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The Course Explores the Relationship Between Judaism and Modernity

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The Course Explores the Relationship Between Judaism and Modernity Modern Jewish Philosophy 01:563:312:01 01:730:312:01 Instructor: Nina Redl email: [email protected] class time: Tuesday and Thursday 6:10 – 7:30PM location: Campbell A5 Course Description The course explores the relationship between Judaism and modernity. It will examine the ways in which general philosophy and the currents of Jewish life have shaped modern Jewish thought. This course will acquaint students with the teachings of Baruch Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn as well as the works and thoughts of Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Neil Gillman and Emanuel Levinas and Robert Gibbs. Issues discussed throughout the course will include God, creation, revelation, redemption, religious authority, Jewish peoplehood, Messianism, personal immortality, ethics and morality. Required Materials • Heschel, Abraham Joshua, God in Search of Man, A Philosophy of Judaism, Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG), New York. • Soloveitchik, Joseph Ber, Halakhic Man, translated from Hebrew by Lawrence Kaplan, Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia. • Buber, Martin, I and Thou, A new Translation with a Prologue and Notes by Walter Kaufmann, Touchstone, New York. If you prefer to read Buber in German or Soloveitchik in Hebrew, you are more than welcome to do so, but please bring the English translation to class as well for discussion. All the rest of the readings you will find as electronic reserves (sakai.rutgers.edu) For each philosopher you will also get a workbook unit that provides you with information about the life, the general philosophy and key ideas of each thinker. My availability to you My office hours are: Tues 4:30 – 6:00 PM Location: Miller Hall, 14 College Avenue, Room 115 (behind the Bildner Centre for Jewish Studies) You can always meet with me before or after class and/or we can arrange another time to meet. The easiest way of reaching me outside of class is via email: [email protected] Calendar Due to the Jewish Holiday of Passover there will be no class on the following dates: • Thursday April 9th • Thursday April 16th 1 Requirements Your final grade will be made up equally of: • Class attendance and participation more than 4 absences will result in lowering your final grade by one grade, 6 and more absences will lead to failure of the class Regular attendance is a requirement! If you know you will be absent please inform me ahead of time. • Midterm exam we will probably have the midterm during the week before spring break, it will be an in class exam consisting of a few basic questions about the thinkers and topics we have dealt with • Final paper due date: May 7th. I will give you topic suggestions/instructions later in the semester How to deal with the texts and prepare for class • Reading is a must! I need you to read the assigned texts before you come to class. I would like to conduct this class with as a much discussion as possible, since it is a philosophy class. However, we can only discuss if you already have an idea of the material. Note: I do not require you to understand all of the reading, I know that some of them are not easy. But I want you to try and then bring your questions and everything else to class. Needless to say we will also spend a decent amount of time just clarifying and going over the text. The way I normally find easiest to prepare a philosophical text is with a study partner: meet with one of your friends/class mates before class, have a cup of coffee/tea and read through the text. • Assignments: During the semester I want you to write response papers (~ 1-2 pages double spaced each) on 3 of the philosophers we cover, using your own thinking/critique. I want to see what you think about the philosopher and his topics and concerns, how they speak to you (or why they do not speak to you), how it helps your own thinking on the topic etc (or why it does not help you). You are welcome to work in with a friend (please not more than 2 people!) and hand your written assignments together. Please let me know who is working with whom! I am not looking for perfect answers; this is a philosophy class and not a class on mathematics!!! I want to see that you are thinking about what you read and that it has some meaning and relevance for you (or if not, then I want to know why this is the case). These little written assignments are due at the latest when we have finished the unit. 2 Reading List Unit Thinker/Topic Readings Introduction What is Modernity? 1 Spinoza Theological Political Treatise • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 Spinoza Ethics and Letters • Letter 2 • Ethics: Part I – Concerning God 2 Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn - a biographical Study Turning Point: The Lavater Affair Mendelssohn Jerusalem Section II 3 Neo-Orthodoxy • Rudavsky, Neo-Orthodoxy in Germany • Samson Raphael Hirsch, “Religion allied to Progress” Reform/Conservative Reform: Movement • Rudavsky, Reform in Germany Conservative • Rudavsky – Historic Judaism • Zacharias Frankel (On Change) • Frankels Statement and Resignation (Plaut) 4 Cohen Religion of the Sources Introduction Cohen Religion of the Sources • Chapter 1 • Chapter 3 5 Buber • Chassidic Tales • The life of the Hasidim • Two foci on the Jewish soul Buber I and Thou 6 Rosenzweig • The Builders • letter exchange with Buber on “Gesetz und Gebot” (Law and Commandment) 3 Rosenzweig Star of Redemption (excerpts) • part I: God • part II: Love • part III: Jewish Christian relation in the model of the star 7 Kaplan Judaism as a Civilization Judaism as a Civilization Kaplan Questions Jews ask – Reconstructionist answers God as the power that makes for salvation 8 Heschel God in Search of Man 9 Soloveitchik Halakhic Man 10 Borowitz Renewing the Covenant The Jewish Self 11 Gillman Sacred Fragments Chapter 1 Chapter 4 12 Levinas Ethics and Infinity • Chapter 3: The “There Is” • Chapter 7: The Face • Chapter 8: The Responsibility for the Other 13 Robert Gibbs Why Ethics • Introduction • Chapter 1: Why listen 4.
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