JS100: Survey of Jewish History

JS 100
Survey
of Jewish
History

Spring 2003
MWF 12:50-1:40pm
112 White Hall

Dr. Eric L. Goldstein
Office: 122 Bowden Hall
Phone: (404) 727-4470
E-mail: egoldst@emory.edu
Office hours: W 2-3pm and
by appointment

Dr. Benjamin Hary
Office: S309 Callaway Center
Phone: (404) 727-7942
E-mail: bhary@emory.edu
Office hours: TBA and by
appointment

The TAs for this course are Jakub Kakietek (jkakiet@learnlink.emory.edu), Jonathan Kaplan (jkapla4@learnlink.emory.edu) and Rebecca Rubin (rerubin@learnlink.emory.edu). All three TAs are available by appointment.

Course Description:
This introductory level course offers an overview of the history of Jews and Judaism. It is appropriate for both Jewish Studies majors as a starting point for further study and for non-specialists who wish a general overview of the field. The course will explore Jewish life from the biblical period to the present, examining how the Jews have defined themselves socially and politically in a number of historical and geographical settings, how Jewish theology and religious practice have been shaped and transformed, and how Jews have interacted with and responded to the societies in which they have lived. In achieving these goals, special emphasis will be placed on the use of primary texts-original documents that will allow students to develop their skills at hands-on historical analysis. These documents will not only be employed as teaching tools in the weekly lectures, but will be the focus of regular discussion sessions where we will analyze the sources together in order to elucidate the major issues and trends of each historical period.

Texts:
The following texts are available for purchase at the Emory Bookstore and (with the exception of the Bibles) are also on reserve at Woodruff Library:
• Raymond Scheindlin, A Short History of the Jewish People (MacMillan, 1998).
• Eli Barnavi, ed., A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People (Schocken Books, 1992).
• Jacob R. Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World (Hebrew Union College Press, 1990).
• Jehuda Reinharz and Paul Mendes-Flohr, eds., The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, 2nd ed. (Oxford, 1995).
• TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (Jewish Publication Society, 1985).
Note: Although I have ordered copies of the JPS TANAKH for those who would like to purchase it, you may substitute any available translation of the Hebrew Bible. The JPS translation and many others are available in the reference section of Pitts Theology Library.
• There will also be a few readings available through online reserve. You can access these simply by clicking on the links provided in this syllabus.

Course Requirements:

Attendance and Participation:
Class attendance is essential to a successful learning experience. Because we will be covering a large sweep of history in a relatively short time, and because the ability to identify trends at work in different periods of Jewish history is central to the course, absences can seriously impede your understanding of the material. As a result, students will be allowed no more than three absences before their grade is affected. In addition, even when you are absent, you are responsible for making sure that all assignments are handed in to the professor by the due date, either through a friend or via e-mail. Finally, to get the most out of the course, active participation is expected. Remember: participation does not mean having all the "right" answers. A thoughtful observation or question can often help clarify a particularly difficult point for the class.

Readings and Assignments:
Be sure to complete the assigned readings before the appropriate class. In general, readings in the Scheindlin and Barnavi books will be assigned in preparation for lectures, while documents from the Marcus and Reinharz/Mendes-Flohr (JMW) readers will be assigned for both the lectures and discussion sessions. While you do not need to bring the Scheindlin and Barnavi books with you each time, you should bring Marcus and JMW with you on days when relevant documents will be discussed. Before each class session, students will receive a question that they are to answer in writing (one or two paragraphs). The paragraphs will be discussed in class and collected at random. Again, you are responsible for getting these assignments to the professor even if you are absent.

Exams and Grading:
There will be three exams, one on each of the major historical periods we will be covering in the course: ancient, medieval and modern (see the course schedule for exact dates). Due to the limited time available to us in class, some of the exams may have both take-home and in-class sections. While each exam will focus on a distinct historical period, the final exam will also ask you to make some comparisons between the various periods. The final grades for the course will be determined according to the following break-down:
• Attendance and class participation: 10%
• Exams: 70% (first and second exams, 20% each; final exam, 30%)
• Short writing assignments: 20%

Honor Code:
All students are expected to abide by Emory University's honor code, which prohibits all forms of academic dishonesty including cheating and plagiarism. Plagiarism means submitting material from a book, a website, or any other source without acknowledging that the words or the ideas are someone else's. When in doubt about this matter, please ask the instructor to explain further, or consult the Emory College Writing Center's "Avoiding Plagiarism" webpage. We treat academic dishonesty as a serious offense and, in accordance with the policies of Emory College, will immediately report all violations of the honor code to the Honor Council.

Fri., Jan. 17
Origins: Israelite History
Readings: Scheindlin, 1-23; Barnavi, 18-9
Question: Give at least three (3) distinctive features of Israelite religion.

Wed., Jan. 22
Discussion: Biblical Literature
Readings: Leviticus 26; Judges 3-4
Question: Sum up in one or two sentences the main theological point(s) of Leviticus 26. Refer to specific verses in explaining your answer. Does Judges 3-4 exemplify the same theology as Leviticus 26, does it violate it, or does it present a different stance?

Fri., Jan. 24
Exile, Diaspora and the Emergence of "Judaism"
Readings: Scheindlin, 25-33; Barnavi, 24-5, 28-31; Ezra 10: 1-44
Question: After the destruction of the first Temple, how are the Israelites who are exiled to Babylonia able to maintain their religion and identity as a minority in a foreign land?

Mon., Jan. 27
The Second Commonwealth
Readings: Scheindlin, 33-42; Barnavi, 34-7, 44-7
Question: What led the Hasmoneans and their followers to opt for a military strategy with the political goal of independence?

Wed., Jan. 29
Discussion: Hellenization
Readings: Barnavi, 40-3; I Maccabees 1-2; II Maccabees 6-7
Question: Compare the two accounts in I and II Maccabees, paying attention to how the conflict is portrayed (motives, methods, etc.) and who the key parties are.

Fri., Jan. 31
The Late Second Temple Period
Readings: Scheindlin, 43-9; Barnavi, 48-53
Question: What are the issues over which the Jewish sects of the late Second Temple Period divided? Be prepared in class to cite the specific positions of each sect on these issues.

Mon., Feb. 3
Bar Kokhba and Early Rabbinic Judaism
Readings: Scheindlin, 51-9 (top); Barnavi, 56-61
Question: What are the challenges faced by the Jewish community:
a) as a persecuted minority in Palestine?
b) as a minority in a foreign land (Alexandria, Babylonia)?
c) as an independent political entity in Palestine?

Wed., Feb. 5
Discussion: Rabbinic Texts
Readings: Barnavi, 62-3; Mishnah (tractate Berakhot, chapters 1-4)and Talmud (Babylonian Talmud 26b).
Question: Read the selections of the Mishnah and Talmud. Identify two distinctive features (literary, content, treatment of texts, etc.) of each of these genres of Rabbinic literature. List at least two motives a society would have to produce documents such as these.

Fri., Feb. 7
Separating Cousins: Judaism and Early Christianity
Readings: Scheindlin, 59-64 (middle); Barnavi, 54-5; Marcus, #20
Question: In what ways was early Christianity continuous with late Second Temple Judaism, and in what ways was it a break?

Mon., Feb. 10
Byzantine Jewry and the Palestinian Talmud
Readings: Scheindlin, 64-9; Barnavi, 66-71
Question: According to Schendlin (p. 67), "despite the pressures under which the Jews of Byzantine Palestine lived, they did produce some literary works that… constitute the basic library of rabbinic Judaism up to our own time." How might we explain this seeming contradiction? Is it in fact a contradiction, or does it make sense? Explain.

Wed., Feb. 12
Discussion: Anti-Jewish legislation and writing of the 4th-5th c.
Readings: Marcus, #1; Genesis 17: 1-14
Question: What was the relationship between Jews and Christians a) when Christianity was another minority religion within the Roman Empire, and b) when it became the religion of the Roman Empire?

Fri., Feb. 14
Babylonian Jewry and its Talmud
Readings: Barnavi, 64-5
Question: Cite three (3) ways Jewish life was different in Sassanid Babylonia than it was in Byzantine Palestine. How was the Jewish community in Babylonia different than any previous diaspora community?

Wed., Feb. 19
FIRST EXAM - Be sure to review the sheet of study terms for Part I of the course

Fri., Feb. 21
The Jews of Islam
Readings: Scheindlin, 71-82 (bottom); Barnavi, 74-5, 86-9, take note of maps on 81 and 83; Marcus, #3, #38
Question: Explain how the spread of Islam after the seventh century helped transform Jewish life politically, economically and religiously. Give at least one major change for each category.

Mon., Feb. 24
The Growing Jewish Diaspora
Readings: Barnavi, 78-9, 94-5, 126-7, 182-3, 166-7; Marcus, #6
Question: Under what circumstances does a new center of Jewish life emerge and break away from an older Jewish center?

Wed., Feb. 26
Growing Religious Diversity: Rationalists and Mystics, Legalists and Pietists
Readings: Scheindlin, 82 (bottom)-95; Barnavi, 92-3, 96-99, 100-3, 144-5
Question: In the readings and in class we will be leaning about four (4) major religious tendencies in evidence among medieval Jewry: rationalism, mysticism, legalism and pietism. For each, describe one factor (historical, sociological, intellectual, political) which contributed to the growth of the tendency.

Mon., Mar. 3
The Formation of a Persecuting Society
Readings: Scheindlin, 97-112; Barnavi, 104-7; Marcus, #23, #25, #27 and #29
Question: Christianity and Judaism had been in contact for almost 1,000 years when, in the late 11th century, anti-Jewish sentiment began to intensify. Describe at least three factors that combined to produce this trend.

Wed., Mar. 5
Discussion: Judaism under Crescent and Cross
Readings: Mark Cohen and Norman Stillman articles from Tikkun.
Question: You will be reading (on e-reserve) the articles of two eminent historians on the period we are studying in class. They focus on the Islamic world, but also compare the treatment of Jews under Islam with the treatment of Jews under Christianity. For each article: 1) summarize the main point(s); and 2) state whether or not you agree with the argument, citing examples we have discussed in class or that you have covered in the readings.

Fri., Mar. 7
Western European Expulsions and their Impact
Readings: Scheindlin, 112-21; Barnavi, 110-1, 114-5, 120-1, 132-3;
Marcus, #5, #11
Question: From a Christian perspective, give a reason why the expulsions were necessary. From an historian's perspective, give a reason why the expulsions occurred. You should be country-specific.

Mon., Mar. 17
Jews Between East and West
Readings: Scheindlin, 123-32 (middle), 149-60, 173-5; Barnavi, 118-9, 122-3, 134-5, 142-3, 146-7
Question: We have studies Jewish migration earlier when we discussed the emerging centers of medieval Jewry. In most of those cases, the moves were voluntary. The migrations brought about in the late Middle Ages were motivated, in contrast, by persecution and expulsions. How might this difference affect the kind(s) of Jewish society they established in their new surroundings? Offer at least two (2) specific examples.

Wed., Mar. 19 - VACATION COURTESY OF DOOLEY!

Fri., Mar. 21
(Take-Home Exam Posted - See This Link For Essay Questions)
Kabbalah, Messianism and Hasidism
Readings: Scheindlin, 132-7, 176-7, 180, sidebar on 182-3; Barnavi, 148-9, 162-3; Marcus, #53, #54
Question: Mysticism evolves in several ways at the end of the Middle Ages. Name the three major developments in Jewish mysticism from this period, and explain what larger historical factors influenced these developments.

Wed., Mar. 26
(Take-Home Exams are Due in Class)
Harbingers of Change
Readings: Scheindlin, 160 (middle)-71; Barnavi, 138-41, 152-3, 158-61, 164-5, 172-3 (NOTE: SINCE EXAMS ARE DUE IN CLASS, WE WILL NOT BE COLLECTING HOMEWORK TODAY. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO ANSWER THE QUESTION IN YOUR NOTES FOR LATER REFERENCE).
Question: Identify one social and one intellectual change in the pre-modern period which allowed for an improvement in the status of the Jews in Western Europe. Explain how each change actually contributed to this improvement.

Fri., Mar. 28
Discussion: Jews and Gentiles in the Age of Emancipation
Readings: Reinharz/Mendes-Flohr (hereafter, JMW), 125-6 (Napoleon), 128-33 (Assembly of Jewish Notables)
Question: Napoleon asks a series of questions of the "Sanhedrin" about Jewish integration into the state. What concern(s) of the French government do you think underlie these questions? Be specific as to which questions reflect which concerns. In evaluating the answers the "Sanhedrin" gives, which ones seem straightforward and which ones seem to show the Jews struggling to respond? What is the source of this tension?

Mon., Mar. 31
The Rise of Modern Antisemitisms
Readings: Barnavi, 186-7; JMW, 302-3, 309-10 (Fichte), 331-33 (Marr), 333-4 (Duehring), 340-2 (Stoecker), 363-7 (Protocols), 465-6 (Manhattan Beach)
Question: Give three (3) ways in which the types of modern antisemitism described in the readings are a continuation of medieval antisemitism and three (3) ways in which they are new and different.

Wed., Apr. 2
Jews on the Move: Eastern Europe and America
Readings: Scheindlin, 180 (bottom)-81, 183 (bottom)-97; Barnavi, 174-7, 190-1, 204-5, 218-9
Question: How does the mass migration of Eastern European Jews to America between 1880 and 1924 stand out as different from all other Jewish migrations we have studied before? How did the United States, the countries of Western Europe and the countries of Eastern Europe provide three very different settings for Jewish life during the modern period? Give at least two examples for each area to support your conclusions.

Fri., Apr. 4
In-Class Film: The Forward: From Immigrants to Americans
(Begin reading memoirs for next class)

Mon., Apr. 7
Discussion: Tracking Jewish Migrations
Readings: Barnavi, 194-5; Immigrant accounts by Moses Weinberger (People Walk on their Heads, ch. 1) and Mary Antin (The Promised Land, ch. 9)
Question: Moses Weinberger and Mary Antin both describe the great changes experienced by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe to America, but they disagree as to whether these changes were positive or negative. For each reading, point out three (3) examples of change and explain why the author sees it as positive or negative.

Wed., Apr. 9
Sources of Modern Jewish Identity (1): Religion
Readings: JMW, 161 (Hamburg Temple), 187-8 (Chorin), 194-7 (Frankel), 197-206 (Hirsch), 468-9 (Pittsburgh Platform), 499-502 (Kaplan)
Question:What was the one quality or belief that most distinguished each of the modern Jewish religious movements (Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and Reconstructionist). What was something all of these movements shared?

Fri., Apr. 11
Sources of Modern Jewish Identity (2): Culture and Politics
Readings: Barnavi, 192-3, 196-7, 200-201, 206-7; JMW, 262-5 (Bernstein), 278-9 (Freud), 282-4 (Rosenzweig), 491-3 (Zhitlowsky)
Question: Each of the authors demonstrate forms of Jewish identification that go beyond the sphere of religious belief and practice. Based on these accounts, do you think a secular Jewish identity was easier or harder for Jews to maintain in the modern world than a religious one? Does location make a difference in answering this question?

Mon., Apr. 14
Sources of Modern Jewish Identity (3): Nationalism
Readings: Scheindlin, 217-33; JMW, 533-8 (Herzl), 541-3 (Ahad Ha-am)
Question: Both Herzl and Ahad Ha-am are considered founders of the Zionist movement, yet they had very different approaches to Jewish nationalism. Give at least three specific differences in their visions of a Jewish homeland and their plans for achieving it. How do you account for these differences?

Wed., Apr. 16
The Holocaust
Readings: Barnavi, 226-9, 232-3, 236-41; JMW, 637-9 (Hitler), 645-7 (Hitler and Nuremburg Laws), 662-5 (Wannsee Protocols)
Question: As we learned in the previous unit, the "persecuting society" of the Middle Ages and its forms of antisemitism were not in and of themselves sufficient to produce the expulsions of the 13th-15th centuries in Western Europe. Rather, a specific set of events and factors had to transpire for a country to decide to expel its Jews. In the same way, explain how a similar course of events transpired to produce the Holocaust of the Nazi era.

Mon., Apr. 21
Modern Israel Since 1948
Readings: Scheindlin, 235-48; Barnavi, 242-5, 254-5, 258-61, 264-5
Question: Since 1948, Israel's relationship with its Arab neighbors has been perhaps its greatest challenge. Yet Israel has also faced a number of difficult internal challenges during these years. Cite at least two (2) of these internal challenges, explaining how they arose and what difficulties they have presented.

Fri., Apr. 25
Recent Trends in America and Israel
Readings: Scheindlin, 249-63; Barnavi, 270-71, 274-79
Question: From the readings (and if you have them, personal experiences), list two (2) major issues which are facing Jews in either/both the United States and Israel today. For each, explain what factors contribute to making these issues central, and whether you think they are similar or different to issues Jews have faced in the past. Be specific.

Mon., Apr. 28
Conclusion

Fri., May 2
FINAL EXAM, 8:30-11:00am in our regular classroom
Be sure to complete the take-home segment of the exam by this date and review the sheet of study terms for the in-class segment