Department of History, University of Manitoba, JEWISH HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY HIST 4960/7270

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1 Department of History, University of Manitoba, JEWISH HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY HIST 4960/7270 B. Baader Time: Th, 3:30-6:30 pm Room: University College 376 Office: 347 University College Tel Office hours: Tu: 4:30-5:30 pm, Th: 10:30-11:30 am Course Description In this seminar on Jewish history and Jewish historiography and their settings in European history and historiography, we will examine the ways in which Jews have established and maintained cultural, ethnic, and religious distinctiveness and internal cohesion in two thousand years of life in the diaspora. Moreover, we will explore the ways in which scholars have approached the phenomenon of Jewish peoplehood and Jewish cultural and religious cohesiveness in historiographical frameworks. In particular, we will make ourselves familiar with a number of important debates in the field of modern Jewish historiography. Thereby, we will gain insight not only into the issues at stake in Jewish history, but also into questions pertaining to the discipline of historical scholarship at large. In the fall semester, we shall focus on gaining an understanding of the scope and issues of Jewish history and historiography from the formative stage of Jewish culture and peoplehood in the ancient world to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Thus, we will examine scholarly controversies about the character of Hebrew and Latin documents from medieval Germany and Spain and their possible uses and interpretations; we will read and discuss scholarship on Jewish mysticism and the historical and ahistorical dimensions of Jewish writings in past and present; we shall devote a number of sessions on Jewries in early modern Europe; and we will explore the question of how Jewish societies in Europe made the transition into what we call modernity. Thereby, we will engage with intellectual, religious, social, and gender history approaches. In the winter semester, we shall examine the phenomenon of modern Jewish historicism in the context of German historicism and modern German history, and we will explore how the historiography of German Jewry relates to, overlaps with, and is distinct from the scholarly study of German history. We will inquire into the dynamics of a minority history, and we shall discuss how Jewish historiography currently challenges and transforms the fabric and the boundaries of national histories. No prior knowledge of Judaism, Jewish studies, or Jewish history is required. However, a careful reading of the assigned texts and participation in class discussions are essential. Required Readings One course reader per semester, Fall: Gershon D. Hundert, Jews in Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century, 2004, Winter: Yosef H. Yerushalmi, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory, 1982, and probably additional books. Also, as background reading for students who are unfamiliar with the outlines of Jewish history: Raymond Scheindlin, A Short History of the Jewish People, Oxford, All of these texts will be available at the University of Manitoba Bookstore Assignments and Final Grade Due Date Percentage of

2 2 Attendance and participation 20 % Think pieces (two each term) 10 % Essay 1: Analysis of 2 scholarly articles, Oct % HIST 4960: 4-6 pages, HIST 7270: 6-8 pages, (until 1800) Essay 2: Review article, Dec % HIST 4960: Book review, 4-6 pages, HIST 7270: Literature review, 8-10 pages, (until 1900) Research essay, April % HIST 4960: pages, HIST 7270: pages. Evaluation on the written assignments of the first semester will be provided prior to the voluntary withdrawal date (March 19, 2009). Final Grade Late Assignments Late assignments will be accepted after the due dates with a penalty of one grade-point out of 100, per assignment, per day that the assignment is late, including weekends, unless a written request (with serious reasons) has been submitted in advance of the due date and written permission has been granted by the instructor. The Letter Grade Distribution for this course is as follows A % C % A % C % B % D % B % F 0-49 % Plagiarism and Cheating The University s regulations regarding plagiarism, cheating and impersonation can be found on page 28 of the Undergraduate Calendar and the Faculty of Arts regulation and reads The common penalty in Arts for plagiarism in a written assignment, test, or examination is F on the paper and F for the course. For the most serious acts of plagiarism, such as the purchase of an essay or cheating on a test or examination, the penalty can also include suspension for a period of up to five years from registration in courses taught in a particular department in Arts or from all courses taught in this Faculty. The Faculty also reserves the right to submit student work that is suspected of being plagiarized to Internet sites designed to detect plagiarism.

3 3 SCHEDULE FALL Note on Jewish Holidays Due to the observance of Yom Kippur, there will be no class on October 9, Week 1, Sept. 4, Introduction Week 2, Sept.11, Difference, Gender, and Rabbinic Judaism Daniel Boyarin, "Masada or Yavneh? Gender and the Arts of Jewish Resistance." In Jews and Other Differences: The New Jewish Cultural Studies, ed. Jonathan Boyarin and Daniel Boyarin, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press) 1997, pp Christine Hayes,"The 'Other' in Rabbinic Literature," in The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature, ed. Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert and Martin Jaffee, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) 2007, pp Shaye J.D. Cohen, "Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised?" Gender and History, vol. 9:3, 1997, pp Isaiah Gafni, "Babylonian Rabbinic Culture," in Cultures of the Jews: A New History, ed. David Biale, (New York: Schocken Books) 2002, pp If you are not familiar with ancient Jewish history, please read for background Sheindlin, chapters 1-3. Week 3, Sept. 18, The Crusades: Jews and Medieval Ashkenas Salo Wittmayer Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, 2nd ed., (New York: Columbia University Press), 1957, vol. 4, pp , Robert Chazan, European Jewry and the First Crusade, (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press), 1987, pp , , , Shlomo Eidelberg, The Jews and the Crusades: The Hebrew Chronicles of the First and Second Crusades, (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press), 1977, pp Ivan G. Marcus, "From Politics to Martyrdom: Shifting Paradigms in the Hebrew Narratives of the 1096 Crusade Riots," Prooftexts, vol. 2:1, 1982, pp Ivan G. Marcus, "The Representation of Reality in the Narratives of 1069," Jewish History, vol. 13:2, 1999, Robert Chazan, God, Humanity, and History: The Hebrew First Crusade Narratives, (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press), 2000, pp ,

4 4 Kenneth Stow, "Conversion, Apostasy, and Apprehensiveness: Emicho of Flonheim and the Fear of Jews in the Twelfth Century," Seculum, vol. 76:4, 2001, pp If you are not familiar with the outlines of Jewish history, please read for background, Sheindlin, chapters 4-5. Week 4, Sept. 25, Jewish Identity in Post-Expulsion Spain (and France) David Gitlitz, Secrecy and Deceit: The Religion of Crypto-Jews. (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society), 1996, pp. 3-48, 64-67, Benzion Netanyahu, The Marranos of Spain, from the Late XIVth to the Early XVIth Century, (New York: American Academy for Jewish Research), 1966, , pp. 1-22, Benzion Netanyahu,"The Conversion of Don Samuel Abravanel," in Toward the Inquisition: Essays on Jewish and Converso History in Late Medieval Spain, ed. Benzion Netanyahu,(Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press) 1997, pp , Graizbord, David L. "Becoming Jewish in Early Modern France: Documents on Jewish Community-Building in Seventeenth-Century Bayonne and Peyrehorade." Journal of Social History, vol. 10:4, 2006, pp Renee Levine Melammed,"Women in (Post-1492) Spanish Crypto-Jewish Society." Judaism, vol. 41, 1992, pp If you are not familiar with the outlines of Jewish history, please read for background Sheindlin, chapter 6. Week 5, Oct. 2, Mysticism and Messianism Gershom Scholem, Kabbalah. (New York: Quadrangle/New York Times Book), 1974, pp. 8-60, Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, (New York: Schocken Books), 1946, pp , Gershom Scholem, The Crisis of Tradition in Jewish Messianism, in The Messianic Idea in Judaism and Other Essays on Jewish Spirituality, (New York: Schocken Books), 1971, pp , Moshe Idel, Kabbalah: New Perspectives, (New Haven: Yale University Press), 1988, pp , , , Elliot R. Wolfson, "Circumcision, Vision of God, and Textual Interpretation: From Midrashic Trope to Mystical Symbol," History of Religions, vol. 27:2, 1987, pp

5 5 Week 6: October 8, Essay # 1 due, October 9, Yom Kippur, no class. Week 7, Oct. 16, Early Modern Italy Robert Bonfil,"Change in the Cultural Patterns of a Jewish Society in Crisis: Italian Jewry at the Close of the Sixteenth Century," Jewish History, vol. 3:2, 1988, pp Elliott Horowitz, "Coffee, Coffeehouses, and the Nocturnal Rituals of Early Modern Jewry." AJS Review, vol. 13:1, 1989, pp Renata Segre, "Sephardic Refugees in Ferrara: Two Notable Families," in Crisis and Creativity in the Sephardic World, , ed. Benjamin Gampel, (New York: Columbia University Press), pp Kenneth Stow, "Marriages are Made in Heaven: Marriage and the Individual in the Roman Jewish Ghetto," Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 48:3, 1995, pp If you are not familiar with the outlines of Jewish history, please read for background Sheindlin, chapter 7. Week 8, Oct. 23, The Age of Court Jews in Central Europe Jonathan I. Israel, "Central European Jewry during the Thirty Years' War," Central European History, vol. 16:1, 1983, pp Selma Stern, The Court Jew: A Contribution to the History of the Period of Absolutism in Central Europe, (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society), 1950, pp. 1-13, 38-59, , , Jonathan Israel, Diasporas Within a Diaspora : Jews, Crypto-Jews and the World Maritime Empires ( ), (Leiden: Brill), 2002, pp , Otto Ulbricht, "Criminality and Punishment of the Jews in the Early Modern Period," in In and Out of the Ghetto: Jewish-Gentile Relations in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany, ed. R. Po-Chia Hsia and Hartmut Lehmann,. (New York: Cambridge University Press) 1995, pp Elisheva Carlebach, "Attribution of Secrecy and Perception of Jewry," Jewish Social Studies, vol. 2:3, 1996, pp Week 9, Oct. 30, Polish Jewry Gershon David Hundert, Jews in Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century: A Genealogy of Modernity. (Berkeley: University of California Press), 2004.

6 Week 10, Nov. 6, Hasidism and Gender Moshe Rosman, "The History of Jewish Women in Early Modern Poland: An Assessment," Polin (2005): Ada Rapoport-Albert,"On Women and Hasidism: S.A. Horodecky and the Maid of Ludmir Tradition." In Jewish History; Essays in Honor of Chimen Abramsky, ed. Ada Rapoport-Albert and Steven J. Zipperstein (London: Peter Halban) Nehemia Polen, "Miriam's Dance: Radical Egalitarianism in Hasidic Thought." Modern Judaism, vol. 12, 1992, pp Justin Jaron Lewis, "Divine Gender Transformation in Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav," Nordisk Judaistik/Scandinavian Jewish Studies, vol. 26:1-2, Immanuel Etkes, "Marriage and Torah Study Among the Lomdim in Lithuania in the Nineteenth Century." In The Jewish Family: Metaphor and Memory, ed. David Kraemer. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press) 1989, pp Chava Weissler, "Woman as High Priest: A Kabbalistic Prayer in Yiddish For Lighting Sabbath Candles," Jewish History, vol. 5:1, 1991, pp Week 11, Nov. 13, The Challenge of Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) in Germany Jacob Katz, Tradition and Crisis: Jewish Society at the End of the Middle Ages. (New York: Schocken Books), 1993, pp , Jacob Katz, Out of the Ghetto: The Social Background of Jewish Emancipation, , (Cambridge: Harvard University Press), 1973, pp , Shmuel Feiner, The Jewish Enlightenment. (Philadelphia: University of Pensylvania Press), 2003, pp Michael A. Meyer, The Origins of the Modern Jew: Jewish Identity and European Culture in Germany, , (Detroit: Wayne State University Press), 1967, pp , David Friedlaender, Open Letter to His Reverence, Propbst Teller(1799), in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, eds. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, 2nd ed., (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press) 1993, pp Jonathan Hess, Germans, Jews and the Claims of Modernity. (New Haven: Yale University Press), 2002, pp

7 Week 12, Nov. 20, Modern Jewish Scholarship and Religious Movements Immanuel Wolf, "On the Concept of a Science of Judaism (1822)," Leo Baeck Institute Year Book 2 (1957), , 7 Leopold Zunz, On Rabbinic Literature, in The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, eds. Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, 2nd ed., (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press) 1993, pp Michael Meyer, Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism. (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press), 1988, pp , Robert Liberles, "Champion of Orthodoxy: The Emergence of Samson Raphael Hirsch as Religious Leader," AJS Review, vol. 6, 1981, pp Robert Liberles, "Leopold Stein and the Paradox of Reform Clericalism, ," Leo Baeck Institute Year Book, vol. 27, 1982, pp Steven M. Lowenstein, "The 1840s and the Creation of the German-Jewish Reform Movement," in Revolution and Evolution: 1848 in German-Jewish History, ed. Werner E. Mosse, Arnold Paucker, and Reinhard Rürup, (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr) 1981, pp Week 13, Nov. 27, Jewish Embourgeoisement in Germany Avraham Barkai, "The German Jews at the Start of Industrialization: Structural Change and Mobility ," in Revolution and Evolution: 1848 in German-Jewish History, ed. Werner Mosse, Arnold Pauker, and Reinhard Rürup, (Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr) 1981, pp George Mosse, Jewish Emancipation: Between Bildung and Respectability, and Alexander Altmann,, Moses Mendelssohn as the Archetypal German Jew, both in The Jewish Response to German Culture, ed. Jehuda Reinharz and Walter Schatzberg. (Hanover NH: University Press of New England) 1985, pp David Sorkin, The Transformation of German Jewry, , (New York: Oxford University Press) 1987, pp , , , Benjamin Maria Baader, Gender, Judaism, and Bourgeois Culture in Germany, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), 2006, pp , 34-41, , , , , December 4, Essay # 2 due.

8 8 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE WINTER Note on Jewish Holidays Due to the observance of Passover, there will be no class on April 7, Week 1, Jan. 8, Jewish Historiography Week 2, Jan. 15, Historicism and Historiography in Germany Week 3, Jan. 22, The German Sonderweg (pre 1871) Week 4, Jan. 29, Approaches to German Jews in the Nineteenth Century Week 5, Feb. 5, Imperial Germany Week 6, Feb. 12, Jews and Imperial Germany Mid-term break Week 7, Feb. 26, Weimar Germany Week 8, March 5, Jews and Weimar Germany Week 9, March 12, Nazi Germany Week 10, March 19, Holocaust Week 11, March 26, Post-Holocaust Germany and German Jewry Week 12, April 2, Final Musings Week 13, April 9, Passover, no class. April 13, Research Essay due.