Topics in Jewish Civilization: Readings of Genesis Stories
Fall 2009
Hebrew 371; Jewish Studies 371; Religious Studies 400
M/W/F, 11:00 – 11:50; Social Science 6112

Lecturer: Wendy Widder
Office hours/location: M/W 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., Van Hise 1352                        
Phone number: (608) 263-2835
Email: wwidder@wisc.edu

Course Description
Adam and Eve and a talking serpent; the Great Flood and a floating zoo; Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac; Jacob’s tantalizing stew that changed the course of nations; Joseph and the amazing technicolor dreamcoat. The book of Genesis has captivated imaginations for millennia, in part because of the powerful nature of its storytelling, in part because it contains foundational stories of major world religions, and in part because it provides some ancient answers for timeless questions of humanity: Who are we? Where did we come from? Why are we here? Why is there evil in the world? Genesis is a collection of stories of beginnings: the world’s, mankind’s, and Israel’s. These stories helped define Israel as a people, rooting them in the past and speaking to their future.
This course is a study of key stories in Genesis from a literary perspective. The course places the book in its ancient Near Eastern context, but focuses on studying the stories as the book itself tells them. To a lesser extent, it considers some ways in which these stories have been interpreted in Judaism and Christianity; it gives particular attention to understanding these interpretations within their own unique contexts.

Goals and Objectives

• Primary goal: To learn how to read the book of Genesis critically, thoughtfully, and with appreciation for the ancient context in which it was produced.
• Secondary goals that fall within the purview of this goal:
• To learn the basic structure and storyline of Genesis
• To understand the place of Genesis in the Pentateuch and its significance in the rest of the Hebrew Bible
• To gain familiarity with the book’s compositional history
• To recognize literary conventions of Biblical Hebrew narrative
• To learn some ways in which the book has been interpreted in Jewish and Christian traditions and to respect the variety of interpretative methods in their particular historical contexts

 
These goals will be met in the following ways:

• Classroom lecture and discussion – Class instruction is designed to highlight elements of each story, the composition of Genesis, the history of interpretation, and the like. It is also designed to foster reflection on key issues in the texts. Student participation is crucial in this process.
• Classroom exercises – We will conduct some careful participatory reading exercises in class to enable students to learn to make observations and interpretive decisions.
• Readings – Each class period has assigned readings that are designed to (1) focus on the text itself and/or (2) highlight a particular interpretation or tradition.
• Story assignments  – There are nineteen written assignments designed to help students interact with the material in a careful way before coming to class.

 
Required Texts:

• Bible. You need to have a hard copy of the entire Hebrew Bible with you in class and it must be the NJPS version: JPS TANAKH 1985, The TANAKH, a new translation (into contemporary English) of The Holy Scriptures according to the traditional Hebrew text (Masoretic). © 1985 by The Jewish Publication Society.
• The Bible As It Wasby James L. Kugel (Belnap Press of Harvard University, 1999)
• Course Reader available through Learn@UW. I expect you to bring printed copies to class.

Recommended Texts: You will find a good commentary helpful for understanding cultural issues. The Cambridge Bible Commentary is very readable, but your best deal is to buy the older edition(s) (see below). The series was rereleased in 2008, but the new edition is quite pricey.

• Genesis 1–11 (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament) by Robert Davidson (Paperback, 1973)
• Genesis 12–50 (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament) by Robert Davidson (Paperback, 1979)

Assignments/Grading:

• Participation in class (20%). This class is designed to be interactive. Your classroom participation in discussion about the assigned readings and related issues is therefore a key component in your grade. I expect that you will come to class on time and stay through the session. More than two absences will negatively affect your grade. Students who participate in university activities (e.g., sports) which require them to miss class must make arrangements with the professor before they miss class. Out of respect for me and your classmates, please refrain from any behavior that might be distracting during class (e.g., make sure your phone is turned off and put away; don’t IM, surf, or email during class, etc.).
• Story assignments (30%). There will be nineteen short assignments during the semester, one for each story we cover. These will include questions to help you interact with the appropriate story in time for our classroom discussion. Assignments will be available in the “Content” section of Learn@UW. Please submit them (in MicroSoft Word electronic format) to the Learn@UW “dropbox” by 10:00 a.m. on the day they are due. Late worksheets are not accepted, because assignments will be discussed in class on the day they are due. Worksheets cannot be made up, but I will not count against you worksheets missed because of a documented emergency (hospitalization, funeral, etc.). When I grade the assignments, I do not expect you, necessarily, to have all the right answers, but I do expect that you have given a good-faith effort. I will drop your lowest worksheet grade—so you are allowed one “skip”; or you may accumulate extra credit by turning them all in.
• You may substitute attendance at one lecture from the Center for Jewish Studies in place of a worksheet. Write a one page (typed) summary of the lecture followed by one paragraph discussing your personal response to it. The summary is due one week after the lecture.
• Thursday, Sept 24 - 7 pm - Pyle Center. “Reflections on My Research Among the Ethiopian Jews”; Prof Kay Kaufman Shelemay
• Thursday, Oct 15 - 7 pm - Chazen Museum of Art. “‘The Jews Kindled this War in the Interest of Zionism’: Nazi Germany’s Propaganda to Arabs and Muslims during World War II and the Holocaust”; Prof Jeffrey Herf
• Wednesday, Oct 28 - 7 pm - Pyle Center. “Reintroduction of Endangered and Extinct Animal and Bird Species to Israel”; Avi Lourie
• Tuesday, Nov 10 - 7 pm – Grainger Hall. “The Mantic Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East”; Prof Leo G. Perdue
• Exams (50%). The midterm (25%) is Wednesday, October 14; the final (25%) is Monday, December 21 (12:25 p.m.) You must come to the exam the day it is given. Missed exams may only be made up in the case of a documented emergency (e.g., hospitalization, funeral, etc.).

Grading Scale:
100–92 = A
91–89 = AB
88–82 = B
81–79 = BC
78–70 = C
69–60 = D

Integrity: Violations of standards for academic honesty are subject to academic sanctions: e.g.,  cheating on exams, submitting collaborative and/or others’ work as one’s own, falsifying course work, stealing examinations or course materials, submitting work previously submitted in another course (unless specifically approved by the instructor), falsifying documents or signing an instructor’s or administrator’s name to any document or form, or aiding another student in any of these actions. Cheating on exams or assignments will be dealt with under University of Wisconsin System Administrative code, chapter 14. For more information see http://www.wisc.edu/students/saja/misconduct/UWS14.html.

Schedule: N.B. The schedule is subject to change (with due notice).

Course Packet Listing – in order of assigned readings:

• “The Techniques of Repetition,” pp88–113 in Robert Alter (1981). The Art of Biblical Narrative. New York: Basic Books.
• Proverbs 8:22–31
• Genesis Rabbah, marked sections of pp1–14. Genesis (1961). Edited by H. Freedman and M. Simon. Third impression. Vol. 1, Midrash Rabbah: Translated into the English with notes, glossary and indices. London: The Soncino Press. [NB: All Genesis Rabbah readings are in the same PDF file.]
• Creation story summaries
• “Cosmology and Cosmogony,” pp179–199 in John H. Walton (2006). Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker.
• “The Plot,” pp 91–140 in Shimon Bar-Efrat (2004). Narrative Art in the Bible. London: T & T Clark.
• “The Sin of the Tree of Knowledge,” pp125–136 in Chaim Navon (2008). Genesis and Jewish Thought. Translated by D. Strauss. Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Publishing House.
• Romans 5:12–21; 1 Corinthians 15:12–58 – New Testament (nasb).
• “Other Readings and Additional Notes for Cain & Abel,” pp157–169 in James L. Kugel (1998). Traditions of the Bible : A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
• J/P Flood narrative sections, pp25–28, 95–97, 211–23 in A. F. Campbell and M. A. O'Brien (1993). Sources of the Pentateuch : Texts, Introductions, Annotations. Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press.
• “Coherence of the Flood Narrative” by Gordon J. Wenham (1978). Vetus Testamentum 28 (3): 336–48.
• “Point of View,” pp43–82 in Adele Berlin (1994). Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns.
• “The Tower of Babel,” pp201–212 in Navon (2008). Genesis and Jewish Thought.
• “Genesis Apocryphon,” pp232–34 in F. García Martínez and W. G. E. Watson (1994). The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated : The Qumran Texts in English. Second ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans.
• “Other Readings and Additional Notes for Abraham Journeys from Chaldea, ”pp258–274 in Kugel (1998). Traditions of the Bible.
• “Characterization in Biblical Narrative: David’s Wives” by Adele Berlin (1982). Journal for the Study of the Old Testament (23): 69–85.
• “Time and Space,” pp141–96 in Bar-Efrat (2004). Narrative Art in the Bible.
• Rashi on Genesis 22, pp93–97 in Genesis (1970z). Translated by M. Rosenbaum, A. M. Silberman, in collaboration with A. Blashki and L. Joseph, Pentateuch with Targum Onkelos, Hapthtaroth, and Rashi's commentary. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. [NB: All Rashi readings are in the same PDF file.]
• Genesis Rabbah, chapter LV–LVI, pp482–503. Genesis (1961).
• Rashi on Genesis 25 and 27, pp114–17 and 122–29 in Genesis (1970z).
• “Other Readings and Additional Notes for Jacob and the Angel,” pp390–401 Kugel (1998). Traditions of the Bible.
• Genesis 32 (Ancient Christian Commentary), pp218–24 in M. Sheridan (2002). Genesis 12–50. Edited by T. C. Oden. Vol. 2, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity.
• Genesis 37 (Ancient Christian Commentary), pp229–42 in M. Sheridan (2002).
• Jubilees 33:1–20, in O. S. Wintermute (1985). The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Volume 2. Expansions of the “Old Testament” and legends, wisdom and philosophical literature, prayers, psalms, and odes, fragments of lost Judeo-Hellenistic works, edited by J. H. Charlesworth. New York: Doubleday.
• Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, pp782–85 in H. C. Kee (1983). The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Volume 1. Apocalyptic literature and testaments, edited by J. H. Charlesworth. New York: Doubleday.
• “Reuben Not Guilty,” pp485–86 in Kugel (1998), Traditions of the Bible.
• Rashi on Genesis 35 and 49, pp172, 243 in Genesis (1970z).

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Latest revision date: 8/31/2009)

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