Jewish Cultural History

Hebrew/Jewish/Religious Studies 377                                                                        Dr. John A. Cook

University of Wisconsin – Madison                                                                         1340 Van Hise Hall

Lecture: TR 1:00–2:15, 145 Birge                                                              E-mail: johncook@wisc.edu

Spring 2005                                                                   Office hours: TR 2:30–3:30 or by appointment

Course description and goals

This course focuses on the political, social, and religious history of the Jews from the times of Biblical origins through the early Medieval period (to about 1000 CE).  Through lectures, readings, and discussion, students will gain an understanding of how Jewish cultural identity originated and developed through contact with other cultures.

Requirements and grading

1.          Regular attendence, completion of the assigned readings, and engagement in class are all expected and considered essential aspects of the course.

2.          Participation in a discussion section is required (15%).  Discussion section TAs will provide additional guidelines.

3.          Two in-class exams: a mid-term (20%) on R March 3^rd and a final (25%) on Sun. May 8, 12:25.

4.          Two short essays (20%) on topics provided in advance; the first is due R Feb. 24^th, and the second is due R April 21 (1000–1500 words each).

5.          Three movie reaction papers (20%) to one of the four parts of The Kingdom of David: The Saga of the Israelites we will watch in class (750–1000 words each).

            Policy regarding late papers:

If you hand in a paper up to one class session late, the grade will be reduced a full letter (A to B, AB to BC, etc.).

After that, and until the final exam, you can hand in late papers, but the grade will be reduced two full letters (A to C, AB to D, B to D, and lower grades will be an F).

University policies on plagiarism and cheating can be found at http://www.wisc.edu/students/conduct01.htm

Course resources

Textbooks (available at the University Bookstore)

Seltzer, Robert M. 1980. Jewish People, Jewish Thought : the Jewish Experience in History. New York: Prentice Hall.

Schiffman, Lawrence H. 1998. Texts and Traditions : A Source Reader for the Study of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Hoboken, NJ: KTAV.

Marcus, Jacob Rader, and Marc Saperstein. 1999. The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book, 315-1791. Rev. ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: Hebrew Union College Press.

Course Reader Abbreviated CR in course schedule (available from Bob’s Copy Shop)

Reserve Readings (in Helen C. White library)

Barnavi, Elie, Miriam Eliav-Feldon, and Denis Charbit. 1992. A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People : From the Time of the Patriarchs to the Present. New York: Schocken Books.

Chazan, Robert. 1980. Church, State, and Jew in the Middle Ages. Library of Jewish studies. New York: Behrman House.

Holtz, Barry W., ed. 1984. Back to the Sources:  Reading the Classic Jewish Texts. New York: Simon & Schuster.

De Lange, N. R. M. 1986. Judaism. New York: Oxford University Press.

                                                                Course Schedule

                                                    (subject to change with due notice)

                         The Israelites in the Ancient near East (2^nd millenium–586 BCE)

WEEK 1

T Jan. 18:         Introduction to the course: textbook, requirements, etc.

                                    Introduction to Jewish cultural history: terminology, periodization, etc.

                                    Reading: Seltzer 7–12, 43–46; CR 3

R Jan. 20          Ancient Near Eastern context of Israelite culture

                                    Reading: Seltzer 12–15

WEEK 2

T Jan. 25          Biblical heritage I: biblical narrative

                                    Reading: Seltzer 15–17, 47–66; Schiffman 11–29; CR 5–9

R Jan. 27          Biblical heritage II: revelation and law

                                    Reading: Seltzer 66–77; Schiffman 29–39; CR 11–13

WEEK 3

T Feb. 1           Israel’s emergence and establishment in the land

                                    Reading: Seltzer 17–24; Schiffman 39–43

R Feb. 3           Israel’s monarchy

                                    Reading: Seltzer 24–32; Schiffman 43–50

WEEK 4

T Feb. 8           Classical prophetic literature

                                    Reading: Seltzer 77–111; Schiffman 50–56

R Feb. 10         Babylonian exile

                                    Reading: Seltzer 32–34, 119–26; Schiffman 56–59

WEEK 5

T Feb. 15         Movie: Part I – By the Rivers of Babylon

                                Jews and Judaism in the Persian Period (539–332 BCE)

R Feb. 17         Origins of Judaism in Persian Yehud

                                    Reading: Seltzer 112–117, 126–31; Schiffman 70–73, 80–96, 109–20

                                    Due: Movie reaction paper to Part I – By the Rivers of Babylon

WEEK 6

T Feb. 22         Post-exilic literature

                                    Reading: Seltzer 131–43; Schiffman 59–64

                           Jewish Culture and Hellenistic (Greek) Culture (332–63 BCE)

R Feb. 24         Hellenism in Judea

                                    Reading: Seltzer 117–19, 155–62, 171–78; Schiffman 134–38; 147–69

                                    Due: Short Essay #1

WEEK 7

T Mar. 1          Jewish Hellenistic literature

                                    Reading: Seltzer 143–55; Schiffman 306–10, 330–36

R Mar. 3          MIDTERM EXAM

WEEK 8

T Mar. 8          Movie: Part II – The Book and the Sword

R Mar. 10        Jewish life and thought in the Hellenistic diaspora

                                    Reading: Seltzer 195–213; Schiffman 180–82, 199–203, 209–224

                                    Due: Movie reaction paper to Part II – The Book and the Sword

                                    Jewish Culture and Roman Rule (63 BCE–330 CE)

WEEK 9

T Mar. 15        Judea: the Hasmonean dynasty to the Roman-Jewish War (66–70 CE)

                                    Reading: Seltzer 178–94; Schiffman 235–66 (optional), 372–96, 434–38, 442–69

R Mar. 17        Movie: Part III – The End of Days

WEEK 10  SPRING BREAK: T March 22 and R March 24

WEEK 11

T Mar. 29        Relgious groups in Judean Judaism

                                    Reading: Selzter 213–24; Schiffman 266–99

                                    Due: Movie reaction paper to Part III – The End of Days

R Mar. 31        Jewish apocalyptic literature

                                    Reading: Seltzer 224–31; Schiffman 336–42, 354–56, 359–61

WEEK 12

T April 5          Jewish culture and the rise of Christianity

                                    Reading: Seltzer 231–42, 254–56; Schiffman 407–27, 565–68; Marcus 3–7

                                                  Rabbinic Judaism (ca. 70–630 CE)

R April 7          Rabbinic Judaism in Palestine and Babylon

                  Reading: Seltzer 243–60; Schiffman 491–94, 503–504, 508–514, 522–31, 603–604, 609–611

WEEK 13

T April 12        Rabbinic literature I: Oral law to the Mishnah

                                    Reading: Seltzer 260–65; Schiffman 509–31, 537–43

R April 14 Rabbinic literature II: the Mishnah to the Talmud

                                    Reading: Seltzer 270–78; Schiffman 604–17; CR 15–26

WEEK 14

T April 19        Rabbinic literature III: Midrash and other literature

                  Reading: Seltzer 267–70, 278–81; Schiffman 535–37, 547–49, 640–43, 650–56, 677–82

R April 21 Movie: Part IV – The Gifts of the Jews

                                    Due: Short Essay #2

                                       Jewish Culture among Islam (ca. 630–1000 CE)

WEEK 15

T April 26 Judaism at the Muslim conquest and under Muslim rule

                                    Reading: Seltzer 323–42; Marcus 14–16, 262–69; CR 45–65

                                    Due: Movie reaction paper to Part IV – The Gifts of the Jews

R April 28 Changes in Jewish culture through contact with Islam

                                    Reading: Seltzer 373–81; CR 67–83

WEEK 16

T May 3           Decentralization of Jewish intellectual authority; Muslim conquest of Iberia

                                    Reading: Seltzer 342–49; Marcus 335–39

R May 5           Review, a look ahead, and final remarks

                                                                Paper Guidelines

Reaction Papers

1.          Papers should be double-spaced, typed; 750–1000 words (approximately), equivalent to about 3–4 double-spaced typed pages.

2.          A reaction paper is just what its name suggests—a paper explaining your reaction.  It may be like a review, because it should include some degree of judgment or evaluation; it is also like a journal entry, since it is a personal reflection.

3.          Your paper should not be a stream of thought, but develop one primary idea or perception and support it with specific evidence.

4.          The papers will be graded according to the below criteria.

                                                   Reaction Paper Grading Criteria

1.          Organization (0 to 20 points) _____

a.    Is there a clear thesis statement that controls the direction of the paper and limits the scope of the ideas presented in it?

b.    Are the ideas presented in an orderly sequence that makes sense?

c.    Does the paper have an engaging introduction that invites further reading?

d.    Does the paper have a definite conclusion that draws the ideas together?

2.          Development  (0 to 60 points) _____

a.    Are the ideas explored adequately within the limits established by the thesis statement?

b.    Does the paper avoid excessive plot summary?

c.    Does the paper offer sufficient detail or enough examples drawn from the film itself to clarify major points and make them convincing?

d.    Is the paper’s language accurate and effective in making ideas and evidence clear?

e.    Does the length of the paper fall within the required range (750–1000 words)?

3.          Mechanics  (0 to 20 points) _____

a.    Does the paper demonstrate control over the essential elements of grammar?

b.    Are the sentences clear and smooth?

c.    Has the paper avoided major grammatical errors (such as sentence fragments, comma splices, fused or run-together sentences, subject-verb agreement errors, verb form errors)?

d.    Is the format of the paper consistent and readable (e.g., line spacing, margins, etc.)?

Short Essays

1.          Papers should be double-spaced, typed; 1000–1500 words (approximately), equivalent to 4–6 double-spaced typed pages.

2.          Short essays are examinations of a specific idea, event, person, etc.  Short essays should succintly cover the most important issues/facts about the topic, and should develop one primary idea, supporting it with specific evidence.

3.          Resources used in your research must be credited (use the Turabian or Chicago Manual of Style as a guideline for citation).

4.          The papers will be graded according to the below criteria.

                                                      Short Essay Grading Criteria

1.          Organization (0 to 20 points) _____

a.    Is there a clear thesis statement that controls the direction of the paper and limits the scope of the ideas presented in it?

b.    Are the ideas presented in an orderly sequence that makes sense?

c.    Does the paper have an engaging introduction that invites further reading?

d.    Does the paper have a definite conclusion that draws the ideas together?

2.          Development  (0 to 60 points) _____

a.    Are the ideas explored adequately within the limits established by the thesis statement?

b.    Does the paper offer sufficient detail or examples to clarify major points and make them convincing?

c.    Is the paper’s language accurate and effective in making ideas and evidence clear?

d.    Does the length of the paper fall within the required range (1000 – 1500 words)?

3.          Mechanics  (0 to 20 points) _____

a.    Does the paper demonstrate control over the essential elements of grammar?

b.    Are the sentences clear and smooth?

c.    Has the paper avoided major grammatical errors (such as sentence fragments, comma splices, fused or run-together sentences, subject-verb agreement errors, verb form errors)?

d.    Is the format of the paper consistent and readable (e.g., line spacing, margins, etc.)?

---