Hebrew 473 – Jewish Civilization in Medieval Spain

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies

Fall 2005

Lecture 1: M-W 2.30-3.45

379 Van Hise Hall

Dr. E. Alfonso

1340 Van Hise Hall

Phone: (608) 262-9553

E-mail: mealfonso@wisc.edu

Office hours: M-W 4.00-5.00 or by appointment

Course description:

This course is intended to provide a survey of the cultural history of the Jews in Spain from the late Visigothic period until the “converso” crisis of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and the expulsion. It will focus on the interaction of Jewish with Muslim and Christian cultures and the stable yet evolving sense of a “Sephardic” identity. The course will establish historical and literary-critical frames for reading primary sources in translation, including secular and synagogal poetry, philosophy and kabbalah, biblical hermeneutics, historiography and polemics.

Attendance policy:

Attendance is mandatory. After 3 absences, one half grade per class missed will be deducted from the final grade.

Requirements and grading:

1. Completion of readings, engagement in the class and active participation are essential for a successful course. Readings are to be completed before the class for which they are assigned meets.

2. Two examinations: Mid-term on M, October 24 and Final (not cumulative) on the date scheduled by the University.

3. Two movie reports (each not more than 3 double-spaced pages) due on M, October 17 and M, November 14.

4. Grades will be obtained as follows: Exams: 60%; Movie reports: 30%; Participation in class: 10%

*Assignments completed later than their scheduled dates will receive lower grades. Assignments turned in one week after their scheduled date will not be accepted.

Plagiarism Policy:

Cases of academic misconduct will be reported to the dean and dealt with according to University Policy on plagiarism. Students are encouraged to get familiar with that policy on the following web page: http://.www.wisc.edu/students/amsum.htm.

Required Books (Available at the Campus Store):

Ashtor, Eliyahu. The Jews of Moslem Spain. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1992.

Baer, Yizhak. A History of the Jews in Christian Spain. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1992.

Constable, Olivia R. Medieval Iberia. Readings from Christian, Muslim and Jewish Sources. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

Course Reader: Available at Bob’s Copy Shop at University Square.

Reference Works:

Encyclopaedia Judaica. Jerusalem: Keter Press, 1971

Encyclopaedia of Islam, second edition. Leiden, E.J. Brill – London: Luzac, 1954-

S.D. Goitein. A Mediterranean Society: The Jewish Communities of the Arab World as portrayed in the documents of the Cairo Geniza, 5 vols. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967-88

Primary Sources (in translation):

P. Cole. Selected Poems of Shmuel HaNagid. Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 1996

Ibn Daud (Abraham ibn David). The Book of Tradition. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1967

T. Carmi. The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse. New York: Viking Penguin, 1981

Further Reading:

R. Brann. The Compunctious Poet. Cultural Ambiguity and Hebrew Poetry in Muslim Spain. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991

J. Gerber. The Jews of Spain: A History of the Sephardic Experience. New York: Free Press, 1994.

G. Scholem. Kabbalah. New York: Quadragle-New York Times Book Co., 1974

B. Septimus. Hispano-Jewish Culture in Transition. The Career and Controversies of Ramah. Cambridge, Mass. & London: Harvard University Press, 1982

N. Stillman. The Jews of Arab Lands. A History and Source Book. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979

I. Twersky. A Maimonides Reader. New York: Behrman House, 1972

The movies will be also put on reserve

*To access library reserves, logon to the UW portal, MyUW (http://my.wisc.edu/portal) and go the academic tab. There, in the list of courses for the semester, you will find a “library/reserve” link to the reserves information.

Course Outline

_____________________

W, September 7: Introduction: Terminology, periodization, key concepts, methods

Reading: Gerber IX-XV (on electronic reserve)

Cultural and Historical Background

M, September 12: The Jews in the Roman and Visigothic periods, up to the 8^th century

Readings: Ashtor 1: 3-42; Constable 21-23

W, September 14: Al-Andalus: The Jews in the Umayyad period, 8^th-10^th centuries

Reading: Ashtor 1: 43-154 (spec. 118-154); course reader 3-5; Gerber 27-42 (on electronic reserve)

The Caliphate (929-1008)

M, September 19: A Jewish high officer in the court of the Caliph: Hasday ibn Shaprut

-The beginnings of philology and poetry

Reading: Ashtor, 155-227; 228-263; course reader 7-13

W, September 21: The development of Hebrew religious and secular poetry

-The basis of scientific philology

Reading: Ashtor, 1: 355-402 (optional); course reader 15-21

The Party Kings (1031-1086)

M, September 26: A Jewish Vizier in Zirid Granada: Shemu’el ibn Nagrella ha-Nagid

-The war poems

Reading: Constable 84-90

W, September 28: Shemu’el ibn Nagrella ha-Nagid

-The Nagid as portrayed in Arabic and Hebrew sources

Reading (for both September 18 and 23): Ashtor, 2: 41-158; Constable 91-6; 99-102

M, October 3: The “Golden Age” of Hebrew literature

-What is meant by “Golden Age”?

Reading: Ashtor, 3: 3-58

W, October 5: “Silencing the Jews”: The downfall of Joseph the Nagid and the Jews of Granada

-Abu Ishaq of Elvira’s Poem and its historical parallels

Reading: Ashtor 2: 158-189; Constable 96-99

M, October 10: Movie

W, October 12: Linguistic research and Medieval Sephardic Bible commentaries.

Reading: Course reader 23-35

Almoravid Period (1086-1146) –Early phase of the Reconquest

M, October 17: Idealizing/rejecting the “Golden Age”?

-Judah Halevi and Mosheh ibn ‘Ezra’. A historical challenge and two different answers

Reading: Baer 39-77; course reader 37-39

<>

Almohad Period (1146-1232) Intermediate phase of the Reconquest

W, October 19: Sephardic philosophy: Maimonides

Reading: Baer 1: 78-90; course reader 41-51

M, October 24: Mid-term exam

From al-Andalus to Christian Spain. Cultures in transition

W, October 26: Signs of continuity

Reading: Course reader 53-71

M, October 31: Signs of innovation:

-Narrative techniques and themes. Gender in Hebrew literary prose

Reading: Course reader 73-83

W, November 2: The Maimonidean Controversy

Reading: Baer 1: 96-110; course reader 85-90

M, November 7: Movie

The end of the Reconquest

W, November 9: Castile at the times of Alfonso X

Reading: Baer 1: 111-137; 236-239; Constable 269-275

M, November 14: The Turn towards Kabbalah and messianism

Reading: Baer 1: 243-305.

W, November 16: Aragon at the times of James I the

-Disputation at Barcelona (Nahmanides versus Pablo Cristiano)

Reading: Baer 1: 138-185; 239-42; course reader 91-111

14^th-15^th centuries

M, November 21: The crisis of 1391. Destruction and conversion

Reading: Baer, 2: 95-169

W, November 23: The disputation at Tortosa .

Reading: Baer, 2: 170-243; course reader 113-22

M, November 28: After the disputation at Tortosa: Crypto-Judaism

Reading: Baer, 2: 270-99.

W, November 30: The arts: Architecture, book illumination (Slide Show)

No reading assigned

M, December 5: The Inquisition I

Reading: Baer 300-340; course reader 123-24

W, December 7: The Inquisition II

Reading: Baer, 2: 389-423; Constable: 330-337

M, December 12: The expulsion of the Jews from Sepharad.

-The ways taken by the exiles.

Reading: Baer, 2: 424-443; Constable 352-63; course reader 125-26

W, December 14: Historical memory

No reading assigned

---

If you have trouble accessing this page, contact: Chris Dargis  (cadargis@wisc.edu)
Latest revision date: 9/20/2005  (cad)

---