HOLY TIMES AND
PLACES IN RABBINIC LITERATURE
Hebrew Studies 446 Prof. Jonathan Schofer
Jewish Studies 446 1352 Van Hise Hall
Religious Studies 446 Tel: 263-2835
Email: jwschofer@wisc.edu
Spring 2005
Office
Hours: Tuesday
TuTh
Social Science 6112 and by appointment
Course Description:
Space and time are fundamental categories of human existence, for us and for cultures throughout history. This course will examine the ways that space and time were understood and made meaningful by the rabbis of Late Antiquity, whose thought and practice have shaped the religious life of Jews to the present day.
We will be reading primary sources that are quite difficult. The quantity of material is not large, but the texts demand close and detailed analyses. I will give out worksheets and short writing assignments on a regular basis. The payoff for our work will be a glimpse into a radically foreign and also very influential culture of religious elites.
If you have skills in reading rabbinic Hebrew and would like to study the texts in the original language, you can sign up for the discussion section.
Required Texts (books
are available at both the University
Bookstore and Underground Textbook Exchange):
1) A scholarly translation of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament
-- I will use the JPS version, which will be at the bookstore; if you have another scholarly version, you probably may use it, but check with me to make sure that it is appropriate.
2) Course Reader
(available at Bob's Copy Shop at
3) Heschel, The Sabbath
Please bring
your
readings and Bible to class every session!
Requirements and
Grading:
1. Attendance is mandatory.
2. Careful preparation of assigned texts and participation in class discussions are considered to be basic aspects the course. You are expected to be involved actively in class and draw upon your knowledge of the readings. More specifically, homework assignments and exam questions will be linked to class lectures and discussions.
2. Homework (20%) – Homework assignments will be due on February 10, February 24, April 7, and April 28, addressing readings, lectures, and discussions. No email submissions will be accepted.
This is the policy regarding late homework:
If you hand it in up to one class session late,
the grade
will be reduced half a letter (A to
If you hand it in between one session and one week 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 it in, 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).
This is the policy regarding plagiarism:
Cases of academic misconduct will be reported to the dean and dealt with according to University Policy on plagiarism (see www.wisc.edu/students/amsum.htm).
3. Midterm (30%) – An in-class midterm will be given on March 3. It will consist of identifications, short answers, and one essay.
4. Final Exam (50%) –
The take-home Final Exam will be an essay.
I will give you a choice of five or six questions/topics, and
you will
choose one. I will give you the
questions and more specific guidelines in the last week of class. It is due on Monday May 9 at
5. Your email address with the university must be current, or you should inform me of an appropriate one to add to the class email list. On a regular basis, I will send out worksheets by email to help you through the readings. Generally speaking, the worksheets are your guidelines in preparing for class. The lectures/discussions will build upon the worksheets, and homework and tests will be drawn from the worksheets and class sessions.
6. You may sign up for honors credit, which can be a very productive way of exploring your own interests in relation to the topics of the course. If you do so, it is your responsibility to talk with me and arrange your honors work (students who sign up for honors credit and do not do the work will receive a grade of "Q" at the end of the semester until the honors credit is dropped).
Schedule (note that the schedule is subject to change):
INTRODUCTION AND BASIC CONCEPTS
Introduction to the Course (Jan. 18)
Introduction to the Rabbis (Jan. 20)
Timelines, Maps, Glossary, Lists of Rabbis
Boyarin, Carnal Israel, xi, 16-18, 23-25
Neusner, "Rabbinic Judaism in Late Antiquity"
Rabbinic Understandings of Time:
Memory of the Past (Feb. 3)
Collingwood, The Idea of History, 1-13
Yerushalmi, Zakhor, 1-26
Recommended: Levi, "The
Memory of the Offense"
Rabbinic Understandings of Time:
Forgetting the Past (Feb.8)
Borges,
"Funes, His Memory"
Yerushalmi, Zakhor, 105-117
Mishnah Avot 1
(read with Exodus 19, Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1)
Homework Assignment Due Feb. 10
SACRED SPACE
Sacred Space: The
2 Kings
22-25
Ezekiel
40-48 (skim)
J.Z.
Smith, To
Ezra 1-6
Sacred Space and Momentous Times:
The Destruction of the
Conversations about the End of Time, ix-xii, 7-27, 171-183
Rubenstein, "Rabbinic
Authority and the Destruction of
-- this article concerns Babylonian Talmud Gittin 55b-58a;
-- read with Mishnah Gittin 5:6
The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, Chapter Four
Homework Assignment Due Feb. 24
Sacred Space: Synagogues (Feb. 22, 24)
Mishnah Megillah 3:1-3
Fine, This
pictures of Beit Alpha synagogue floor:
-- http://www.Israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0k470
pictures of synagogue floor at Hammat Tiberias
-- http://www.jhom.com/calendar/tishrei/art_shofar.html
-- http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/theology/institute/mediterranean/israel/
Sacred Space: The Body in the Margins (March 1)
Bachelard, Poetics
of Space,
136-147
Fine,
Derekh Eretz Rabbah, chapters 7, 10
Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 60b-62a
Midterm (March 3)
SACRED TIME
The Body in Time: Old
Age, Death and Cemeteries, and the World to Come
(March 8, 10, 15)
Leviticus Rabbah 18:1
Levine, The Rabbinic Class, 49-50
Rajak, "The Rabbinic Dead and the Diaspora Dead at Beth She'arim," 364-365
Mishnah
Shabbat 23:4-5
The
Tractate Mourning,
chapters 1-3, 8, 14
Tanna Debe Eliyyahu, 30-60
Social Time: Overview (March 17)
Elias, Time: An Essay, 1-11
Schweid, The Jewish Experience of Time, 1-24
March 22 and 24 – No Class – Spring Break
Temporal Cycles, Weekly: The
Sabbath (March 29, 31, April 5)
Exodus 20, esp. verses 8-11
Mishnah Shabbat chapters 7:2, 1
Glossary entries on Erub and Shittuf
Mishnah Erubin chapters 1-2
Hoffman, Beyond the Text, 20-45
Genesis Rabbah 11, commenting on Genesis 2:3
Heschel, The Sabbath, 2-62, 95-101
Homework Assignment Due April 7
Temporal Cycles, Monthly: Menstruation (April 7, 12)
Fonrobert, Menstrual Purity, 20-37
Leviticus 15, 18, 20
Mishnah Niddah 1, 2, 10
Fonrobert, Menstrual Purity, 40-60
Temporal Cycles, Yearly: Sukkot (April 14, 19, 21, 26)
Exodus 23:14-17
Leviticus 23:33-43
Numbers 29:12-38
Deuteronomy 16:13-15
1 Kings 8:2
Nehemiah 8:13-18
Schweid, The Jewish Experience of Time, 103-105, 110-119
Rubenstein, History of Sukkot, 106-107, 117-138, 152-159
Mishnah Rosh Ha-Shanah 1:2
Mishnah Sukkah all
Babylonian Talmud Sukkah, selections from 4b-5b, 23a-24b, 28a-b, 45b,
51b-52a, 53b-54a
Homework Assignment Due April 28
CONCLUSION
Sacred Space: The
Cosmos and Heavenly Journeys (April 28, May 3)
Genesis
1-3, 5:21-24
Exodus
chapters 19, 24
Isaiah
6
Ezekiel
1
Pesikta Rabbati, Piska 20, pages 396-411
Ma'aseh Merkavah, in Swartz, Mystical Prayer in Ancient Judaism
Review and Conclusion (May 5)
If you have trouble accessing this page, contact: Chris Dargis (cadargis@wisc.edu)
Latest revision date: 1/7/2005 (cad)