1997-1998 Semester II
Thursday, 2-5 p.m.
Professor Jacob Neusner
Campus Address and Mail: 210 Coquina Hall
University of South Florida, 140 Seventh Avenue South, St. Petersburg FL 33701
Tel. 813 551 1130, Voice mail: 813 974 1875, Tampa Office: 304A Cooper Hall
Office Hours at USF-SP: 1-2 p.m. on Thursdays. Students at the venues outside of USF-St Pete may reach me by phone at that time at 813 551 1130. At other times they may leave messages at that number.
Fax (Tampa office): 813 974 1853. (St Pete office:) to be announced
Office hours at USF-Tampa: By appointment. And 1-2 p.m. on the first Friday of the months in which the USF-Tampa Dept. of Religious Studies holds meetings.
The course meets at the Distance Learning Venues of
University of South Florida (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Lakeland, Sarasota)
Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton)
University of Central Florida (Orlando, Dayton)
Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Meyers)
The course is presented live at USF-SP in the Distance Learning Venue at Poynter Library. Students who regularly attend the course at other locations are always welcome to join us in St Pete. One-way video and two-way audio is set up for the other venues. Questions from the other venues are encouraged, and class time will be set aside for that purpose. Every venue will be polled in the question period, to elicit student questions and make possible student participation.
In cooperation with
Prof Alan Berger, Florida Atlantic University (Jewish Studies)
Professor Moshe Pelli, University of Central Florida (Jewish Studies)
Professor Glenn Whitehouse, Florida Gulf Coast University (Religious Studies)
And the Distance and Technology Mediated Learning Office of USF
Contact: Mr Larry McLaughlin
Campus Address: SVC 1072, Tel 813 974 2996. Fax: 813 974 5129
This course meets the USF Exit Level requirements.
It serves toward the Religious Studies major or minor at USF, and toward the Jewish Studies requirements at UCF and FAU.
A Gordon Rule Course, involving at least 6,000 words of writing through the semester.
Course Objectives
Viewed as the statement of a religious system through the medium of writing, the classics of Judaism, after the Hebrew Scriptures, are the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash, are introduced. This is carried out inductively, through a close reading, in English, of selected passages, with systematic attention to the rhetorical, logical, and topical or even propositional program set forth by each of these statements within the Judaism of the dual Torah; the critical issue is how these books form statements of a religion: what traits do we discern, in writing, of that religion?
The course objective is to introduce the classical writings of Judaism, particularly the documents that took shape in the formative age of that religion, from the first through the seventh centuries of the Common Era.
Requirements of the Course
1. Attendance at all classes, reading to be done in advance of class
2. Each session of this distance-learning class involves two hours of lecture and 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 envelop.
3. In addition, there will be a two-hour in-class essay, written at the final class session on April 23, 1998.
4. 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.
5. 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.
Grading Policy. Attendance Policy
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 receive an automatic F. However, they are permitted at a later date, for one full year, to submit a complete portfolio (three weekly writing exams and the final) and that will be graded, with a change of grade form filed by me at the student’s request. Students at FAU, FGCU, and UCF will have to secure that form and send it to me.
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: attendance will not be taken.
6. If you have to miss class: video tapes of each week’s session will be available via the Distance Learning Office at your university. You may review the missed class at any time.
7. Students in venues not equipped for real-time attendance: You are encouraged to submit questions arising from the course-session you see on video. I will deal with these at the beginning of the session held on the following week. They should be faxed to my USF-St Pete fax number. They must be in hand by 1 p.m. on the Thursday following the broadcast date of the session that you follow on video. You are encouraged to raise questions of clarification as well as broader problems for analysis, in the theory that what you find puzzling will engage others as well.
Notes or Tapes Permitted for Purposes of Sale
Students are permitted to record the class, but notes and tapes are not permitted to be sold.
Examinations. Dates
The weekly writing assignment, the third hour of each meeting of the course, and the in-class final on April 23, 1998.
Paper
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.
Preservation of Papers for this Course
At my office at USF-St Pete I will keep the papers submitted for this course until Sept. 1, 1998. If you want your papers returned, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope along with your portfolio and final.
Academic Dishonesty Policy
The rules of USF, stated in the 1997-98 Undergraduate Catalogue on p. 41 and in the 1997-1998 Graduate Catalogue p. 34, apply in this course and will be enforced. Students at other campuses: you have the right to invoke the counterpart policy of your campus, should issues of academic dishonesty arise.
Senior Citizens
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.
Textbooks Required for purchase
1. Daniel Matt, Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment (Paulist Press, 1983)
2. David Blumenthal, Understanding Jewish Mysticism, Volumes II (Hoboken, KTAV Publishing Co.)
3. Jacob Neusner, Classics of Judaism (Louisville, Westminster/John Knox Publishing co.)
4. Jacob Neusner, Talmudic Thinking: Language, Logic, and Law. (Columbia, University of South Carolina Press)
The College Book Stores at USF, UCF, FGCU, and FAU have been supplied with a copy of this syllabus and I also wrote to each of them with the information given above. USF-SP students also may find the textbooks at the Bayboro Book Store.
1. January 8, 1998 How to read a book of Judaism
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. ix-xxi, 1-10
2. January 15, 1998 The Written Torah and the Oral Torah: Scripture & the Mishnah
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 11-24, 25-52
3. January 22, 1998 Tractate Abot. The Earlier Midrash-Compilations: Mekhilta
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 71-92, 93-118
4. January 29, 1998 The Earlier Midrash-compilations. Sifra & the two Sifrés
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 119-174
5. February 5, 1998 The First Talmud: The Talmud of the Land of Israel
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 175-212
6. February 12, 1998 Classics of Mysticism in Judaism: The Zohar
Lecturer: Professor Ithamar Gruenwald, Tel Aviv University
Reading: Daniel Matt, Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment pp. 3-56
7. February 19, 1998 Classics of Mysticism in Judaism: The Tales of the Hasidim
Lecturer: Professor Ithamar Gruenwald, Tel Aviv University
Reading: David Blumenthal, Understanding Jewish Mysticism, Volume II, pp. 82-192
This session is taped and not in real time. The writing assignment is in real time.
8. February 26, 1998 The Later Midrash-Compilations. How Judaism Reads the book of Genesis
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 213-230
9. March 5, 1998 The Later Midrash-Compilations. How Judaism Reads the book of Leviticus
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 231-282
March 12, 1998: Spring break
10. March 19, 1998 The Second Talmud. The Talmud of Babylonia
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 283-326
11. March 26, 1998 The Talmud of Babylonia (continued)
Reading: Talmudic Thinking: Language, Logic, and Law. pages to be announced
12. April 2, 1998 The Later Midrash Compilations. Lamentations Rabbati, & Ruth Rabbah
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 327-382
13. April 9, 1998 The Later Midrash Compilations. Song of Songs Rabbah. The Talmud to Tractate Abot, which is Abot deRabbi Nathan
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 383-419
14. April 16, 1998 The Classical Prayerbook of Judaism
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 419-446
15. April 23, 1998 First hour: Translating Writing into Religion: The Problem of a Religion of Classics
Reading: Classics of Judaism, pp. 447-454
Second & third hours: A two hour in class final, requiring two one-hour essays. Students are welcome to submit essay-questions two weeks in advance for approval and will be permitted to write on topics or problems of their own choosing. The question for all students who do not wish to propose their own topics for the final is, "Define a Classic in Judaism: What are the traits that mark a piece of writing as a classic in that religion?"