Syllabus Mysticism Magic and Messianism among Medieval Jews in the Lands of Islam - 13929 Last update 25-08-2016 HU Credits: 4 Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master) Responsible Department: history of jewish people & contemporary jewry Academic year: 0 Semester: Yearly Teaching Languages: Hebrew Campus: Mt. Scopus Course/Module Coordinator: Prof. Miriam Frenkel Coordinator Email: miriam.frenkel@mail.huji.ac.il Coordinator Office Hours: Monday 14.00-15.00 Teaching Staff: Prof Miriam Frenkel page 1 / 5
Course/Module description: The seminar concerns manifestations of mysticism, magic and messianism in medieval Jewish practice and thought. Special attention will be given to encounters between Judaism and Islam in these fields. Course/Module aims: The student will be acquainted with transcendental perceptions and practices in an age generally perceived as rationalistic. Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to: Identify mystical dimensions in medieval texts; distinguish between mysticism and magic; criticise academic research in these fields; compare between transcendental perceptions in different religions; point at the relevance of religious practices to transcendental perceptions Attendance requirements(%): 100% Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: seminar Course/Module Content: 1. 1. Introduction 2. 2. Medieval Jewish messianism 3. 3. The discourse of medieval Jewish messianism 4. 4. Messianic discourse in Poetry and liturgy 5. 5Messianic events following the Islamic occupations 6. 6. Fifty years of messianic events in Iraq 7. 7. A false messiah in Yemen 8. 8-9. R. Saadia Gaons messianic postures 9. 10. Judah Halevis messianic postures 10. 11. Maimonides messianic perceptions 11. 12. What is mysticism? 12. 13. Medieval Jewish mysticism in the lands of Islam 13. 14. Solomon b. Judah Gaon- a reappraisal 14. 15. Bahya ibn Paqudah and his Duties of the Hearts 15. 16. Mystical elements in Judah Halevis thought 16. 17-18. Mystical elements in Maimonidesthought 17. 19. Abraham Maimonides and his pietistic movement 18. 20. Nathanael al-fayyumi page 2 / 5
19. 21. Magic, Mysticism, and Science 20. 22. Medieval Jewish mysticism in the Land of Islam 21. 23. Astral Mysticism 22. 24. Jewish demonology: on Lilith 23. 25. Dream interpretation 24. 26. Magical practices: amulets, incantations, shrines. Required Reading: Baneth D. H., Judah Halevi and Al Ghazali, in: A. Jospe ((ed.), Studies in Jewish Thought: An Anthology of German Jewish Scholarship ( Detroit 1981), pp. 181-199. Blumenthal D. R, Maimonides Intellectualist Mysticism and the Superiority of the Prophecy of Moses, in: D. R. Blumenthal (ed.), Approaches to Judaism in Medieval Times, Chico 1984, pp. 27-51 Berger D., Three Typological Themes in Early Jewish Messianism: Messiah son of Joseph, Rabbinic Calculations, and the figure of Armilius, AJS Review, X (1985), pp. 141-164. Bohak Gideon, Some "mass produced" scorpion-amulets from the Cairo Genizah, A Wandering Galilean (2009) 35-49 Bohak Gideon, Babylonian Astrology in the Cairo Geniza, Envisioning Judaism, Studies in Honor of Peter Schהfer I (2013) 607-622 Bohak Gideon, The Genizah magical texts and their historical significance, in: Charles Taylor and the Genizah Collection (2009) 67-74 Bohak Gideon, Jewish magic in the Middle Ages, The Cambridge History of Magic and Witchcraft in the West (2015) 268-299 Bohak Gideon, The Jewish magical tradition from late antique Palestine to the Cairo Genizah, From Hellenism to Islam (2009) 324-342 Carlebach Elisheva, Between History and Hope: Jewish Messianism in Ashkenaz and Sepharad, new York 1998..Cohen, G. D., The Soteriology of R. Abraham Maimuni, PAAJR XXXV (1967), pp. 75-98; XXXVI (1968), pp. 33-56. Cohen G. D., Messianic Postures of Ashkenazim and Sephardim (Prior to Sahbetai Zevi), New York 1967. Fenton Paul, Judaism and Sufism, in: S. H. Nasr and O. Leaman ( eds.), History of Islamic Philosopy, London 2003, pp. 755-768. Kiener R., Jewish Mysticism in the Land of the Ishmaelites: A reorientation, in: M. Laskier Michael and Yaacov Lev ( eds.), The Convergence of Judaism and Islam;Religious, Scientific and Cultural Dimensions, Gainseville 2011, pp. 147-167. Kiener, R. C., Jewish Ismailism in 12th century Yemen: R. Nethanel ben al- Fayyuimi, JQR, LXXIV (1984), pp. 249-266. Klayman Eliot, Medieval Jewish messianism: Islamic influence or confluence?, Kesher 16 (2003) 136-145 page 3 / 5
Kraemer J. L., On Maimonides Messianic Posture, Studies in: I. Twerski (ed.), Medieval Jewish History and Literature, II, Cambridge and London 1984, pp. 109-142 Kraemer J. L., The Andalusian Mystic Ibn Hud and the Conversion of the Jews, IOS XII (1992), pp. 109-142. Lobel Diana l, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue: Philosophy and Mysticism in Bahya ibn Paqudas Duties of the Hearts, Philadelphia 2007. Lobel, Diana Between Mysticism and Philosophy: Sufi Language of Religious Experience in Judah Halevis Kuzari, New York 2000. Russ-Fishbane, Elisha, Judaism, Sufism, and the Pietists of Medieval Egypt; A Study of Abraham Maimonides and His Times, Oxford, 2015, pp. 9-37. Samau`al al-maghribi, Ifham al-yahud- Silencing the Jews, M. Perlman (ed. &translator), PAAJR XXXII (1964). Sviri Sara, Spiritual Trends in pre-kabbalistic Judeo Spanish Literature: The Cases of Bahya Ibn Paquda and Judah Halevi, Donaire 6 (1996), pp. 78-84. Sharot Stephen, Messianism, Mysticism, and Magic: a Sociological Analysis of Jewish Religious Movements, Jewish Journal of Sociology 26, 1 (1984) 70-73 Sharot Stephen, Jewish Millenarism: a comparison of Medieval Communities, Comparative Studies in Society and History 22,3 (1980) 394-415 Additional Reading Material: Cohn Norman, The Pursuit of the Millennium, New York 1970. Dienstag J. I., Eschatology in Maimonidean Thought, New York 1983. Fenton Paul, A Pietist Letter from the Geniza, Hebrew Annual Review 9 (1985), pp. 159-167. Fishbane, M. Midrash and Messianism: Some Theologies of Suffering and Salvation, in: P. Schaefer and M. Cohen (eds.), Toward the Millennium- Messianic Expectations from Bible to Waco, Leiden 1998, pp. 55-71 Fishbane M., The Kiss of God- Spiritual and Mystical Death in Judaism, Seattle and London 1994. Goldish Matt D., New Approaches to Jewish messianism, AJS Review 25,1 (2000-2001) 71-83 Greisiger Lutz, Apocalypticism, Millenarism, and Messianism, The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions (2015) 272-294 Hollenback Byron Jess, Mysticism: Experience, Response and Empowerment, Pennsylvania 1996, pp. 1-130 Kaplan L., Maimonides on the Miraclous Element in Prophecy, Harvard Theological Review, LXX (1977), pp. 233-256. Kellner M., Jews and their Messiahs, JQR, CLV (1994), pp. 7-13 page 4 / 5
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) Lowy Michael, Walter Benjamin and Franz Rozenzweug: messianism against `progress`, Faith, Truth, and Reason (2012) 373-390 Marcus Joel, Modern and Ancient Jewish apocalypticism, Journal of Religion 76,1 (1996) 1-27 Morris C., The Discovery of the Individual, pp. 148-152. Ohana David, J. L. Talmon, Gershom Scholem and the price of Messianism, History of European Ideas 34,2 (2008) 169-188 Saperstein Marc, A `ritual dance of distruction`?, Jewish Quarterly Review 90,1-2 (1999) 151-158 Shaffir William, When prophecy is not validated: explaining the unexpected in a messianic campaign, Jewish Journal of Sociology 37,2 (1995) 119-136 Stroumsa Sarah, 12th Century Concepts of Soul and Body: The Maimonidean Controversy in Baghdad, in: A. I Baumgarten, L. Assmann, GG. Stroumsa (eds.), Self Soul and Body in Religious Experience, Leiden 1998, pp. 141-163. Werblowski Z. W., Messianism in Jewish History, H. H. Ben Sasson and Shmuel Ettinger (eds.), Jewish Society through the Ages, New York 1971, pp. 30-45. Course/Module evaluation: End of year written/oral examination 0 % Presentation 0 % Participation in Tutorials 10 % Project work 90 % Assignments 0 % Reports 0 % Research project 0 % Quizzes 0 % Other 0 % Additional information: Changes may occur in the lessons'order and content. page 5 / 5