Judaism

CASRN216A1

Spring 2004

MWF 10-11am, STh 113

Dr. Michael Zank, Associate Professor of Religion

Office: 745 Commonwealth Ave (STh), Sixth Floor (Department of Religion), Room 639

Phone: x4434, email: mzank@bu.edu.

Office Hours: W2-4 and by appointment.

Course description

It is fairly simple to know the major epochs of Jewish history. It is a little more demanding to study the literature and the religious practices of the Jews. But no matter how familiar we are with these rudimentaries, we still need to make an intellectual effort to comprehend how Judaism really "works."

Judaism is an ancient and manifold tradition, practiced by people all over the globe. Among its tenets are that it is a religion founded on the laws Moses received on Sinai (torah le-mosheh mi-sinai); that it is based on a body of sacred scriptures (miqra, tanakh) and a tradition of oral law (torah she-be'al-peh); that Jews are descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that they share a common origin in the Land of Israel (erets yisrael) and that their experience is somehow conditioned by the fact that they were exiled from this land (galut); that they are bound to one another in mutual legal and moral responsibility (kol yisrael arevin zeh la zeh), etc. Yet if one looks at the rich and varigated cultural history separating one period from another and one community from another, it becomes evident that the unity of the people of Israel (am yisrael) is itself an ideal rather than descriptive of an empirical reality.

While Jewish laws and customs may differ from time to time and from place to place, Jews share a commitment to law, to custom, and to the common historical memory embedded in Jewish lore. Among these common elements and enabling most of them is the proverbial Jewish appreciation for learning. As a culture of learning, Judaism has a long literary history including not one but several curricula, e.g., separate curricula for men and women, and vast bodies of texts ranging from a primer, the Torah (sefer ha-torah), to texts for more or less advanced readers (legal, homiletic, mystical, philosophical, morally edifying, popular, sentimental, heretical, satirical, etc.). This literature has grown over many centuries and represents different understandings of what it means to be a Jew. Jewish literatures have been shaped in exchanges with different environments and with different societies that were politically, economically, culturally, or otherwise relevant to the Jews. The key element in this rich texture of life and learning is the Hebrew language. While not all Jews read and understand Hebrew, it is clear that without acquiring at least an elementary knowledge of Hebrew it is virtually impossible to gain an authentic sense of how Judaism works.

How is one to make sense of all of this in a single introductory course? And why do we need to make it so difficult for ourselves? First of all, it is important to keep in mind that, as much as I may strive for objectivity, I necessarily present things based on my own experience and on my own point of view. My goal happens to be that students develop an informed view of what it means to study a religion. Whether or not a student is Jewish, a believer in this or another religion, or a radical critic of religion, I expect that they practice certain fundamental skills: careful reading, attentive listening, respectful participation, articulate argumentation, and sophisticate writing. The immediate task it to understand what it means to be Jewish, what choices this involves, what symbolic systems one calls one's own, and how one makes sense of these inherited symbols. If successful, I believe that students will be prepared to go on to study more specific topics of the Judaic religion as well take courses on other religions or aspects of religion with a real appreciation for the sophistication, intricacy, and uniqueness of each and any religious system.

Assessment and grading

Success in this course depends on proactive reading and qualified participation, based on the readings, on study skills (keeping up with the material, attending regularly, note-taking, preparation for midterm), and on engaged writing. There is a midterm (25%, Febr. 27), a paper describing your experience in three Boston area synagogues representing different contemporary movements (25%, due last day of classes), a film critique related to the question of Judaism and gender (25%, due on the Monday following the cinematography unit), and a text study paper (25%, due April 16).

Textbooks

Jacob Neusner, The Way of Torah. An Introduction to Judaism. Seventh edition, London etc: Wadsworth, 2004 (abbr. WT)

Arthur A. Cohen/Paul Mendes-Flohr (eds.), Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought. Original Essays on Critical Concepts, Movements, and Beliefs, New York: Scribner, 1987 (abbr. CMF)

Norman Lamm, The Shema: Spirituality and Law in Judaism. Philadelphia: Jewish Publ. Soc, 2000

Eisenberg, Robert, Boychiks in the Hood. Travels in the Hasidic Underground. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995

Schiffman, Lisa, generation j. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1999.

Course Outline and Reading Schedule

Week One

Introduction

Monday, Jan 12

Introduction

Wednesday, Jan 14

The Basics

WT 3-36 Part I: “The Religion and its History”

David Biale, Preface to Cultures of the Jews (courseinfo pdf)

Friday, Jan 16

The Hebrew Language

“Hebrew” (Lewis Glinert), CMF 325-330

PART ONE: BECOMING JEWISH

Week Two

Initiation

Wednesday. Jan 21

WT pp. 278-286 (Ch. 31)

“Covenant” (Arnold Eisen), CMF 107-12

“Convert and Conversion (Jochanan H. A. Wijnhoven), CMF 101-3

Friday, Jan 23

Nathan Englander, “The Gilgul of Park Avenue” (online at the Atlantic Monthly Magazine, http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/99mar/gilgul.htm) Note that the online version of this short story has three parts that you access separately following the links on the initial page. You may also find the story in Englander’s collection For the Relief of Unbearable Urges.

Week Three

Imitation (learning by doing, or: the language of mitzvot)

Monday, Jan 26

Life under the Law of Torah

WT 133-161: Part V “Classical Judaism: The Torah’s Way of Life”

Wednesday, Jan 28

“Halakhah” (David B. Hartman), CMF 309-16

“Commandments” (Yeshayahu Leibowitz), CMF 67-80

Friday, Jan 30

Jews by choice and the question of commandments

Lisa Schiffman, generation j, pp.

Week Four

Laws of Time: Shabbat

Monday, Febr 2

Work and Rest

WT 148-155 (Ch. 17)

Bereshit (Genesis) 1-2:4a

Exodus 20

Wednesday, Febr 4

“Rest” (Arthur Waskow), CMF 795-806

“Time” (William E. Kaufman), CMF 981-6

Friday, Febr 6

Bella Chagall, Burning Lights (courseinfo .pdf)

Week Five

Daily Prayer: sh’ma yisrael

Monday, Febr 9

WT 113-19 (ch. 11), 142-7 (ch. 16)

Wednesday, Febr 11

"Prayer" (Michael Fishbane), CMF 723-31

“Liturgy” (Eric L. Friedland), CMF 553-6

Friday, Febr 13

Norman Lamm, The Shema

Week Six

Family Life and Community

Tuesday, Febr 17

WT 120-123 (ch.12), 156-161 (ch. 18)

Wednesday, Febr 18

“Family” (David Biale), 239-243

“Community” (Everett E. Gendler), CMF 81-86

Friday, Febr 20

Scenes from Philip Roth, Portnoy’s Complaint (courseinfo .pdf)

Week Seven

The Goal of Imitation: Maturation

Monday, Febr 23

“Education” (Janet Aviad), CMF 155-163

Wednesday, Febr 24

Review

Friday, Febr 27

Midterm

PART II: BEYOND THE MOSAIC TORAH

Week Eight

The Oral Law (torah she-be’al peh)

Monday, March 1

WT Part II: The Oral Part of the Torah (pp. 37-75)

Wednesday. March 3

“Torah” (James Kugel), CMF 995-1006

“Oral Law” (Jacob Neusner), CMF 673-678

“Talmud” (Adin Steinsaltz), CMF 953-958

Friday, March 5

Sample text: Berakhot 1:1 (handout)

[SPRING BREAK MARCH 6-14]

Week Nine

Midrash

Monday, March 15

WT ch. 7

"Midrash" (David Stern), CMF 613ff

“Hermeneutics” (Michael Fishbane), CMF 353-362

Wednesday, March 17

Example: Messianism

WT ch. 9

"Messianism" (R. J. Zwi Werblowsky), CMF 597-602

Friday, March 19

“Imagination” (Geoffrey Hartman), CMF 451-472

Week Ten

Philosophical meanings of the Torah

Monday, March 22

WT ch. 19

“Medieval Jewish Philosophy” (Jacob Agus), CMF 573-580

Wednesday, March 24

“Modern Jewish Philosophy” (Steven S. Schwarzschild), CMF 629-634

Friday, March 26

Readings (handout)

Week Eleven

Jews and Gender: Cinematographic takes

Monday, March 29

Kadosh (view at the Geddes language center where this and the following films are on reserve)

Wednesday, March 31

Treyf

Friday, April 2

Trembling Before G-d

Week Twelve

Mystical Meanings of the Torah

Monday, April 5 (Erev Pessach)

WT ch. 20

"Mysticism" (Moshe Idel), CMF 643ff

Cinematography essay due April 5.

Wednesday, April 7

“Hasidism” (Arthur Green), CMF 317-324

Friday, April 9

Robert Eisenberg, Boychiks in the Hood

Week Thirteen

Political meanings of the Torah: Judaism and Modernity

Monday, April 12

WT Part VII: Classical Judaism in Modern Times

“History” (Paul Mendes-Flohr), CMF 371-88

Wednesday, April 14

“Enlightenment” (Robert Seltzer), CMF 171ff

“Emancipation” (Paula Hyman), CMF 165ff

Friday, April 16

“Zionism” (Ben Halpern), CMF 1069-76

Text study paper due April 16.

Week Fourteen

Judaism in Israel

Wednesday, April 21

David Biale, Cultures of the Jews (courseinfo .pdf)

Friday, April 23

Week Fifteen

American Judaism

Monday, April 26

WT Part VIII: The Practice of Judaism in Contemporary North America

David Biale, Cultures of the Jews (courseinfo .pdf)

Wednesday, April 28

Synagogue paper due April 28.