USF

REL 3936-0001 6938-001 Judaism in Late Antiquity

(Professor) Jacob Neusner

304 Cooper Hall

813 974 1875

JNEUSNER@LUNA.CAS.USF.EDU

Office hours: One hour before class, every session

and by appointment, any day of the week, at USF-St Pete, 210 Coquina Hall

Class sessions: W 1-4 p.m.

Judaism in the first six centuries C.E./A.D. reached that definition that would endure to the present day and produced the authoritative documents that would constitute its classics. This course introduces the history of Judaism in the first six centuries, the classical religious writings produced in that period, and the theology that animates those writings. The approach to the history of religion taken in this course involves description of the texts, analysis of the context in which the texts find a place, and interpretation of the matrix in which all the texts contribute to a coherent statement, thus, literature, history, and theology (=thinking philosophically about religion). The organization of the course then follows that same order: text/description; context/analysis; matrix/interpretation. The final unit asks whether the Rabbinic sages accomplished their goals.

1. Attendance at all classes.
2. The reading of this course runs about 200 pp. per week. It must be done in advance of each session, and students cannot permit themselves to fall behind. Class sessions will be devoted to discussion of issues raised by the reading, not to the exposition of the reading; there will be very little lecturing.
3. Each session involves two hours of (professorial) questions and (students’) answers and further discussion and the third hour is devoted to writing, to be done in class, based both on the reading completed before class and on the lecture and discussion of that class. The writing assignment involves a formal essay, of two to four pages, based on the proposition or problem presented in class. These papers will be returned with grades & brief comments. Students who want more extensive remarks in connection with their papers will be accommodated; they should submit their in-class essays together with a self-addressed stamped envelope.
4. In addition, there will be a two-hour in-class essay, written at the final class session.
5. The grade will be based (50%) on the best three in class essays, chosen by the student, plus (50%) the in-class two hour final. At the end of that session, each student is responsible to submit, in a single envelope, a portfolio of the four papers. If students want the papers back, they will include a self-addressed envelope.
6. Students are responsible to submit the writing portfolio and the final, with their names on each page and the pages numbered, at the last session of the course. The weekly essays and the final should be kept together. If you want your writing returned, supply a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

1. The course involves weekly writing assignments. These will be graded and returned to students. At the end of the course, in the penultimate week, students will choose the three best weekly writing assignments and forward them to me at USF-SP as a portfolio. Half the grade will be determined by the portfolio.

2. There will be a two hour, in class final, at the final session of the course. The other half of the grade will depend upon the results.

3. I do not give Incompletes. Students whose work is not complete and in my hands at the last class session receive an automatic F. However, they are permitted at a later date, for one full year (Dec. 15, 2001), to submit a complete portfolio (three weekly writing exams and the final) and that will be graded by me, with a change of grade form filed by me at the student’s request.

4. Make up, missed work: students are responsible to submit any make up or missed work, if they wish it to be graded. What is required is only the writing portfolio and final.

5. Attendance policy: required attendance at all class sessions.

Students are permitted to record the class, but notes and tapes are not permitted to be sold.

The weekly writing assignment, the third hour of each meeting of the course, and the in-class final.

There is no formal paper requirement for this course. If you wish to submit an original paper of your own, propose in writing the topic, an outline of the way you propose to deal with the topic, and the books you plan to read or consult. A formal paper may serve in place of two weekly writing assignments. But it cannot replace the in-class final.

At my office at USF-St Pete I will keep the papers submitted for this course until the fourth week of the next semester. If you want your papers returned, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope along with your portfolio and final.

The rules of USF, stated in the 1997-98 Undergraduate Catalogue on p. 41 and in the 1997-1998 Graduate Catalogue p. 34,as updated in the most recent catalogues, apply in this course and will be enforced.

Senior citizens are most welcome to take this course, on the condition that they keep up with the reading. They are not required to do the writing assignments in the third hour of each session or to write the final. They are permitted to do so, and their writing will be read if they wish.

The following will be on reserve and also available for sale in the USF Bookstore Textbook Department.

The Literary Sources of Rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity

1. August 25

Introduction to Rabbinic Literature. Pp. xiii-xxxi

2. September 1

3. September 8

Introduction to Rabbinic Literature. Pp. 221-464

4. September 15

Introduction to Rabbinic Literature. Pp. 465-651

II.

Analysis: Context/From Sources to Documentary History

The Documentary History of Rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity

Rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity: Structure and System

5. September 29

Rabbinic Judaism. The Documentary History of the Formative Age, pp. 1-282

6. October 6

Rabbinic Judaism. The Documentary History of the Formative Age, pp. 283-396

Rabbinic Judaism. Structure and System. Pp. 1-30

7. October 13

Rabbinic Judaism. Structure and System. Pp.31 to end.

III.

Interpretation: Matrix/Reading the Parts to Form a Coherent Whole

Rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity: Theology

History, Time and Paradigm

8. October 20

The Theology of the Oral Torah. Revealing the Justice of God. Pp. iii-xxvii, 1-238

9. October 27

The Theology of the Oral Torah. Revealing the Justice of God, pp. 239-408

10. November 3

The Theology of the Oral Torah. Revealing the Justice of God, pp. 409-670

11. November 10

The Presence of the Past, the Pastness of the Present. History, Time, and Paradigm in Rabbinic Judaism. ALL

IV.

Evaluation: Did Rabbinic Judaism Accomplish its Goals

Rabbinic Judaism in late antiquity: Reading Forward from Scripture

12. November 17

The Four Stages of Rabbinic Judaism. ALL

November 24: No class. Thanksgiving Vacation

V.

Putting the Course All Together

What Have We Left Out?

13. December 1: Review. Open discussion of any question pertinent to the course. Planning for the final examination question.