Office Hours: Mon & Wed 2:45-3:45 Campus phone:

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1 Professor Paola Tartakoff Office: 116 Miller Hall, 14 College Ave. Office Hours: Mon & Wed 2:45-3:45 Campus phone: JEWISH SOCIETY AND CULTURE I: THE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL EXPERIENCE History 506:271 / Jewish Studies 563:201 / Middle Eastern Studies 685:208 Spring 2008 Mon/Wed 1:10-2:30 Hardenbergh Hall, Room A7 Course Description: This course examines the social, intellectual, and religious life of the Jewish people from Israel's beginnings through to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in It starts with an overview of the history of Israel from c B.C.E. to the end of the Babylonian Captivity. Next it turns to the Second Temple Period, focusing on Israel's encounter with Hellenism, Jewish eschatological hopes, and Jewish life under Roman rule. The course then explores the Jewish experience in the early medieval period. Topics in this section include the rise of rabbinic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the world of the Babylonian academies, and Jewish life under Visigothic and Muslim rule. The last section of the course examines Jewish life under Christian rule in Sepharad and Ashkenaz. It emphasizes important trends in medieval Jewish thought and spirituality and traces the evolution of medieval anti-judaism. This course is required for majors and minors in Jewish Studies. It is also cross-listed in the History Department and in Middle Eastern Studies. Course Requirements: You are required to attend class. You are responsible for all of the material that is covered in lecture, some of which will not correspond to the readings. If you arrive late or miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the notes from a classmate. You are required to do the assigned readings for each lecture. On average, these readings will include 25 pages from the textbook or a scholarly article posted on (click on JSC1F07, and then on Resources ), as well as one or more primary sources of varying lengths (in the coursepack). Over the course of the semester you will complete two writing assignments and take two pop quizzes, a midterm, and a final. There will be map sections on the exams. Spelling will count on all assignments and exams. There will be absolutely no make-up exams. Note: You will not be allowed to record lectures unless you have documented special learning needs and permission from the instructor. Grading: 2 Written Assignments: 15% each, 30% total 2 pop quizzes: 5% each, 10% total Midterm Exam: 30% Final Exam: 30%

2 2 Required Texts: Robert M. Seltzer, Jewish People, Jewish Thought: The Jewish Experience in History (New York, 1980). Hebrew Bible and New Testament in English, including the Apocrypha. I recommend the New Standard Revised Version (NRV). You can also access the assigned biblical readings on-line. Coursepack (CP) to be purchased at the Pequod Copy Center (119 Somerset St., ) 1. Wed 1/23: Introduction Seltzer, 7-12, I. EARLY ISRAEL 2. Mon 1/28: Patriarchs, Judges, and Kings Seltzer, Genesis 9:8-17; 12:1-7, 10; 17:1-8; Exodus 19; 20:1-6; 32; Judges 8:22-23; 1 Samuel 8:6-7; 19-20; 10: 18-19; 12:13-18; 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 1 Kings 10-11:10 3. Wed 1/30: Ideas of Ancient Israel Seltzer, Kings 18:21-40; 2 Kings 22:8-17; 23: Mon 2/4: Israel Divided Seltzer, Wed 2/6: Prophecy. First Writing Assignment due Seltzer, , Kings 17; 18:1-40; 2 Kings 2:9-12; 4:38-41; 5:1-14; 9:1-13; Isaiah 1; 2; Jeremiah 13:15-19; 15; 23:5-6; 31; Ezekiel 8-11 II. THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD 6. Mon 2/11: Jewish Life under Persian and Greek Rule Seltzer, , , Book of Esther; Book of Tobit; 2 Maccabees, chapters 6 and 7 7. Wed 2/13: Hellenistic Jewish Thought Seltzer, Letter to Aristeas Excerpt from Philo (CP) 8. Mon 2/18: Eschatology Seltzer, , Excerpt from the Second Book of Enoch 9. Wed 2/20: Judea under Roman Rule Seltzer, ,

3 3 Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, on the fall of Masada (CP) 10. Mon 2/25: Jewish Religious Groups in Late Antiquity Seltzer, Excerpt from Josephus, The Jewish Antiquities, on Jewish sects (CP) 11. Wed 2/27: The Rise of Rabbinic Judaism Seltzer, Mon 3/3: Rabbinic Thought Seltzer Wed 3/5: MIDTERM III. THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 14. Mon 3/10: The Birth of Christianity; The Parting of the Ways Seltzer, Luke 1-24 (skim); John 18:28-19:16; Romans 9:1-11: Wed 3/12: The Jews in Barbarian Europe Seltzer, Excerpt from Bernard Bachrach, Early Medieval Jewish Policy in Western Europe (Sakai) Excerpt from the writings of St. Augustine (CP) Excerpts from the Visigothic Code (CP SPRING BREAK (March 15-23) 16. Mon 3/24: Muhammad and the Jews Seltzer, Excerpt from the Qu ran (CP) The Pact of Umar (CP) Itinerary of the Radhanite Jewish Merchants (CP) 17. Wed 3/26: The Gaonate, the Exilarchate, and Jewish Sectarianism Seltzer, Nathan the Babylonian on the Installation of the Exilarch (CP) Excerpt from the Book of Beliefs and Opinions of Saadia Gaon (CP) A Karaite Refutation of Saadia s Defense of Rabbinic Judaism (CP) 18. Mon 3/31: Jewish Life in Muslim Spain Seltzer, Dunash ibn Labrat, The Poet refuses an invitation to drink; Samuel Ha-Nagid, The Moment; Solomon ibn Gabirol, On Leaving Saragossa; Judah Halevi, My heart is in the East (CP) Letter from Hasdai ibn Shaprut to the king of the Khazars (CP) 3

4 4 Excerpt from Judah Ha-Levi, The Kuzari (optional) (Sakai) 19. Wed 4/2: Medieval Jewish Philosophy Seltzer, Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Book of Knowledge, The Foundations of the Torah, Chapter 1 (CP) Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed, Part 3, Chapter 51 (CP) Solomon ibn Adret on the Place of Philosophy and Mysticism in Judaism (CP) 20. Mon 4/7: Medieval Jewish Mysticism Seltzer, , The Zohar, 1:15a (CP) IV. CHRISTIAN EUROPE 20. Wed 4/9: Jewish Life in Medieval Ashkenaz. Seltzer, , The Charter of Bishop Rudiger of Speyer (CP) Excerpts from the Sefer Hasidim (CP) 21. Mon 4/14: The Massacres of the First Crusade; the Blood Libel Seltzer, Excerpt from The Chronicle of Solomon bar Samson (CP) The Accusation of Ritual Murder at Blois (CP) 22. Wed 4/16: The Disputations of the Thirteenth Century. Second Writing Assignment due. Excerpts from Jeremy Cohen, Judaism as Heresy (Sakai) The Christian account of the Barcelona Disputation (CP) Excerpt from the Vikuach of Nachmanides (CP) Mon 4/21: PASSOVER, NO CLASS 23. Wed 4/23: Jewish Polemics Against Christianity Excerpt from David Berger, The Jewish-Christian Debate in the High Middle Ages (Sakai) Excerpt from Hasdai Crescas, The Refutation of Christian Principles, concerning the Trinity (CP) 24. Mon 4/28: Conversos and the Spanish Inquisition Seltzer, Profiat Duran s Polemical Letter on the Conversion of his Friend (CP) The Trial of Juana González (CP) 25. Wed 4/30: The Expulsions from England, France, and Spain Seltzer, Excerpt from Ben Zion Netanyahu, Origins of the Inquisition (Sakai) Excerpt from the Gesta Philippi Augusti (CP) Don Isaac Abravanel on the expulsion from Spain (CP) 4

5 5 26. Mon 5/5: Conclusions and Review FINAL EXAM 5