearbook Schächter, Elizabeth. The Jews of Italy, 1848-1915: (2010), 377–399. Between Tradition and Transformation. London: Idem. ‘Consigned to the Genizah but for only a Vallentine Mitchell, 2011. Third of a Century,’ in Ben Outhwaite and Siam Schatz, Andrea. ‘Kleider und Reisen. “Nachah- Bhayro, eds. From a Sacred Source. Leiden: Brill, mung” und Transkulturation in Isaac Euchel’s 2010, 377–388. “Briefen des Meschullam”,’ in Aschkenas 18–19 Idem. ‘The Jewish Heritage of Old Cairo,’ in C. (2010), 321–338. Ludwig and M. Jackson, eds. The History and Eadem. ‘Detours in a “Hidden Land”: Samuel Religious Heritage of Old Cairo. Cairo, New York: Romanelli’s Masa ba‘rav,’ in Ra’anan Boustan, American University in Cairo Press, 2011, 34–71. Oren Kosansky and Marina Rustow, eds. Jewish Reiter, Andrea. ‘Das “Ende der Nachkriegszeit” im Studies at the Crossroads of Anthropology and Werk von Anna Mitgutsch,’ in Julian Preece, History: Authority, Diaspora, Tradition. Phila- Frank Finlay, and Sinéad Crowe, eds. Religion delphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011, and Identity in Germany Today. Doubters, Be- 164–184. lievers, Seekers in Literature and Film. Oxford, Schwarb, Gregor. ‘Kalām,’ in Norman A. Stillman, Berne: Lang, 2010, 47–64. ed. Encyclopedia of the Jews in the Islamic World Eadem. ‘Die Geschichte der Marranen, ein Para- vol 3. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 91–98. digma jüdischer Identität in Österreich nach der Idem. ‘Yūsuf al-Baṣīr,’ in Norman A. Stillman, ed. Shoah? Robert Menasses “Die Vertreibung aus Encyclopedia of the Jews in the Islamic World vol der Hölle”,’ in Aschkenas 20, 1 (2011), 167–186. 4. Leiden: Brill, 2010, 651–655. Eadem. ‘Political Exile and Exile Politics in Britain. Idem. ‘Mu,tazilism in the Age of Averroes,’ in Introduction,’ in Yearbook of the Research Centre P. Adamson, ed. The Age of Averroes: Arabic of German and Austrian Exile Studies 12 (2011), Philosophy in the Sixth/Twelfth Century. London: ix–xxxv. Warburg Institute, 2011, 251–282. Eadem and Anthony Grenville, eds. Exile Politics – Solomon, Norman. ‘The Evolution of Talmudic Politics in Exile in Britain since 1933. Yearbook of Reasoning,’ in History and Philosophy of Logic 32 the Research Centre of German and Austrian (2011), 9–28. Exile Studies 11 (2011). Renton, James. ‘Flawed Foundations: The Balfour Idem. ‘Secularity and Religious Values,’ in Yahya Declaration and the Palestine Mandate,’ in Rory Birt, Dilwar Hussain and Ataullah Siddiqui, eds. Miller, ed. Palestine, Britain and Empire: The British Secularism and Religion: Islam, Society Mandate Years. Farnham: Ashgate, 2010, 15–37. and the State. Markfield: Kube Publishing, 2011, Idem. ‘Interpreting the Balfour Declaration: A 36–44. Marriage of History and Politics?’ in Teaching Stähler, Axel. ‘The Holocaust in the Nursery: Anita History 143 (2011). Desai’s “Baumgartner’s Bombay”,’ in Journal of Rosen, Aaron. ‘Marc Chagall, Matthias Grünewald, Postcolonial Writing 46,1 (2010): 76–88. and the Resurrection of Jewish Life,’ in Report of Idem. ‘Jewish Fiction,’ in Brian W. Shaffer, ed. The the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Encyclopedia of Twentieth-Century Fiction vol. 1: (2010). Twentieth-Century British and Irish Fiction. Idem. ‘“Doesn’t Anyone Want to Paint Badly?” Oxford, New York: Wiley-Blackwell (2010): Philip Guston and the Future of the Past,’ in 198–201. Benjamin Eastham, ed. Proving Ground: Eight Stern, Sacha, ed. Sects and Sectarianism in Jewish Essays. London: Hannah Barry Gallery, 2010. History. Leiden: Brill, 2011. Idem. ‘Filling in the Picture: The Jewish Art Idem. ‘Qumran calendars and sectarianism,’ in Question,’ in Religion and the Arts 14, 5 (2010), Timothy Lim and John Collins, eds. The Oxford 640–646. Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010, 232–253.
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Members’ recent publications
Idem. ‘The Talmud Yerushalmi,’ in Philip S. Jewish Studies, Academic Year 2009–10. Oxford: Alexander and Martin Goodman, eds. Rabbinic OCHJS (2010), 59–66. Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine. Idem. ‘Welcome Home,’ in P. R. Davies and D. V. London: British Academy, 2010, 143–164. Edelman, eds. The Historian and the Bible: Essays Idem. ‘The “sectarian” calendar of Qumran,’ in in Honour of Lester L. Grabbe. London: T & T idem, ed. Sects and Sectarianism in Jewish History. Clark, 2010, 113–123. Leiden: Brill, 2011, 39–62. Idem. ‘Reflections on Redaction,’ in J. Middlemas, D. Stoetzler, Marcel, ed. Patterns of Prejudice 44, 2 J. A. Clines and E. K. Holt, eds. The Centre and the (2010): Modern antisemitism and the emergence Periphery: A European Tribute to Walter of sociology. Brueggemann. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 2010, Idem. ‘Antisemitism, capitalism, and the formation 79–91. of sociological theory,’ in Patterns of Prejudice Idem. ‘The Waters of Shiloah (Isaiah 8:5–8),’ in I. 44, 2 (2010), 160–193. Finkelstein and N. Na’aman, eds. The Fire Signals Idem and Jean-Marc Dreyfus, ‘Holocaust Memory of Lachish: Studies in the Archaeology and History in the Twenty-first Century: between National of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Reshaping and Globalisation,’ in European Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin. Review of History 18,1 (2011), 69–78. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2011, 331–343. Idem. ‘Judah as Israel in Eighth-Century Prophecy,’ Wiegand, Beruriah. ‘Kabole un khsides in der in J. A. Grant, A. Lo and G. J. Wenham, eds. A God poezye funem Tshernovitser dikhter Yankev of Faithfulness: Essays in Honour of J. Gordon Fridman,’ in Jews and Slavs 22 (2010), 78–85. McConville on his 60th Birthday. New York: T & T Wildmann, Daniel. ‘Antisemitismus, Jüdische Turn- Clark, 2011, 81–95. vereine und Deutsche Turnerschaft im Kaiser- Wollaston, Isabel. ‘Swimming against the Tide? reich,’ in Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft Melissa Raphael’s Contribution to the Study of 59, 3 (2011), 210–216. Jewish Religious Responses to the Holocaust,’ in Idem. ‘Bar Kochba Berlin,’ in Dan Diner, ed. Enzy- Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and klopädie jüdischer Geschichte und Kultur vol. 1. History (15, 3 (2009), 28–46. Stuttgart, Weimar: J. B. Metzler, 2011, 259–261. Eadem. ‘Post-Holocaust Jewish Interpretations of Williamson, Hugh. ‘Prophetesses in the Hebrew Job,’ in Michael Lieb, Jonathan Roberts and Bible,’ in J. Day, ed. Prophecy and Prophets in Emma Mason, eds. The Oxford Handbook of the Ancient Israel. New York: Continuum, 2010, Reception History of the Bible. Oxford: Oxford 65–80. University Press, 2011, 488–501. Idem. ‘When Did the History of Israel Begin?’ in Report of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and
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Reviews
John F. Healey, Aramaic As with the previous briefly the histories of Nabataea, Inscriptions & Documents volumes, this is not a collection of Judaea, Palmyra, Edessa and of the Roman Period. new editions with full, robust Hatra and discusses, again in an Textbook of Syrian Semitic philological analyses. The author introductory fashion, literacy and Inscriptions, Volume IV. clearly states that the primary bilingualism, ethnicity, law and Oxford: Oxford University Press, publications should be con- religious syncretism. 2009. xvii + 369 pp. £79.00. sidered for such matters (v). The second introductory Accordingly, the notes that chapter is an “Epigraphic and Reviewed by Siam Bhayro accompany each text are mostly Linguistic Introduction”. This be- (Exeter) of a more simple, grammatical gins with a discussion of the nature, designed to allow the scripts (including a rather attrac- non-specialist to read the texts tive table) and continues with a intelligently. section on the classification of Each inscription is given a the various Aramaic dialects (in brief introduction with a list of accordance with Fitzmyer’s the main previous publications. scheme). Perhaps the most useful This is followed by a trans- part of the book then follows — a literation of the text in Latin description of the main distingui- script, its English translation and shing characteristics of the five For reasons that I hope will accompanying notes. For the Aramaic dialects, with reference become clear, the book under Jewish Aramaic and Syriac texts, to Biblical Aramaic, Egyptian review should prove to be of the transliterations are accom- Aramaic and Syriac (the dialects great interest to members of this panied by a transcription of the most likely to have been studied association. It is presented as a text in the ‘Hebrew’ (i.e. Jewish at undergraduate level). This is continuation of the late John C. L. Aramaic) and Estrangela scripts well conceived and clearly pre- Gibson’s Textbook of Syrian respectively. Ten of the texts are sented and merits being listed as Semitic Inscriptions series, by the bilingual or have some Greek in essential reading for an Aramaic same publisher, which covered them (nos. 15, 18, 30–34, 36–37, Survey class. inscriptions in Hebrew and Moa- 63), for which the Greek text is At first sight, the main reason bite (Vol. I, 1971), ancient Ara- also given along with its English why this volume would be of maic (Vol. II, 1975) and Phoeni- translation. The exception is the interest to members of BAJS is cian (Vol. III, 1982). This volume longest text in this volume, the the section on “Jewish (Pales- presents eighty inscriptions in a Palmyrene Tariff from 137 CE tinian) Aramaic Inscriptions and variety of Middle Aramaic dia- (no. 37), for which most of the lects: Nabataean Aramaic (nos. Greek is left without a trans- 1–18), Jewish Palestinian Ara- lation. This is not too grave an maic (nos. 19–27), Palmyrene omission, however, as John (nos. 28–45), early Syriac from Matthew’s analysis of this text Edessa (nos. 46–63) and Hatran (Journal of Roman Studies 74 (nos. 64–80). (1984), 157–180) is easily acces- The first three volumes sed through JSTOR. Following the aimed to be comprehensive in text editions, there are eleven their coverage, which, given the hand-drawn and ten photogra- paucity of extant materials from phic images of a selection of the the first millennium BCE, was a texts. This is followed by the realistic ambition. For the Middle lexical indices, which are arran- Aramaic materials, particularly ged in separate sections accor- those from the first half of the ding to dialect, and, finally, a very first millennium CE, on the other detailed bibliography. hand, the number of extant texts As the title of the volume precludes such an approach. This suggests, the dates of the selected means that one of the tasks texts range from the second cen- confronting the author would tury BCE to the fourth century have been to select a good array CE. Accordingly, the two intro- Papyri”. It contains two letters of texts that are both represen- ductory chapters are primarily from the Bar Kokhba Revolt, a tative and of interest to the non- designed for those interested in deed of sale from the same specialist. Not surprisingly, given the Roman near east. The first period, a third-century synago- the author’s experience in the chapter is a “Historical and Cultu- gue inscription, two tomb in- field, the selection is judicious. ral Introduction”, which outlines scriptions from Beth Shearim, a
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Reviews first-century tomb inscription Todd M. Endelman, Broadening transnational comparisons in the from Jerusalem, the Abba In- Jewish History: Towards a Social writing of Jewish history more scription (Jerusalem, the turn of History of Ordinary Jews. Oxford generally” (15). Why Endelman the era) and an ossuary and Portland: Littman, 2011. x + should have to ‘defend’ social inscription from Jerusalem. But 379 pp. £39.50 history is curious but brings me once the reader has read this to my burning question. What section, the true value of this Reviewed by Emma Harris (CJCR, does it mean to be ordinary? volume becomes clear — it Cambridge) ‘Ordinary’, like ‘normal’ or enables the reader to compare ‘regular’, is one of those words these Jewish texts with the equi- whose meaning can sometimes valent texts in four neighbouring be misinterpreted as offensive contexts. Again, in this respect, and uncomplimentary. The Ox- the volume is very well con- ford English Dictionary defines as ceived. ordinary that which has “no There is a missing mem on p. distinctive features” and is 246 (58 A1, last word), but this is “normal or usual; not interesting a very minor blemish on an or exceptional”. Indeed, Endel- otherwise well produced volume. man is defending the rights of Since this book was published, these ‘ordinary’, for the most part the following work has appeared, name- and faceless, men and which provides an important women whose lives provide us update regarding Hatran for the with a wealth of important facts specialist: M. Moriggi, “Recent about the Jewish world and how Studies in Hatran Aramaic Texts,” it functioned and progressed. Mesopotamia XLV (2010), 123– Individually, these people may 132. Finally, a bee in my bonnet not have led extraordinary lives — once again, I am pleased to see but taken together their lives the Aramaic common law being afford analytical insights of great discussed. Healey remarks, as import to social historians. From though this were quite uncon- When I started reading this the experiences of Jewish troversial, that the Aramaic com- publication, I was immediately converts in nineteenth-century mon law “has its ancient roots in struck by a question and a dis- Warsaw to the impact of the Neo-Assyrian law” (22). Perhaps appointment. The latter stemmed Conversos on English Sephardim, I am swimming against the tide from my realisation that the Endelman draws readers to- here, but I think we should be individual chapters, divided into wards a new level of understan- more open to the idea of the three sections (“Methods and ding of the collective lives of Aramaic common law being Perspectives”, “Comparisons”, these groupings. something that was transmitted and “Marginal Jews”), were ar- The book also introduces the orally and quite distinct from its ticles previously written for a reader to named individuals, written cuneiform counterparts variety of publications and jour- though. Some of these may have (see my review of Gross’s Conti- nals. As a huge fan of Endelman’s been exceptional (and certainly nuity and Innovation in the Ara- work, especially those publica- well-known) Jews, others were maic Legal Tradition in the 2009 tions which relate to Anglo- not. What they have in common BAJS Bulletin). Jewish history, I would probably are similar experiences and, as John Healey has succeeded in have read most, if not all, these Endelman explains, a shared producing a valuable volume that articles, hence my disappoint- awareness of outside influences. will be useful for non-specialists ment. My initial regret quickly Justifying the inclusion of interested in the Roman near evaporated, however, when it Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) east and students wanting to was explained early on in the in two of the case studies, Endel- expand their knowledge of book that these essays were, in man emphasizes that Disraeli’s Aramaic. It should remain in con- many cases, completely revised “need to respond in one way or stant use for many years to come. or, at the very least, updated. another to exclusion and hostility Bringing these essays into one [which] was a common experi- volume, Endelman explains that ence” (13). Readers will be struck he hopes “to make a case for the by similarities between the ex- rehabilitation of social history, periences and events of the past demonstrating its compatibility that are discussed in the book with newer ways of describing and those of the present. the past, and to encourage
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Reviews
Endelman dedicates a whole Frankau family which also intro- Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: chapter to John King, known as duces other well-known Jewish Europe Between Hitler and “Jew” King, a money-broker (a authors, such as Amy Levy. It is Stalin. London: Bodley Head, middleman who negotiated loans hard not to assume a connection 2010. xix + 524 pp. £25.00 for others without risking his between these individuals’ edu- own funds) in late Georgian cational experiences and the Reviewed by Michael Berkowitz London. He anglicised his Iberian common self-hating assumptions (UCL) name from Jacob Rey to rid him- incorporated into their fictional self of his Jewish ancestry. When writings. Gilbert Frankau (1884– he was called as a witness in a 1952), for example, was educated court case, he was sworn in on at Eton which was attended by the New Testament. He explained Jews despite the fact that it was, to the court that he considered to all intents and purposes, a himself a member of the Church Church of England school and of England but had to admit that had no Jewish House. There (a) he had been married in accor- Frankau was probably exposed dance with Jewish law, (b) he had to abuse because of his Jewish- never been baptised or formally ness (273). Levy was, in all likely- admitted to the Church, and (c) hood, the only Jewess at Brighton he had never formally renounced High School for Girls. Their Judaism. He was genuinely torn; difficult school experiences must Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands: it was not that he wanted to have exposed them to feelings of Europe Between Hitler and Stalin relinquish his Jewishness, more insecurity and isolation and may has been greeted by a torrent of that he wanted to be seen, by well have nurtured a deep-seated acclaim, including (at least) a those with whom he associated, hatred for the ostensible cause of dozen “book-of-the-year” men- as an Englishman. their uneasy position: their tions, recognition as a New York One of the world’s leading Jewishness. Times “notable book” and best- authorities on the history of Endelman’s book is an inno- seller, prizes for excellence in British Jewry, Endelman em- vative study that allows its rea- non-fiction writing, and trans- phasizes the importance of ders to deepen their understan- lation into twenty languages. comparative history, establishing ding and knowledge of Jewish Although it is a sophisticated what is unique to each national history through the eyes of the book, the purpose of Bloodlands Jewish experience and what is ‘ordinary’, the many rather than is straightforward: to narrate, in similar between them. He com- the few. Without doubt, Endel- a historical context, the murders pares the German and English man has written an important of millions of non-combatants contexts especially with regard work about Jewish social history who fell into the hands of both to conversion during the period that will be essential reading for Stalin and Hitler. It is among the 1870–1914 and to Jewish self- historians and students alike for first scholarly attempts to explain hatred. The latter is a theme that many years to come. Endelman is the human consequences of Sta- runs through the chapter on insistent that “the social history linism and Hitlerism as some- three generations of the literary of the Jews is not a diverting thing other than subjects to be sideshow … Rather, it speaks to compared and contrasted – but key, mainstream issues in Jewish to show them in relation to each history” (13). He has certainly other. It is neither a conventional raised the profile of social history history of the Second World War to its rightful place. Long may he nor the Holocaust. It is neither a continue to write such fascina- history of Stalinism nor Nazism ting and interesting books. I wait, per se. It is a history of the in anticipation, for his next peoples and individuals in East- publication! ern Europe during a shockingly cruel and lethal era. Snyder’s narrative and argu- ments, which in addition to Bloodlands have appeared in the form of reviews and essays, have been stridently criticized by German historian Richard Evans, the preeminent Yiddish linguist Dovid Katz and Jewish-activist Ephraim Zuroff, and many others
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Reviews from disparate perspectives – in the New York Review of Books, With all due respect to including the extreme right of the which also referred to The Holo- Richard Evans, particularly for political spectrum in Poland and caust in the Soviet Union by Yitz- the superb service he performed Lithuania. In the wake of these hak Arad. In my opinion there in the trial of David Irving, I find responses, several formidable was nothing egregious in that Snyder’s presentation consistent- scholars have expressed their review – which was overwhel- ly more convincing. One of the opinions – including Norman Da- mingly positive about Evans’s things that make Bloodlands so vies and Antony Polonsky. This work. But Evans saw it as a pro- distinctive is that Snyder is able brief essay is mainly an appeal vocation. I will not enumerate all to discuss extremely complex for all scholars of modern Jewry, of the differences between Evans incidents, events, and ways of whatever their discipline or poli- and Snyder, except to quote Sny- thinking in a clear and precise tical orientation, to read and se- der’s final paragraph: manner. There is barely a riously consider the implications Neither of these two books semicolon in the entire book. of Bloodlands. I also will provide has much of interest to say Interestingly, as opposed to a sketch of the counter-argu- about most of the popu- much of academic discourse, ments and sentiments spurred by lation between the Baltic Snyder is not concerned with the book. Finally, I wish to add a and the Black seas. Other showing how his argument can few caveats to the ongoing dis- atrocities committed in the and should be distinguished from cussions and debates surroun- region, such as the Ger- the scholarship of others. There ding Bloodlands. mans’ deliberate starvation are hardly any names of Snyder’s Timothy Snyder, Professor of of three million Soviet pri- fellow historians in the text. This History at Yale University, is soners of war, merit only is not because he considers arguably the finest and most brief mention. The anti- himself above everyone else. prolific European historian of his Semitism of Eastern Euro- Rather, he seems to exude a quiet generation. Those who come pean populations is pre- confidence in his own case. It is a closest, in my estimation, in sented by both authors model of not only humane terms of quality and quantity of without adequate historical scholarship, but cogent historical academic output, are Mark explanation. For Arad it writing. Mazower of Columbia University was “inherent”; for Evans it It is not surprising that some and Peter Fritzsche of the Uni- was “virulent.” The further Jewish scholars have taken issue versity of Illinois. Interestingly, study of the war and its with Snyder over what they all three of these scholars – who victims will require a fir- perceive as something akin to would not describe themselves mer grasp of the history of parity between Stalinism and primarily as ‘Jewish’ or ‘Holo- the peoples who lived Nazism. In fairness to Ephraim caust’ historians – have made alongside the Jews. In this Zuroff and Dovid Katz, it is im- outstanding contributions to the important respect, the portant to note that they initially nexus between European history, history of the Holocaust responded to Snyder’s essay, Jewish history, and the history of has yet to be written “Echoes from the killing fields of the Holocaust. Snyder has under- (“‘Nazis, Soviets, Poles, the east” in the Guardian (Tues- taken a vast amount of reading Jews’: An Exchange,” NYRB, day, 28 September 2011) that and research for Bloodlands, 3 December 2009). could not have been as nuanced which may be described as chief- The main bone of contention and qualified as Bloodlands. Katz ly synthetic. It seems, though, between Snyder and Evans is and Zuroff believe that Synder is that he has given copious time that Snyder does not believe that guilty of stoking the myth of a and energy to thinking about the historians of Nazi Germany have ‘double Holocaust,’ the notion situation(s), roles, and plight of made enough of an effort to that the crimes of Stalin against Jews in the bloodlands. figure out and unravel the com- the Poles, Lithuanians, and other In one respect the heat gene- plex relations between the USSR peoples in Eastern Europe were rated by Bloodlands predates its and Nazi Germany. To explain (at least) the equivalent of the publication. Some of discre- that there were relationships, Nazi Holocaust, and obfuscates pancies between Snyder and Ri- however, is not the same as the complicity of non-Germans in chard Evans, Regius Professor of saying that there was deliberate, the perpetration of the Holo- History and President of Wolfson sustained collusion, or an alliance caust. “I try to reckon,” Snyder College, Cambridge, were voiced in a normative sense. Even more responded, “with the crimes that in Snyder’s review of Evans’s significant, for Jews, was the ab- both regimes committed in the comprehensive history of Nazi rupt change in this relationship lands between Berlin and Mos- Germany, The Third Reich at War, with the Nazi attack on the USSR cow, where 14 million people, followed by Evans’s rejoinder. in June 1941. including more than 5 million Snyder published this as an essay Jews, were killed in the 12 years
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Reviews that both Hitler and Stalin were familiarity and focus on the in fact, materialize to a significant in power.” In the subtitle of the “Crimea Project” gave them a degree. But given the entirety of essay, Snyder states that “I coin- distorted, overwhelmingly posi- Bloodlands, I see Snyder’s choice cide with Zuroff and Katz on the tive image of Soviet rule. as totally reasonable. For those centrality of the Holocaust but I could not determine if who desire a more expansive we must not overlook how Stalin omitting the “Crimea Project” perspective, however, I urge that enabled Hitler’s crimes.” It is was a sin of omission or com- the “Crimea Project” be accorded hard to imagine a more succinct mission. Did Snyder simply not a significant place in both the expression of an idea—“how know about it, or did he know, history of interwar Jewish efforts Stalin enabled Hitler’s crimes” — and consciously choose to leave at nationalization as well as the that deserves inclusion in the it out? I decided to go to the Holocaust. master narrative of the Holo- source. I asked him. His response Bloodlands is bound to elicit caust. was prompt and courteous, yet further passionate debate, and is As much as I encourage firm. “I see the point of your certain to be misread and mis- colleagues in Jewish Studies, in question,” Professor Snyder wri- quoted. It already has become the strongest terms, to read tes, “and I do know the literature. fodder for diverse polemics. Here Bloodlands, I am somewhat If you read the last chapter is my own appeal: don’t just read troubled by a significant episode carefully (as I’m sure you did) about it. Read it. Judge for that was dealt with in passing: you’ll see an implicit reference in yourself. Nearly every scholar of the “Jewish Agricultural Coloni- the way that I deal with wartime Jewish history will find that they zation” project, also known as the discussions of Crimea as a learn something, or many impor- “Agro-Joint” or “Crimea Project” homeland for the Jews. As you tant things of which they had which existed in southern know the literature usually pre- been un-, or only dimly, aware. Ukraine and Crimea from 1924– sents this as simply a delusion on The bloodlands were 1941. The best (and only) scho- Stalin’s part; I don’t put it that where most of Europe’s larly book on the subject is way because I know the back- Jews lived, where Hitler Jonathan Dekel-Chen, Farming ground. But given all the points, and Stalin’s imperial plans the Red Land: Jewish Agricultural some of them rather difficult, I overlapped, where the Colonization and Local Soviet had to make in that chapter I Wehrmacht and the Red Power, 1924–1941 (Yale Univer- didn’t choose to lay any of that Army fought, and where sity Press, 2005). Certainly the out explicitly.” the Soviet NKVD and the vast field covered by Bloodlands In Bloodlands the Crimea German SS concentrated precludes the inclusion of many Project surfaces in a discussion of their forces. Most killing fascinating, related issues. Yet a the murdered writer Solomon sites were in the blood- consideration, even if just a few Mikhoels. Snyder writes: lands: in the political sentences, of the “Crimea Pro- In February 1944, geography of the 1930s ject,” in my opinion, would have Mikhoels had joined a and early 1940s, this meant strengthened – not detracted campaign to make of the Poland, the Baltic States, from – Snyder’s argument for the Crimean Peninsula, cleared Soviet Belarus, Soviet radical social engineering, espe- by the Soviets of supposed Ukraine, and the western cially related to agriculture, in Muslim enemies after fringe of Soviet Russia. the Soviet Union. I realize, how- 1943, a “Jewish socialist Stalin’s crimes are often ever, that because the “Agro- republic.” Crimea, on the associated with Russia, and Joint” was supported in large Black Sea, was a maritime Hitler’s with Germany. But part by Jewish institutions from border region of the Soviet the deadliest part of the abroad it would require a fair Union. The idea that it Soviet Union was its non- amount of explanation. I believe, might serve as a Soviet Russian periphery, and Na- though, that this may have been Jewish homeland had been zis generally killed beyond worth integrating, because it raised several times, and Germany. The horror of the helps to comprehend the views was supported by some twentieth century is and sentiments that Jews held of prominent American Jews. thought to be located in the Stalinism. In addition to the Stalin preferred the Soviet camps. But the concentra- generous feelings that many solution, Birobidzhan, the tion camps are not where Soviet and non-Soviet Jews had Jewish autonomous region most of the victims of toward the USSR, owing to what deep in the Soviet Far East National Socialism and Sta- was seen as a relatively benevo- (341). linism died. These misun- lent policy regarding individual I respectfully disagree with derstandings regarding the Jews (as opposed to Judaism, the characterization of the Agro- sites and methods of mass obviously a different story), a Joint as an “idea” – because it did, killing prevent us from
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Reviews
perceiving the horror of Dr Alison Salvesen, regarding the each), the Lucius N. Littauer the twentieth century (xi review by Michael Berkowitz in Foundation ($10,000), the Me- and xiii). the BAJS bulletin for 2010 of Abi- morial Foundation for Jewish Those who are especially gail Green’s book Moses Monte- Culture ($7,500) and a very gene- enamored of the thought of self- fiore: Jewish Liberator, Imperial rous grant of about £20,000 from conscious theorists like Dominick Hero. the Oxford University Research La Capra and Zygmunt Bauman Development Fund, in addition to probably will care little for this I would like to offer my my annual Brasenose Research book. In his conclusion, Snyder apologies to Dr Green for certain Allowance, an academic buy-out states: misleading statements that were funded by the History Faculty to Perhaps, as [Hannah] made in the course of this review. cover one term’s teaching, and Arendt argued, Nazi and There were also some ad homi- grants from the Brasenose Soviet mass murder was a nem remarks that were particu- College Jeffery Fund and the Heb- sign of some deeper larly inappropriate in a bulletin rew and Jewish Studies Unit to dysfunctionality of modern that is produced by and for the cover publication Expenses (illu- society. But before we British Association for Jewish stration costs).” It is hardly the draw such theoretical con- Studies, a professional body that case that such funding (which clusions, about modernity has always been marked for its was largely from academic foun- or anything else, we must collegiality. The committee wish- dations) would be “far beyond understand what actually es it to maintain that reputation. what typical scholars would ever happened, in the Holocaust The review implied that Dr imagine in the course of their and in the bloodlands Green enjoyed advantages in careers”, as the reviewer claims. generally. For the time terms of her family connections, I hope that this sets the being, Europe’s epoch of extensive research assistance, record straight. mass killing is over- publishing help, and funding, that theorized and misunder- were simply not available to stood. other academics. These insinua- Unlike Arendt, who tions, especially the implication was extraordinarily know- that there was some impropriety ledgeable within the limits regarding her funding, are un- of the available documen- substantiated. They are also con- tation, we have little excuse tradicted by a closer reading of for the disproportion of the Preface of the book itself. In theory to knowledge (383). this, Dr Green admits to her By no means is Timothy family connection at the outset, Snyder anti-intellectual, or seek- and openly records her thanks to ing a return to Ranke. This is one all the research assistants, speci- of his many, truly brilliant, argu- fying their individual contribu- ments. He even bestows his tions (p. xii). Given the nature of readers with the gift of a concise the book’s subject, it is hard to “Abstract” of his major findings, see how a serious work of scho- in less than two and a half pages. larship could have been written This is particularly helpful for on it without such extensive those who wish to integrate assistance. It is only to be applau- Bloodlands into both their ded that she publicly recognized research and teaching. Had I the their important contribution to prerogative to grant an award for her work. an outstanding contribution to As for financial matters, in the understanding of the Holo- the Preface to her book (pp. xi– caust, this year’s winner, hands xii) Dr Green acknowledges that down, would be Bloodlands. she received generous research funding from a number of named bodies. In a personal communi- cation to the committee she has further detailed the amounts involved: “I was fortunate to receive funding of some £40,000 in total via two British Academy An Apology from the President, Small Grants (of about £5000
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