CG-INTD-526 A Text That Binds: The Akedah in Jewish History and Thought

Transcription

1 MAJS Residential Seminar Hebrew College Summer Edward Breuer CG-INTD-526 A Text That Binds: The Akedah in Jewish History and Thought The biblical narrative of Abraham s near-sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22 is without question one of the most powerful, compelling, and yet troubling passages of the Pentateuch. This narrative, referred to in Hebrew literature as the Akedah (lit: the binding), is a text that Jews have returned to time and again, with reverberations across Jewish history and through two millennia of Jewish thought and literature. In this course, we will trace the manifold ways in which this text was read, interpreted, and appropriated. The goal of the course is not only a cross-cultural literary history of the Jews, but an exercise in reading that allows us to appreciate the intellectual and religious forces shaping Jewish societies throughout the ages. The focus of the course and of our time together will be the primary sources, divided into twelve sections. With the exception of one text, these sources will be made available to you online in a course shell created specifically for this residential seminar. One hard copy will also be deposited in the library. Since these texts will be the mainstay of our study and discussion, it is imperative that students have the sources with them at all class sessions. These sources should be available to you before the course meets in Boston; you may wish to print them before your departure for Hebrew College. On the syllabus, you will also find some secondary sources which serve as a kind of modest bibliography for the course. These are recommended, but will not serve as the focus of our class time. They represent some of the best of the vast literature on our subject, and are intended to supplement and complement classroom discussion. These secondary sources will either be available via the library s e-journal database, as PDF files attached to the online course shell (marked as Sch in the syllabus), or on reserve in the Gann library. Students will need to obtain or purchase three books (all are readily available via online booksellers such as Amazon.com): Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, trans. A. Hannay (Penguin Classics edition, 1985) Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial (1967, 1993) Jon Levinson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son (1993) Course evaluation will be based on a research paper, due two months after the end of the course, September 20, The subject of this paper will be determined in consultation with the instructor and will take into consideration the academic and intellectual interests of the individual student.

2 Part I: From Ancient Tales to Monotheistic Faiths One The Abraham Narratives and the Enigma of the Akedah Genesis 12:1-23:2 Isaiah 51:1-2 Nehemiah 9:6-11 Yitzhak Avishur, Studies in Biblical Narrative: Style, Structure and the Ancient Near Eastern Literary Background (1999) Ch 3, pp [Sch] Jon Levinson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity (1993) Two Abraham Hellenized 1 Maccabees 2: Maccabees 12:1-13:18, 16:19-25 Philo, On Abraham, sections Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, I, Aharon Agus, The Binding of Isaac and Messiah (1988) [Ch. 1, The Mother of the Sons, ] pp [Gann] John Collins, Spells Pleasing to God: The Binding of Isaac in Philo the Epic Poet, in idem, Jewish Cult and Hellenistic Culture (2005), [Sch] Louis Feldman, Josephus Version of the Binding of Isaac, in K. Richards, ed., Society of Biblical Literature 1982 Seminar Papers (1982), pp [or: see idem, Josephus s Interpretation of the Bible (1998), pp ] [Sch] Three Isaac/Jesus Sacrificed/Crucified John 3:16, 18:12-19:18 Romans 8:26-32 Hebrews 11:8-19 James 2:14-24 Origen, Homilies on Genesis and Exodus [On the fact that Abraham offered his son Isaac] St. Augustine, Sermons, [Abraham, Tested by God] Edward Kessler, Bound by the Bible: Jews, Christians and the Sacrifice of Isaac (2004), pp [Gann]

3 Four Un-Bound by Rabbinic Imagination The Book of Jubilees 17:15 18:16 Targum Onkelos to Gen 22 Targum Jonathan to Gen 22 Targum Neofiti to Gen 22 Midrash Rabbah to Genesis, Chs Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Gittin, p. 57b Pirkei d'rabbi Eliezer, Ch. 31 Michael Segal, The Book of Jubilees: Rewritten Bible, Redaction, Ideology and Theology (2007), Ch 9, pp [Sch] Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial (1967, 1993), pp Yaakov Elbaum, From Sermon to Story: The Transformation of the Akedah, Prooftexts 6 (1986), pp [e-journal] Five Isaac, Ishmael, and Quranic Ambiguities Quran, Sura 37: Muhammad ibn Jarir al-tabari, Annals: On Prophets and Patriarchs, [pp ] Reuven Firestone, Comparative Studies in Bible and Qur an: A Fresh Look at Genesis 22 in Light of Sura 37, in Judaism and Islam, ed. Benjamin Hary, et. al., (2000), pp [Sch]

4 Part II: Medieval Jewish Adaptations Six Reenacting the Akedah on the Rhine Solomon b. Samson, Hebrew First-Crusade Chronicle David b. Meshullam of Speyer, God, Do Not Let My Blood Rest Ephraim b. Jacob of Bonn, The Slaughter of Isaac Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial (1967, 1993), pp , Ivan Marcus, From Politics to Martyrdom: Shifting Paradigms in the Hebrew Narratives in the Hebrew Narratives of the 1096 Crusade Riots, Prooftexts 2 (1982), pp [e-journal] Seven The Akedah and the Cultural Prism of Medieval Jewish Exegesis R. Solomon b. Isaac (Rashi) } R. Samuel b. Meir } commentaries to Gen 22 Abraham ibn Ezra } R. Moses b. Nahman } Avraham Grossman, The School of Literal Jewish Exegesis in Northern France, in Magne Saebo, ed., Hebrew Bible / Old Testament:The History of Its Interpretation I/2 (2001), [Gann] Nahum Sarna, "Hebrew and Bible Studies in Medieval Spain," in R. Barnett, ed., The Sephardi Heritage (1971) [Gann] Eight Trials, Cosmic Balance and other Philosophical Problems Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed, III:24 Zohar, I:119b-120b James Diamond, Trial as Esoteric Preface in Maimonides Guide of Prooftext, Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 7 (1997), pp [Sch]

5 Part III: The Modern Age and the (Im)Possibility of Belief Nine Ethical Imperatives, Leaps of Faith, and Existential Choice Immanuel Kant, Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone [1793], pp , The Conflict of the Faculties [1798], p. 115 *Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling [1843], pp Jerome Gellman, A Hasidic Interpretation of the Binding of Isaac: Rabbi Leiner of Izbica, in A. Sagi and D. Statman, eds, Between Religion and Ethics (1993), pp, Emil Fackenheim, Encounters Between Judaism and Modern Philosophy (1973), pp * not included in primary source packets Ten The Akedah in the Shadow of the Crematoria Elie Wiesel, Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits and Legends (1976), pp Saul Friedlander, When Memory Comes (1979), pp Eliezer Berkovits, With God in Hell: Judaism in the Ghettos and Deathcamps (1979), pp Gershon Greenberg, The Death of History and the Life of Akedah: Voices from the War, in S. Haynes and J. Roth, eds., The Death of God Movement and the Holocaust (1999), Eleven The Paradox of Israeliness: Poetics of a Modern Jewish Torment Amir Gilboa, Isaac Tuvia Rubner, Voices Hayyim Gouri, Heritage T. Carmi, The Sacrifice Yitzhak La'or, This Dolt Isaac Ra'aya Harnick, Poems of Attrition Hanokh Levin, from the play, The Queen of the Bath Yehudah Amichai, The Real Hero Hava Pinhas-Cohen, Entreaty Ruth Kartun-Blum, Where does this wood in my hand come from? The Binding of Isaac in Modern Hebrew Poetry, Prooftexts 8 (1988), pp [e-journal] Avi Sagi, The Meaning of the Akedah in Israeli Culture and Jewish Tradition, Israel Studies 3 (1998), pp [e-journal]

6 Twelve Recovering Sarah: Feminist Readings Phyllis Trible, Genesis 22: The Sacrifice of Sarah, in Jason Rosenblatt et. al., eds, Not in Heaven: Coherence and Complexity in Biblical Narrative (1991), pp Tikva Frymer-Kensky, Akeda: The View from the Bible, in Beginning Anew: A Woman s Companion to the High Holy Days (1997), pp Heleen Zorgdrager, The Sacrifice of Abraham as a (Temporary) Resolution of a Descent Conflict? A Gender-motivated Reading of Gen 22, in E. Noort and E. Tigchelaar eds., The Sacrifice of Isaac: The Aqedah and its Interpretations (2002), pp [Gann]