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Introduction to
Judaism
Hebrew and Semitic Studies 211 / Jewish Studies 211 / Religious Studies
211
Fall 2006
Tuesday – Thursday 1:00 – 2:15 PM
Social Science 5206
(Plus Discussion Sections, which are at other times and locations)
Instructor: Israel M. Sandman
Office: 1340 Van Hise Hall
Office Telephone: 262-9553
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30 – 4:30 PM and by appointment
Email: sandman@wisc.edu
Course Description:
The goal of this introductory course is for you to gain a meaningful
snapshot of Jewish concepts, sources, observances, history and life. In
addition to its intrinsic worth, this introduction should facilitate
your further study on a nuanced level (if you so desire).
“Judaism” is difficult to define. It is not exclusively a religion, an
ancestral group, a nationality, or an ethnicity. Rather, it is a
civilization that combines all of these parts and more into a whole
that remains greater than its parts. In this course we shall examine
Jewish civilization from the perspective of religion. Here “religion”
is understood not in the mere sense of rituals performed on special
occasions. Rather, it is understood in the sense of a formalized,
all-embracing system of living — indeed, of being — in which everything
stands in relation to the transcendent.
Through our first 13 meetings, we shall explore many of the most
fundamental aspects of Judaism as put forth in Judaism’s scriptures
(known as the TaNaKh [available at the University Book Store], Hebrew
Bible, Jewish scriptural canon, Old Testament, etc.). These fundamental
aspects include G-d, creation, humanity, gender, sin and virtue,
personal autonomy, covenant, sacred time, sacred space, revelation,
everyday rituals, everyday life, and the creation of virtuous society.
From the fourteenth meeting and onward, we shall move forward from the
biblical period, following the further development of the old and the
emergence of the new, traversing late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and
the modern age, finally ending up in the contemporary era. Well in
advance of the fourteenth meeting, the primary texts for the
post-biblical eras shall be made available in a course packet (details
to follow).
To help you synthesize the information presented in the biblical and
other primary sources, I have assigned secondary readings in Louis
Jacobs’ reference work The Jewish Religion: a companion (available at
the University Book Store).
In addition to analyzing texts, when relevant the lectures will
incorporate audio-visual presentations and artifact examination.
Required Texts:
1) JPS Tanakh (= Bible), either all English, or Hebrew–English
(Both JPS versions are available at the University Book Store. If you
already own another academic translation, that will suffice. However,
please approve that translation with the instructor or with one of the
teaching assistants.)
YOUR TANAKH SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO EACH LECTURE AND TO EACH DISCUSSION
SECTION SESSION.
2) Jacobs, Louis. The Jewish Religion: a companion. Oxford
University Press. 1995
(Available at the University Book Store)
3) Course Packet.
(Not needed until the 14th meeting. Nearer to the time, you will be
told where to get it.)
FROM THE 14TH MEETING AND ONWARD, YOUR COURSE PACKET SHOULD BE BROUGHT
TO EACH LECTURE AND TO EACH DISCUSSION SECTION SESSION.
Course Requirements:
Syllabus:
During the course of the semester, the syllabus may be modified, and
handouts may be added. Any modifications / additions will be announced
/ distributed either in class, or by email (to your “wisc” address), or
in both ways. You are responsible to be aware of any such modifications
/ additions.
Lectures: The lectures will provide background and context for the
assigned readings, will sometimes include audio-visual and artifact
presentations, will address the meanings of difficult passages, and
will model the sort of textual analysis that should become part of your
academic work. Students are responsible for all material presented in
the lectures.
Discussion Sections: Attendance is mandatory. While you will be allowed
a maximum of three absences before loosing grade points, you will
nevertheless be held responsible for material covered in any discussion
section sessions that you miss. The discussion section heads will have
their own additional requirements for you.
Participation: You will be expected to actively participate in the
discussion section sessions. If you do the assigned readings, answer
the homework questions, and attend the lectures, you should be fully
prepared to participate in your discussion section.
Readings: You should complete all required primary and secondary
readings before class. Only by doing the reading will you be able to do
your homework, intelligently follow the lectures, and participate in
your discussion section.
Homework: Homework completion is required. Homework must be submitted
at the beginning of every discussion section session. Late Homework
will not be accepted. The homework consists of simply answering several
sentences to a couple of questions about the assigned readings. TAKE A
SECOND COPY OF YOUR HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE DISCUSSION SECTION, TO USE
AS REFERENCE WHEN YOU ARE CALLED ON. While you will be allowed to miss
a maximum of three homework assignments before loosing grade points,
you will nevertheless be held responsible for material covered in any
assignments that you miss. If you do not miss any homework assignments,
your lowest three homework grades will not be counted.
Coordination of Lectures, Discussion Sections, and Homework: At your
discussion section, you will be responsible to hand in answers to the
questions relevant to the two lectures that preceded the day of your
discussion. For example, if your section is on Monday, you will have to
submit answers to the questions relevant to the lectures given on the
preceding Thursday and Tuesday. If your section is on Thursday, you
will have to submit answers to the questions relevant to the lectures
given on the preceding Tuesday and Thursday.
Discussion Sections Cancelled on Yom Kippur, Monday October 2: Homework
answers should be submitted to your section leader in class on Tuesday
October 3.
Exams and Essay: The two exams and the essay will be based upon all
aspects of the course, including the primary and secondary readings,
lectures, homework, and Discussion Section sessions. Previous or
outside knowledge of Judaism will not be accepted as a substitute for
the approach and analysis employed in this course. This means that for
your answers to be considered correct, they must address the modes of
analysis and the substance introduced in all aspects of this course.
First In-Class Exam: During class time, October 5th. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Take-Home Essay: Due in hard copy at the beginning of the 20th lecture,
November 9th, 1:00 PM. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Final Exam: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 10:05 AM – 12:05 PM. (Note that the
day of the week and the time of day differ from the time of regular
class.) NO EXCEPTIONS.
Study Suggestion:
Your grasp of the material will be enhanced immeasurably if, in
addition to studying alone, you further prepare the texts in pairs or
groups, discussing and debating the texts’ meanings and implications.
Note, however, that you must answer your homework questions and write
your take-home essay on your own.
Grading Distribution:
Discussion Section: 10%
Homework: 10%
First In-Class exam: 25%
Take-Home Essay: 25%
Final Exam: 30%
Academic Integrity and Etiquette:
Punctuality: Late arrival and early departure disturb class. They are
unacceptable and are cause for the loss of grade points.
Honesty: Cheating and Plagiarism are serious injustices, and will be
dealt with according to University rules, which contain a provision for
failing the perpetrating student for the entire course.
Extreme Circumstances: Any foreseen extreme circumstances must be
brought to my attention in advance.
No Distractions:
Cell phones turned off; no talking; no reading of outside material; no
meals; no noisy wrappers; no elaborate food or drink; no MP3 (I-Pod)
listening.
Note: the entries below are organized as follows:
Meeting number; (date); Topic; (Primary Sources); (in Jacobs: The
Jewish Religion)
If an entire entry in Jacobs’ The Jewish Religion: a companion is
assigned, then the entry’s name will be listed simply; if only part of
an entry is assigned, then the entry’s name may be followed by page
number, column a or b, or top / middle / bottom of the column. For
example, “‘Bible,” 50a, 51b second half – 52’ means that in the entry
on “Bible,” you need read only the first column (= a) of page 50, as
well as the material from the second half of page 51 column two (= b)
through page 52.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 (9/5) Creation of the World, Humankind, and Gender (Genesis 1:1 -
2:8; 5:1 – 5)
2 (9/7) Personal Freedom, Gender, Sin / Good & Evil (Genesis 2:9 –
4:15) (Jacobs: “Bible,” 50a, 51b second half – 52; “Biblical
Criticism”; “Deuteronomy, Book of,” subsection “Does it Matter?,” p.
122; “Adam and Eve,” last paragraph on p. 14)
3 (9/12) Human Condition, Society and Covenant (Genesis 4:16 – 17; 6;
8:15 – 9 [entire]; 11:1-9)
4 (9/14) Israel: Choosing of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 12:1 – 9, 14 –
18; 15 – 17; 22; 24:32 – end) (in Jacobs: “Matriarchs”; “Patriarchs”;
“Circumcision,” first paragraph of entry.)
5 (9/19) Israel: Choosing of Jacob; Moses and Exodus (Genesis 25:19 –
end; 28:11 – end; Exodus 1:1 – 12; 3:1 – 10; Deuteronomy 26:1 – 10) (in
Jacobs: “Moses”)
6 (9/21) The Upward Spiral: Sacred Time in the Year-Cycle and in
History (Artifacts: shofar; matzah) (Exodus 34:11 – 26; Leviticus 23;
Numbers 28:11; Isaiah 2:1 – 4; 11 [entire]; 12 [entire]; 66:22 – 23)
(in Jacobs: “Festivals”; “Sabbath,” beginning of entry – top of p.
435a; “Calendar,” beginning of entry – 62b bottom; “Rosh Hodesh”; “Rosh
Ha-Shana”; “Shofar,” 465a, top of 466a; “Yom Kippur,” beginning of
entry – middle of 614b; “Tabernacles”; “Sukkah”; “Passover”; “Hametz”;
“Matzah”; “Shavuot”)
7 (9/26) Sacred Space: Holy Land, Holy Temple (fused with Sacred Time)
(Deuteronomy 11:10 – 12; 12:1 – 14; Daniel 6:1 – 12; Exodus 25:1 – 9;
26:31 – end; Leviticus 16) (in Jacobs: “Holy Places,” beginning of
entry – middle of 249a; “Temple,” beginning of entry – 542a)
8 (9/28) Covenant, Revelation, and Repentance (Exodus 19:1 – 11; 20:1 –
15; 24:12 – 18; 31:18 – 34:10; Leviticus 26:3 – 18, 36 – end) (in
Jacobs: “Decalogue”, beginning of entry – bottom of 118a; “Mitzvah”)
9 (10/3) Sacred Every-day Living, Part 1: Ritual; Study / Education
(Artifacts: mezuzah; tephillin; tallit) (Deuteronomy 6:4 – 9; Numbers
15:37 – 41; Deuteronomy 4:1 – 15; Joshua 1:1 –9; Nehemiah 7:72b – 8:8)
(in Jacobs: “Mezuzah,” beginning of entry – middle of 344b; “Tefillin,”
beginning of entry – 2/3 of the way down p. 538b; “Tzitzit,” first
paragraph and last sentence of second paragraph; “Tallit”; “Study,”
beginning of entry – middle of 490a)
10 (10/5) IN-CLASS EXAM
11 (10/10) Sacred Every-day Living, Part 2: Civil Law; Food; Finance;
Relations Social and Sexual (Exodus 22:24 – 23:19; Leviticus 11:1 – 28;
Daniel 1; Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-19; Leviticus 18; Deuteronomy 24:1 – 5)
(in Jacobs: “Dietary Laws,” beginning of entry – top 1/3 of 126b;
“Divorce”; “Homosexuality”) (Artifact: lulav)
Please Note: This week’s Discussion Sections are in a different
location: the Chabad Synagogue / Sukkah, 1722 Regent Street (West of
Camp Randall Stadium)
12 (10/12) Creating a Virtuous Society: the Struggle to Implement
Monotheism & Torah (I Samuel 7; I Kings 16:29 – 17:1; 18:1 – 39; II
Kings 22:1 – 23:25; Jeremiah 18:13 – 17; Nehemiah 8:13 – 10:34; 13:14 –
22)
Please Note: This week’s Discussion Sections are in a different
location: the Chabad Synagogue / Sukkah, 1722 Regent Street (West of
Camp Randall Stadium)
13 (10/17) Biblical Understandings of Monotheism (I Samuel 1 – 6;
Psalms 97; 139; Isaiah 40:12 – 31; 55: 6 – 13; Deuteronomy 4:9 – 24)
14 (10/19) Purity & Holiness (Leviticus 15; Deuteronomy 23:10 – 15;
The Damascus Document, “Community Regulations,” XII; Manual of
Discipline, “III – Rules of the Order,” selections; Mishna Yadayim 1:1
– 3; Mishna Hagiga 2:5 – 7; 10:12 – 11:1; Nahmanides’ Commentary to
Leviticus 19:2) (in Jacobs: “Mikveh”; “Mensturant”)
15 (10/24) Beyond this World, 1: Aging, Soul, Afterlife, Death,
Bereavement (Leviticus 19:32; Deuteronomy 28:49 – 51; 32:7; Job 12:12;
32:6 – 12; Ecclesiastes 12:1 – 7; Maimonides, Mishne Torah, Book of
Judges, “Laws of Mourning,” 1:1, 2:1, 4:1 – 4, 5:1, 6:1 & 7) (in
Jacobs: “Death and Burial”)
16 (10/26) Beyond this World, 2: Recompense in Afterlife, Messianic
Era, Resurrection (Midrash Tanhuma on Leviticus, no. 8; Isaiah 2:1 – 4;
11:1 – 12:6; Daniel 12:1 – 3) (in Jacobs: “World to Come,” beginning of
entry – middle of 600a; “Messiah,” beginning of entry – middle of 343a;
“Resurrection”)
17 (10/31) Synagogue, Liturgy, & Liturgical Cycle;
Post-Pentateuchal Festivals (Siddur, “Amidah”; Maimonides, Mishne
Torah, Book of Seasons, “Laws of the Scroll and Hanukkah,” Ch. 3:1 – 3;
ibid. “Laws of Fasts,” 1:1 – 4; 5:1 – beginning of 5; 5:19) (in Jacobs:
“Liturgy”; “Minyan”; “Eighteen Benedictions”; “Reading of the Torah”;
“Synagogue,” beginning of entry – middle of 512b, bottom of 513b –
514b; “Purim”; “Maimonides”)
18 (11/2) Midrash: Classical Rabbinic Understandings of Monotheism (Y.
Liebes, “De Natura D-ei,” section II, p. 9 – bottom p. 24)
19 (11/7) Women in Classical Rabbinic Judaism (Mishna Sotah, 3:4; Z.
Kaplan, “Beruryah,” Encyclopedia Judaica; Ch. Henkin, “Women and the
issuing of Halakhic Rulings,” beginning – 2/3 of the way down p. 285,
in Jewish Legal writings by Women, ed. M. Halpern and Ch. Safrai) (in
Jacobs: “Halakhah,” beginning of entry – top 1/3 of 211b; “Ketubah”;
“Women”)
20 (11/9) Gentiles, Universalism / Particularism, Conversion (Exodus
19:5 – 6, with the commentaries of Rashi (France, 1040 — 1105) and
Seforno (Italy, c. 1470 – c. 1550); Deuteronomy 7:1 – 8; Ethics of the
Fathers 3:15; Maimonides, Book of Judges, “Laws of Kings and their
Wars,” Chapters 8:10 – 9:1 [first half]; Leviticus 19:33 – 34; Numbers
15:15 – 16; Ruth 1:1 – 19a; Maimonides, Book of Holiness, “Laws of
Forbidden Sexual Relations,” Chapters 12:17, 13:1 – 7, 14 – end, 14:1 –
8) (in Jacobs: “Rashi”)
21 (11/14) [TAKE-HOME ESSAY DUE — IN HARD COPY — AT THE BEGINNING OF
CLASS] Talmudical Literary Unit (extract); Responsum (extract); (in
Jacobs: “Mishnah”; “Tannaim and Amoraim”; “Talmud,” beginning of entry
– middle 528a, and subsection on p. 532a “Commentaries to the Talmud”;
“Responsa”; “Yeshiva”)
22 (11/16) Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Saadya, Book of Beliefs and
Opinions, Treatise VII, Ch. II; Maimonides, Commentary to the Mishna,
Tractate Sanhedrin, “Introduction to Chapter 10,” selection [3 groups
with regard to interpreting the Sages’ statements — Twersky, Maimonides
Reader, pp. 407 – 410]; and Mishne Torah, Book of Knowledge,
“Foundations of the Torah,” Chapter 1 [entire] and Chapter 2:1 – 2) (in
Jacobs: “Philosophy,” beginning of entry – top of 378a; “G-d,” bottom
of 190a – top of 190b: “The cosmological argument … Shakespeare”;
“Saadiah Gaon”)
23 (11/21) Kabbalah (Tiqqune Zohar, second preface; E. K. Ginsburg, The
Sabbath in the Classical Kabbalah, pp. 113 – 114) (in Jacobs: “G-d,”
subsection “Transcendence and Immanence,” pp. 192 – 193; “Sefirot,”
beginning of entry – middle 451a; “Shekhinah,” subsection “The
Shekhinah in the Kabbalah,” p. 460; “Sabbath,” subsection “The Sabbath
in the Kabbalah,” bottom 435b – 436a; “Lekhah Dodi”)
[Thanksgiving: no class 11/23]
24 (11/28) Hasidism (Tanya, Part II, Chapters 2 & 3 [selections],
pp. 289b, 291a, 293a – top of column b; Your Word is Fire, pp. 64, 82,
102; Idel, “Mystical Union in Jewish Mysticism,” Mystical Union in
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, M. Idel and B. McGinn, eds., middle
p. 40 – top p. 41; Your Word is Fire, p. 102; “The Losing of the King’s
Daughter,” in Beggars and Prayers: Adin Steinsaltz Retells the Tales of
Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav) (in Jacobs: “Panentheism”; “Hasidism”;
“Devekut”; “Annihilation, of Selfhood”; “Holy Sparks,” beginning of
entry – top 250b, middle of 251a; “Sublimation,” bottom of p. 493b,
494b – top of 495a; “Habad”; “Nahman of Bratslav”; “Zaddik”)
25 (11/30) Modernity and Jewish Self-Identity (Packet readings: Western
European Enlightenment; Assimilation; Reform [Pittsburgh Platform of
1885, selections] / Neo-Orthodoxy; Eastern European Haskalah) (in
Jacobs: “Ghetto”; “Emancipation”; “Reform”; “Orthodox Judaism,”
beginning of entry – bottom of 371a, top of 372a, subsection
“Neo-Orthodoxy”; “Haskalah”)
26 (12/5) The Confounding of Assimilationist Aspirations: Suffering,
Holocaust (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 5a [chastenings of love]; Job
1:6 – 2:10; 38:1 – 4; J. B. Soloveitchik, Out of the Whirlwind, “Out of
the Whirlwind,” pp. 128 – 129; Jerusalem Talmud, Sota, end of 5:5
[death of R. Akiba]; Isaiah 52:13 – 53 entire; E. Berkovitz, Faith
After the Holocaust, pp. 82 – 85, bottom 104 – 107; Hasidic Tales of
the Holocaust, “The Spirit Alone,” “The Ritual Bath” [pp. 160 – 161])
(in Jacobs: “Anti-Semitism”; “Holocaust”; “Suffering”; “Suffering
Servant”)
27 (12/7) Jewish Nationalism: (Packet: readings from Ahad Ha-Am, A. D.
Gordon, and Rav Kook); Perspectives on the Modern Return to Zion:
(Classical Rabbinic Tension Regarding Preemptive Return: Song of Songs
Rabbah II:7 vs. VI:10; Religious Zionist View: J. B. Soloveitchik, “The
Voice of My Beloved Knocks”) (in Jacobs: “Zionism”; “Ahad Ha-Am”;
“Kook, Abraham Isaac”)
28 (12/12) Women in Contemporary Judaism (readings in Packet) (in
Jacobs: “Feminism”)
29 (12/14) Post-Assimilationist American Judaism (readings in Packet)
(in Jacobs: “Baal Teshuvah”)
Final (Friday, 12/22, 10:05 AM – 12:05 PM)