This course will examine the social, economic, religious and political experience of the Jewish people from the crystallization of their national-religious consciousness in the Bible until the end of the fifteenth century. The religion and culture of the Jews will be discussed within the broader context of their environment. The course will begin with an exploration of major themes within the culture of Biblical Israel which influenced subsequent Jewish history. It will then trace the experience of the Jews from the Babylonian exile through the Bar Kochba revolt, focusing on the the confrontation between Hellenism and Judaism, the Maccabean conflict, the destruction of the Second Temple, and the emergence of rabbinic Judaism and Christianity. In the study of the medieval era, the course will explore the consolidation and expansion of rabbinic Judaism in Babylon and then trace the history of the Jews in both the Christian and Moslem spheres in Europe. Topics will include the legal foundations of Jewish life, theological conflicts, philosophic and poetic cultural exchange, Jewish communal organization and economic activities, and anti-Judaism. The course will conclude with the emergence of Marranism and the expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian Peninsula. Primary and secondary readings will be used.

The course is required for majors and minors in Jewish Studies, but is also cross-listed in the History Department.

Course Requirements: Students are required to prepare the course readings and to participate actively in class. Please note that some weeks have more reading than others, so try to pace yourself accordingly. All of the assigned readings have been put on reserve at Undergraduate Reserves (first floor of Alexander). Students should bring the course packet to class on assigned dates. There will be a take-home midterm (due on October 30), a short paper assignment (due on November 20), and a take-home final (due on December 18). A clear explanation of the assignment will be given out in the third week of class. The midterm will be comprised of short essay questions. The final exam will include short and long essay questions based upon the lectures as well as upon assigned readings (even if those materials were not discussed in class).

Grading:

Attendance and class participation:10%

Midterm Exam: 30%

Short Assignment: 20%

Final Exam: 40%

The following books are available for purchase at the Rutgers University Bookstore and are on reserve at Alexander Library, College Avenue Campus:

Robert Seltzer, Jewish People, Jewish Thought, (Macmillan). [Required]

Jacob R. Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book, (Jewish Publication Society).

Robert Chazan, Church, State and Jew in the Middle Ages, (Behrman House)

You will need a good English translation of the Hebrew Bible and of the New Testament (including the Apocrypha). I recommend the paperback edition of the New Standard Revised Version (NRV), which is also available for purchase at the bookstore.

A required course packet must be purchased at Pequod Copy Center.

1. Wed. Sept. 6: Introduction. The Biblical Canon.

Robert Seltzer, Jewish People, Jewish Thought, introduction, pp. 43-46

http://history.rutgers.edu/under/hist_essay.html

http://history.rutgers.edu/under/classroometiquettepolicy.htm

Seltzer, pp. 2-32.

Genesis 12:1-3; 15; 17:1-4; 31:3-9

1 Kings 8:1-14; skim chapters 54-66.

"The Israel Stele" (packet).

Seltzer, pp. 34-43; 77-96.

Isaiah 14, 18, 21-22, 43:10-13; 44:6-8; 45: 5-7; 46:9

Seltzer, pp. 47-77.

Leviticus 26:3-45

Seltzer, pp. 32-34; 97-111.

Amos 5:21-24; 8:1-8; 9:8-14

Seltzer, pp. 112-131.

"The Cyrus Cylinder" (packet).

Isaiah 45

Seltzer, pp. 131-155; 171-172.

Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; 9:11-12

Seltzer, pp. 155-164.

1 Maccabees, 1-4, 7:1-25; 14; 2 Maccabees, 2:19-end.

Seltzer, pp. 172-183.

Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 21b (packet).

Seltzer, pp. 183-187; 195-205; 213-231.

Josephus, The Antiquities (packet).

Seltzer, pp. 187-194.

Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 55b-56b (packet).

Fathers according to Rabbi Nathan, "On Acts of Loving Kindness,"(packet).

Seltzer, pp. 243-253.

Josephus, The Jewish War (packet).

Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History, IV:6 (packet).

Seltzer, pp. 256-314.

Gerson Cohen, "The Talmudic Age," in Great Ideas & Ages of the Jewish People, ed. Leo W. Schwarz, pp. 143-212. (on reserve)

Fathers according to Rabbi Nathan, "R. Yohanan ben Zakkai" (packet).

Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth 47ab (packet).

Mishnah, Avot 1:1 (packet)

Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; 17: 8-13; 31:10-13

Seltzer, pp. 231-242.

Paul, Epistle to the Romans 1-4, 7, 9-11; Epistle to the Galatians, 1:12-17, 3:25; 1 Corinthians 1, 5-8, 9:1 and 15:3-9.

John Chrysostom, Homilies Against the Jews (packet).

Augustine, Reply to Faustus the Manichean (packet).

Genesis 25:23.

Seltzer, pp. 253-256.

Laws of Constantine the Great (packet).

Laws of Constantinus (packet).

A Law of Theodosius (packet).

A Law of Justinian (packet).

Pope Gregory the Great, "To Virgilius, Bishop of Arles, and Theodorus, Bishop of Marseilles, in Gaul," and "To Fantinus, Papal Defensor of Palermo" (packet).

Seltzer, pp. 323-334.

Abraham S. Halkin, "The Great Fusion," in Schwarz, pp. 215-233. (on reserve)

Koran, Sura 2 ("The Children of Israel") (packet).

"The Pact of Umar" (packet).

"The Itinerary of the Radhanite Jewish Merchants" (packet).

Seltzer, pp. 334-342.

"Report of Nathan the Bavli on the Installation of the Exilarch" (packet).

Sa’adia Gaon, Selections from The Book of Doctrines and Beliefs (packet).

Salmon ben Jeroham, the Karaite, Canto I (packet).

Edward Greenstein, "Medieval Biblical Commentaries." (packet)

Poetry Selections from Moses ibn Ezra, Samuel Ha-Nagid, and Judah Ha-Levi. (packet)

Seltzer, pp. 373-408.

Moses Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Book of Knowledge, The Foundations of the Torah, Chapter One (packet).

Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed, III: 31 and III: 51 (packet).

---. A Letter to Samuel ibn Tibbon (packet).

---. A Letter to Obadiah the Proselyte (packet).

---. A Letter to Hasdai ha-Levi (packet).

Judah ha-Levi, "Israel among the Nations." (packet)

Seltzer, pp. 350-355.

Archbishop Agobard of Lyon, Letter to Nibridus, Archbishop of Narbonne (packet).

Bishop Rudiger of Speyer, A Charter to the Jews of Mainz (packet).

A Jew from Speyer, A Report (packet).

Jacob Katz, Exclusiveness and Tolerance, pp. 37-47 (on reserve).

Seltzer, pp. 355-360.

Solomon bar Samson, The Crusaders in Mainz (packet).

Bernard of Clairvaux, Missive to the Second Crusade (packet).

Seltzer, pp. 360-364.

Ephraim ben Jacob, The Accusation at Blois, France (packet).

Moses Nahmanides, The Disputation at Barcelona (packet).

Pablo Christiani, et alia, A Report, approved by King James I of Aragon (packet).

Genesis 49:10

Seltzer, pp. 364-372; 419-434.

Moses de Leon, Selections from Zohar (packet).

Solomon Alami, Iggeret Musar, (packet).

Profiat Duran, "Be Not Like Unto Your Fathers," A Letter to David ben Goron (packet).

Isaac Abravenel, An Account of the Expulsion (packet)

recommended: Gershom Scholem, "General Characteristics of Jewish Mysticism," in Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pp. 1-39.