CLASSES BEGIN SEPTEMBER 5, 2017

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1 HOW TO ENROLL CLASSES BEGIN SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 STEP ONE: COURSE SELECTION Browse the list of eligible courses, taking note of any prerequisites and the course number and title. STEP TWO: THE APPLICATION Complete the online application. (Applications will be accepted through August 22, 2017.) A $25 deposit is due upon application. This amount is applied to tuition for the first course in which you enroll; it is refundable only if a class is oversubscribed or cancelled due to insufficient enrollment. Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee enrollment; classes may be oversubscribed or cancelled. STEP THREE: ENROLLMENT Your application will be reviewed as soon as possible, but no later than August 29, If your selection is approved, you will receive an with registration and payment instructions. Refunds/Withdrawals To withdraw from your course(s), send an to: openclassroom@jtsa.edu. For refunds (minus the $25 deposit), notification of withdrawal must be received by September 19. Questions? Call (212) or openclassroom@jtsa.edu. INTRODUCTION TO HEBREW BIBLE (BIB5011) Stephen P. Garfinkel, Assistant Professor An introduction to the contents, structure, and themes of the Hebrew Bible. Integrated with that content, the course will also introduce students to a variety of methods in the study of Bible, both traditional and modern. PENTATEUCH WITH RASHI (BIB5013) Walter Herzberg, Assistant Professor M 11:40 2:15 The course is methodologically oriented, designed to help Davidson School students acquire and refine skills of close reading of the biblical text by integrating a modern literary approach with the study of Rashi and other traditional Jewish commentaries. Students will learn to identify the questions that have been asked for centuries, creating an ongoing dialogue with ancient, medieval, and contemporary close readers. The course will be geared specifically to the needs of the students of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education. Prerequisite: HEB BIBLICAL SAGES AND THEIR TEXTS (BIB5015) A survey of the wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible: the book of Proverbs, with its traditional philosophy of wisdom; the book of Job, which questions the prevailing views of theodicy; and the book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), which represents antiestablishment views of traditional wisdom. Study wisdom in action with wise women, wise courtiers, and wise kings. BOOK OF JUDGES (BIB5310) A critical analysis of selected chapters of the Book of Judges in the light of modern scholarship. The stories of Ehud, Gideon, Abimelech, Jephthah, and the Levite and his concubine will be studied in detail. Page 1 of 5

2 BIBLICAL GRAMMAR (BIB5560) T & TH 8:40 9:55 A review of the morphology, syntax, and lexicon of biblical Hebrew. An inductive survey of selected biblical texts with special attention given to Masoretic notations. MEDIEVAL BIBLICAL EXEGESIS (BIB6070.1) Robert Harris, Associate Professor Designed for students who are new to the use of rabbinic bible commentaries, this course is an introduction to medieval Jewish biblical exegesis. Students will learn to identify the questions that have been asked for centuries, creating an ongoing dialogue with ancient, medieval, and contemporary close readers. During the semester students will concentrate on a). developing skills in reading medieval commentaries (comprehension and recitation will be stressed); b). understanding the methodologies and exegetical goals of each exegete; c). gaining an appreciation for the commentators in their own historical context. We will also explore the religious significance of the peshat. MEDIEVAL BIBLICAL EXEGESIS (BIB6070.2) Walter Herzberg, Assistant Professor See BIB6070.1; this is another section of the same course. FOUNDATIONS OF HEBREW (HEB1001) Sara Hochfeld The course begins with lesson 1 of Hebrew from Scratch I (Ivrit min ha-hathala Alef). Learners will gain active mastery of 500 words, knowledge of the present tense and infinitive verb forms, and reading comprehension of dialogs relating to everyday life as well as simple narrative and informative texts. Prerequisites: Students are expected to have mastered the materials covered in units I-VII of the textbook (up to page 99), including the ability to write in cursive. ELEMENTARY HEBREW I (HEB1101) Nina Nesher, Lecturer This course, a direct continuation of HEB 1001, brings students near the end of the first volume of Hebrew from Scratch A (Ivrit min ha-hathala Alef) with the same emphasis on reading comprehension as well as the development of communication skills. Students will continue to expand their vocabulary and learn among other basic language forms the past tense. Additional readings will be assigned from the folktale anthology Sipur ve-od Sipur. ELEMENTARY HEBREW II (HEB2103) Hebrew Faculty Using the second volume of Hebrew from Scratch (Ivrit min ha-hathala Bet) as textbook, supplemented by additional readings, this course is designed to seamlessly follow HEB 1101 by building on the comprehension and oral-aural skills previously acquired, and continuing to develop vocabulary and grammar knowledge (including the future tense); special attention will be given to dictionary look-up skills. INTERMEDIATE HEBREW I (HEB2201) Nina Nesher, Lecturer M, T, & TH 8:40 9:55 This course continues with the second volume of Hebrew from Scratch (Ivrit min ha-hathala Bet), complemented with online listening comprehension modules. Students will continue to expand their vocabulary and advance their aural-oral skills. In grammar, the study of the future tense and major prepositions begun in the previous semester will be concluded, and new topics in syntax and the verb system will be introduced. INTERMEDIATE HEBREW II (HEB5203) Hanna Garti-Bar M, T, & TH 8:40 9:55 This intermediate-level course will bring students to the end of Hebrew from Scratch II (Ivrit min ha-hathala Bet), supplementing the textbook with materials from level gimel books and other readings in Hebrew from various periods (e.g., adapted stories, poems, selections from parashat ha-shavua, midrash, and Biblical commentary). Students will learn new grammar topics, develop strategies for reading comprehension and word recognition, and practice conveying ideas and opinions in both speech and writing. INTERMEDIATE HEBREW I FOR DRL (HEB5205) Sara Hochfeld M, T, W, & TH 11:40 12:55 A year-long intermediate-level Hebrew language course designed for Division of Religious Leadership students and aiming to develop reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. We will focus on reading comprehension of informative and narrative texts in Hebrew of various periods; classical Hebrew grammar (phonology and the verb system); topics in syntax; vocabulary development; and dictionary usage skills. Page 2 of 5

3 COMPREHENSION AND COMMUNICATION (HEB5221) Hebrew Faculty M & W 8:40 9:55 This advanced Hebrew language course is designed for students who wish to further develop their comprehension and communication skills. Each student will select a topic in an area of her or his interest, explore its treatment in a variety of Hebrew-language texts, and prepare oral and written presentations integrating different facets of the topic. This course is for students who are exempt from HEB 5203 or have completed it with a grade of A- or higher. ADVANCED HEBREW I (HEB5301) Miriam Meir, Lecturer M, T, W, & TH 11:40 12:55 This course focuses on learning Hebrew as the language of Jewish culture. Students will comprehend, critique, and comment (orally and in writing) on Hebrew texts of various genres and periods that deal with major issues in Jewish and Israeli history and culture. Attention will be given to vocabulary development and advanced grammar topics. Students will peer-teach topics from parashat hashavua. JEWISH CULTURE AND COMMUNITY IN RENAISSANCE ITALY (HIS5339) Stefanie Siegmund, Professor M & W 2:40 3:55 This course will examine the social history and elite cultural history of Renaissance Italian Jews, considering Jewish-Christian relations as reflected in the everyday relations of merchants and neighbors, but also in the enforcement of the Jewish badge and ghettoization. MODERN JEWISH HISTORY (HIS5406) Brian Smollett, Assistant Professor A survey of the political, social, cultural, and religious transformation of the Jews from the seventeenth century to the present. AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY UNTIL WORLD WAR II (HIS5531) Jack Wertheimer, Professor T & TH 2:40 3:55 An examination of the social structure, communal organization and institutional development of American Jewry from the colonial era until the end of World War II. Central themes include the conflict between traditional Jewish needs and the demands of the American environment, imported versus indigenous structures and ideologies, regional variations, and centripetal and centrifugal forces affecting Jewish unity. THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFILCT (HIS5616) Hillel Gruenberg, Assistant Professor W 4:10 PM 6:50 This course was developed in partnership with Resetting the Table and involves two major components. The first is an in-depth historical investigation into major topics and issues in the history of the Zionist/Israeli/Israel-Arab conflict.. The second will focus on facilitating dialogue among students and developing their skills of convening discussions about the conflict and Israel. IS (JEWISH) RELIGIOUS BELIEF RATIONAL? (JTH5157) Alan Mittelman, Professor M & W 11:40 12:55 Contemporary philosophy and science typically find religious belief to be irrational, a survival from a credulous age. This course explores the nature of rationality and examines whether Jewish religious beliefs may be considered rational. It inquires into how previous generations of Jewish thinkers construed rationality and whether those commitments are possible today. FEMINIST JEWISH ETHICS (JTH5322) Shira Billet, Adjunct Lecturer T & TH 4:10 5:25 In this seminar we will read classic texts in Jewish feminist thought and ethics as we discuss, review, and evaluate the merits and drawbacks of different approaches. Students will consider the application of Jewish feminist ethics to contemporary Jewish ritual and scriptural readings. MARKET MEETS RABBIS: JEWISH THOUGHT AND BUSINESS PRACTICES IN THE 21ST CENTURY (JTH5326) William Plevan, Adjunct Lecturer W 4:10 6:50 The course will introduce students to a broad range of ethical issues that arise in the business world. We will investigate the relationship between Jewish law and ethics. Philosophic and rabbinic frameworks will be studied that may provide models for thinking about these issues. By means of case studies, the course hopes to cultivate greater sensitivity and sophistication when making judgments as ethical dilemmas arise. Page 3 of 5

4 MYSTICAL TEXTS AND THE MEANING OF THE HOLIDAYS (JTH6631) Eitan Fishbane, Associate Professor Through close textual analysis of the original Hebrew sources, we will study a range of mystical reflections (both kabbalistic and Hasidic) on the holidays and the Jewish year. Emphasis will be placed on developing abilities in the interpretation of mystical sources and the integration of a spiritual vision of the religious calendar. Prerequisite: HEB WHO AM I? SOUL, REINCARNATION AND THE QUESTION OF IDENTITY IN KABBALISTIC THOUGHT (JTH7116) Eitan Fishbane, Associate Professor W 10:10 12:55 Jewish mystics have long considered the soul to be the eternal essence of human identity that transcends physical death. In this course, we will explore various elements of this subject in kabbalistic thought, including body, gender, and spirit; mortality and immortality; reincarnation (gilgul) and destiny; the idealized life of piety, mitzvah, and virtue. PERFORMING JEWISHNESS ON THE AMERICAN STAGE (LIT5159) Edna Nahshon, Professor This course is devoted to dramatic works dealing with some of the major issues that have engaged the American Jewish discourse over the past six decades. The plays we will discuss reflect intra Jewish concerns and larger societal issues: the dynamics of Jewish family life, encountering the immigrant past, racial tensions, women and gender, sexual orientation and the AIDS epidemic, and the Holocaust. Films that broaden the spectrum will be shown. DEMONS, DYBBUKS, AND THE PROBLEM OF EVIL (LIT5530) David Roskies, Professor I. B. Singer s demonic realism as a creative synthesis of the devils and dybbuks of medieval Ashkenaz, the cosmic drama of Reb Nahman of Braslav, and the tales of seduction of I. L. Peretz; Singer as a reactionary modernist, who enlivened man s (and woman s) passion for evil as a way of memorializing the severed, hallowed, past. ISRAELI THEATER AND DRAMA (LIT5570) Edna Nahshon, Professor T & TH 4:10 5:25 We will discuss major trends in Israel's theatrical history by focusing on canonical plays and their performance history. Central themes and artistic strategies in the work of the country's theater practitioners will be analyzed within their sociopolitical context. Taught in Hebrew. CONTEMPORARY ISRAELI WOMEN'S WRITING (LIT5752) Barbara Mann, Professor Literature by Israeli women addresses the complexities of Israel s history, and its equally confounding present, through a variety of narrative genres and styles: historical and detective fiction, surrealism, psychoanalysis, graphic novels, poetry. Analyzing texts with attention to family, national identity, gender, violence, urban life, ethnic relations, religion, the Shoah. INTRODUCTION TO LITURGY (LTG5031) Robert Scheinberg, Adjunct Lecturer W 8:40 11:25 Open to students in all schools, this course provides an introduction to the themes, theology, structure, and development of Jewish liturgy, including the relationship between weekday and Shabbat/festival prayer. This course will also examine the experience of prayer, such as the nature of prayer, individual/communal prayer, praying problematic liturgy, different modalities of prayer, and the tension between keva and kavanah. This course includes an additional e-learning component. GREAT BOOKS II: CLASSICS OF JEWISH TRADITION (MDS5102) Benjamin Gampel, Professor T 2:40 5:25 A focus on the classics of the medieval and modern age, considering the social, religious, and historical significance of each of the works against the background of the period in which it was written. INTRODUCTION TO RABBINIC NARRATIVE (MID5022) Burton Visotzky, Professor T 11:40 2:15 A survey of the basic forms and methods of Midrash through close reading of various primary sources and secondary literature. Page 4 of 5

5 THE HOLIDAYS IN THE TALMUD (TAL5221) M 10:10 12:55 Selected sugyot designed to give students an overview of some of the major issues preoccupying the classical rabbis in their discussions of the holidays. These sugyot will be prepared with Rashi's commentary. Emphasis will be on structure of the sugya, methods of argumentation, talmudic terminology, and proper use of study aids available to the beginner. TALMUD SKILL LEVEL I: PRAYER (TAL6020) Marjorie Lehman, Associate Professor M & W 8:40 11:25 This course is designed for students who have limited prior exposure to Talmud study. We will explore Talmudic sugyot that grapple with the issue of prayer from a legal, a theological, and a historical perspective. We wil also explore the rabbis struggles regarding the nature of prayer and its relationship to the sacrificial cult while grappling with our own struggles surrounding prayer. We will focus on developing the skills necessary for decoding the texts of the Talmud and Rashi s commentary as well as how to use secondary source material to further our understanding of the texts. All enrolled students must participate in both parts of the course, the recitation (or seder) from 8:40 to 9:55 and the shiur, or seminar, from 10:05 to 11:25. RISHONIM AND MODERN SCHOLARSHIP (TAL6150) Jonathan Milgram, Associate Professor T & TH 10:10 12:55 This course introduces students to text criticism, source criticism, and redaction criticism of the Babylonian Talmud. We will make extensive use of medieval manuscripts of the Babylonian Talmud as well as parallel traditions from the entire corpus of rabbinic literature. We will also engage in a critical examination of the reading practices of medieval commentators and codifiers (Rishonim) toward the goal of understanding how they react to the multilayered text of the Babylonian Talmud. Our focus will be Bekhorot, chapter 8. The ability to read bibliography in modern Hebrew is assumed. The course will be taught in Hebrew. JEWISH MARRIAGE IN RABBINIC LITERATURE (TAL7340/9340) T 2:40 5:25 This course will explore the rabbinic understanding of Jewish marriage, examing topics such as the mutual rights and responsibilities of husbands and wives, forcing (or not forcing) a husband to give a get, the rebellious spouse, grounds for divorce, and striking a proper balance between professional and familial obligations. Ketubot, chapter 5, in the Babylonian Talmud will serve as the focal point of study, but considerable attention will be paid to parallels in the Jerusalem Talmud. THE TALMUDIC STORY: AGGADAH AS HISTORY (TAL7656/9656) Students will examine Talmudic stories, attempting to describe their message, authorship, and intended audience. Through careful analysis of selected secondary literature, students will address the question of whether scholars have made proper use of stories in constructing historical narratives. The primary focus will be on the Amoraic period as reflected in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor required. Page 5 of 5