Hamesh Megillot RB-BIBLE-250

Transcription

1 Hamesh Megillot RB-BIBLE-250 Syllabus Spring Instructor: Rachel Adelman, Ph.D. Hebrew University of Jerusalem Professor in Hebrew Bible at Hebrew College Contact: Or Office: 216 Hours: Tuesday 9-11 a.m., or by appointment at other times. Phone: Spring Semester (meetings): Beit Midrash Thursday 9:15-11:15; Class 11:30 am 1:00 pm Description In this course students will engage a deep reading of three of the Five Megillot: Esther, Song of Songs, and the Book of Ruth. We will consider the historical context and genre of their composition, as well as their significance with respect to the liturgical year (Purim, Passover, and Shavuot). Special attention will be given to the dramatic presentation and character development, along with accompanying classical parshanut, midrash, literary commentary, modern feminist readings and creative responses to these texts. Requirements: Year 1 & 2 of Humash (plus parshanut), and one course on Prophets (navi) or the academic equivalent; Hebrew VII or above and/or the approval of the professor. Goals: Reinforce text reading skills of Tanakh in the original Hebrew. Train ourselves in the distinction between peshat (plain meaning, contextual reading) and derash (applied or extended meaning of the text), and the tools each level of exegesis requires. Introduce students to traditions of interpretation and their respective forms: historical-contextual 1

2 interpretation, as well as PARDES (peshat, remez, derash, sod), drawing from classical midrash and Medieval exegetes. Sensitize students to the literary patterns, biblical poetry (parallelism), feminist perspectives, as well as major themes in the Hamesh Megillot. Develop students interpretive voice in reading Hamesh Megillot in the contemporary context. Required Texts: Tanakh (complete) in Hebrew to be brought to Class each week Hamesh Megillot (Mosad HaRav Kook, Jerusalem 1973) OR Miqra ot Gedolot on Hamesh Megillot. All other readings will be placed on Reserve in the library and/or uploaded to Schoology. Recommended for purchase: The JPS Bible Commentary: Esther, Adele Berlin (Philadelphia: JPS Society 2001); Ariel Bloch and Chana Block, The Song of Songs A New Translation (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1995); The JPS Bible Commentary: Ruth, Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Tikva Frymer-Kensky (Philadelphia: JPS Society 2011). Course Requirements and Evaluation: 1. Participation (10%). Attendance and active involvement in discussion is critical to progress in this course. Preparation for class each week entails thorough Havruta study of a selection from Hamesh Megillot in the original Hebrew, plus a daf mekorot (source sheet with guideline questions for the Beit Midrash), and at least one secondary source, introducing a critical article/reading pertinent to the passage at hand. 2. Three Short Papers (60%). (3-5 pages each, 1,500-2,000 words). a) Thematic or literary exploration on Esther. Questions of intertextuality, composition, authorship, historical context, literary characteristics. Due March 2 nd (before Purim) b) History of interpretation on Song of Songs. Take one chapter from Song, and make a study of one of the following interpretations: Targum (Aramaic), Song of Songs Rabbah, Zohar, Pesiqta de-rav Kahana, or one Medieval Exegete (e.g. Ibn Ezra, Rashi, or Gersonides). Due March 30 th. c) Modern Feminist Reading (either a creative piece or a short research paper) on Ruth. Due May 11 th. 3. Oral presentation (30%) based on any passage in Esther, Song of Songs, or Ruth. It can be a mini-shiur or an extended Devar Torah, based either on one of your short papers or on a new topic. 2

3 UNIT I: Esther (4 Weeks) 1. Class 1, Thurs. Feb. 2 nd Introduction to Esther: genre, relationship to canon, historical context and composition. Setting the Stage of the Persian Court. Primary Reading: Esther chapters 1 & 2. Secondary Reading: Adel Berlin s introduction to The JPS Bible Commentary, pp. xvxxviii; Timothy K. Beal, Tracing Esther s Beginnings, in A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna, ed. A. Brenner (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1995), Class 2. Thurs. Feb. 9 th The Decree of Genocide; Haman s Vendetta; interpretive traditions on Esther; intertextuality & midrash. Primary Reading: Esther chapters 3-5, plus daf mekorot; Targum I & II (Aramaic) and the Septuagint on Esther ( Additions to Esther from the Apocrypha). Secondary Reading: Selection from Jon Levenson, Esther: A Commentary (London: SCM Press 1997), and Michael Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther (Grand Rapids, Mi: W.B. Eerdmans, 2001). 3. Class 3. Thurs. Feb. 16 th Denouement; reversals. Primary Reading: Esther chapters 6-7. Secondary Reading: Avivah Zornberg, Esther Mere Anarchy is Loosed Upon the World, in The Murmuring Deep (New York: Schocken Books 2009), ; Rachel Adelman, Passing Strange Gender Crossing in the Story of Joseph and Esther, in The Female Ruse (Sheffield, forthcoming). Assignment #1 on Esther, due March 2 nd (before Purim) 4. Class 4. Thurs. Feb. 23 rd Esther in the Jewish Tradition Primary Reading: Esther chapters 8-10, plus daf mekorot. Secondary Reading: Edward L. Greenstein, A Jewish Reading of Esther, in Judaic Perspectives on Ancient Israel, ed. J. Neusner (Philadelphia: Fortress 1987), Unit II: Song of Songs (4 Classes) 5. Class 5: Thurs. March 2 nd Shir ha-shirim in the making of the biblical canon; the attribution to King Solomon; the plain sense (peshat), unique linguistic features of the Song; use of metaphor, imagery of flora/fauna/springtime. *First Reflection Paper due. 3

4 Primary Reading: Reading of chapters 1-2:7; 2:8-3:5; Bloch & Bloch s commentary. Secondary Reading: Robert Alter, The Garden of Metaphor in The Art of Biblical Poetry ( Basic Books 1985), ; Phyllis Trible, Love s Lyrics Redeemed, from God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality (Philadelphia: Fortress Press 1978), ; selections from Cheryl Exum, Song of Songs: A Commentary (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999). 6. Class 6: Thurs. March 9 th. Is the love consummated? The allegorical/midrashic reading: the four oaths to the Daughters of Jerusalem; the timing of Redemption leaping over hills, skipping over mountains. Primary Reading: Chapter 4:1-5:1. The allegorical/midrashic reading: the four oaths to the Daughters of Jerusalem; the timing of Redemption leaping over hills, skipping over mountains. Other Sources: Midrash Shir ha-shirim Rabbah, Mekhilta, Pesiqta de-rav Kahana, and so forth. Secondary Reading: Daniel Boyarin, The Song of Songs, Lock or Key: The Holy Song as a Mashal, from Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana University Press 1990), , Class 7: Thurs. March 16 th Chapter 5:2-16. Redemption Song Primary Reading: Song of Songs ch. 5; selections from Soloveitchik s Kol Dodi Dofek. Secondary Reading: Harold Fisch, Song of Songs: The Allegorical Imperative, from Poetry with a Purpose (Bloomington: Indiana University Press 1988), , Class 8: Thurs. March 23 rd Love is as strong as Death and the Return to Eden. Primary Reading: Song of Songs chs. 6-8; selections from Franz Rosenzweig s Star of Redemption; selections of modern Israeli poetry & songs. Assignment #2 on Song of Songs, due March 30 th (BEFORE Pesach) Unit III: Ruth (4 Classes) 9. Class 9: Thurs. March 30 th From the Plains of Moab : The Context of the Book of Ruth (Period of the Judges); introducing the theme of geulah; origin of Moabites & attitude to Moab; the meaning of names. *Assignment #2 on Song of Songs due! Primary Reading: close reading of chapter 1; Gen. 18 (Lot and his daughters) & daf mekorot. Secondary Reading: Selections from Eskenazi/Frymer-Kensky, JPS Commentary: Ruth (2011), xv-xxi, xxvii-xxxviii, xlvi-xlviii; Ed Greenstein, Reading Strategies in 4

5 the Book of Ruth, in Alice Bach (ed.), Women in the Hebrew Bible (New York London: Routledge, 1999), pp No Regular Classes April 3 rd -6 th : Special Yamei Iyun for Passover No Classes during Passover Break April 10 th -18 th 10. Class 10: April 20 th In the Fields of Bethlehem : Introducing Boaz as mod a, close kin/goel; background story of Judah and Tamar; levirate marriage, introducing the theme of hesed, and blessing in the name of God. Primary Reading: close reading of chapter 2 & daf mekorot. Secondary Reading: Selections from Jack M. Sasson, Ruth (1989), and Edward Campbell, Ruth (1975), and Eskenazi/Frymer-Kensky, Ruth (2011). No Class April 27 th Yom Iyyun 11. Class 11: May 4 th At the threshing floor : study of kri/ktiv; the agricultural background of the harvest festival (leket & shikekha); meeting the stranger (ger). Primary Reading: close reading of chapter 3; Genesis 38 (Judah and Tamar). Secondary Reading: Harold Fisch, Ruth and the Structure of Covenant History, Vetus Testamentum 32.4 (1982), pp ; Rachel Adelman, Seduction and Recognition in the Story of Judah and Tamar and the Book of Ruth, in Nashim, Vol. 23 (2012), Class 12: May 11 th The Gates of the Law : Redemption of land/seed (legal background: yibum/geulat nahalah); Peloni Almoni return to the question of names & anonymity; blessings of the community; the making of the Davidic dynasty. Primary Reading: close reading of chapter 4, plus daf mekorot. Secondary Reading: Law and Narrative in the Book of Ruth, in The Murmuring Deep (New York: Schocken Books 2009), Student Presentations May 18 th or Make-up Class (?) Final Paper on Ruth Due on Last Week of Classes, by May 18 th 5

6 Bibliography Primary Sources and Classic Commentary: Miqra ot Gedolot on Hamesh Megillot Midrash Esther Rabbah, Ruth Rabbah, Shir ha-shirim Rabbah Pesiqta de-rav Kahana Selections from the Babylonian Talmud, esp. b. Megillah. Targum Rishon and Sheni (Aramaic) to Esther Septuagint (LXX, also called Additions to Esther in the Apocrypha) Modern Commentary: Robert Alter, "The Garden of Metaphor" in The Art of Biblical Poetry (New York: Basic Books, 1985), The Song of Songs trans. Chana Bloch and Ariel Bloch (New York: The Modern Library, 1995). Timothy K. Beal, Tracing Esther s Beginnings, in A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna, ed. A. Brenner (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1995), S.B. Berg, The Book of Esther: Motifs, Themes and Structure (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1979). Adele Berlin, The JPS Bible Commentary: Esther (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society 2001). Leila Leah Bronner, Esther Revisited: An Aggadic Approach, in A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna, ed. A. Brenner (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press 1995). Daniel Boyarin, "The Song of Songs, Lock or Key: The Holy Song as Mashal," in Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), Edward Campbell, Ruth (The Anchor Bible, VII; New York: Doubleday, 1975). Amos Chacham, Hamesh Megillot [Da at Mikra] (Jerusalem: Mosad harav Kook 1987). [Hebrew]. Cheryl Exum, Song of Songs: A Commentary (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999). Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Tikva Frymer-Kensky, The JPS Bible Commentary: Ruth (Philadelphia: JPS Society 2011). Yehuda Feliks, Song of Songs: Nature, Epic and Allegory (Jerusalem: Israel Society for Biblical Research 1983). 6

7 Michael V. Fox, The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1985). Idem., Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther (Grand Rapids, Mi: W.B. Eerdmans, 2001). Harold Fisch, Ruth and the Structure of Covenant History, Vetus Testamentum 32.4 (1982), pp Edward L. Greenstein, A Jewish Reading of Esther, in Judaic Perspectives on Ancient Israel, ed. J. Neusner (Philadelphia: Fortress 1987), Idem., Reading Strategies in the Book of Ruth, in Alice Bach (ed.), Women in the Hebrew Bible (New York London: Routledge, 1999), pp Judith A. Kates and Gail Twersky Reimer, Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story (New York: Ballantine Books 1994). Jon D. Levenson, Esther: A Commentary (London: SCM Press 1997). Ilana Pardes, Countertraditions in the Bible: A Feminist Approach (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992), Marvin H. Pope, Song of Songs. The Anchor Bible. (New York and London, 1977). Franz Rosenzweig, The Star of Redemption (Boston: Beacon Press: 1964). Jack M. Sasson, Ruth: A New Translation with a Philological Commentary and a Formalist- Folklorist Interpretation, 2 nd ed. (Sheffield: JSOT 1989). Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Kol Dodi Dofek: Listen-my Beloved Knocks, trans. by David Z. Gordon; ed. by Jeffrey Woolf (New York: Yeshiva University and Hoboken, NJ: Ktav 2006). Phyllis Trible, "Love's Lyrics Redeemed," God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978), Yair Zakovitch, Ruth: Introduction and Commentary (Hebrew; Tel Aviv Jerusalem: Am Oved Magnes, 1990). Avivah Zornberg, Esther Mere Anarchy is Loosed Upon the World, in The Murmuring Deep (New York: Schocken Books 2009), Idem., Law and Narrative in the Book of Ruth, in The Murmuring Deep (New York: Schocken Books 2009),