RELIGION 322B: JUDAISM: FAITH AND PRACTICE
Spring 2008
Instructor: Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, x3694, (H):
401-273-0536
Knapton 102
Office Hours: M
10:30-12:30, 1:30-2; W 10:30-12:00; F 10:30-12:30, and Tu Th by appointment.
This course seeks to introduce the major religious and cultural dimensions
of the Jewish world, both those that express its diversity and those that
express its continuity. Emphasis will be given to the development of classical
Jewish institutions and ideas as well as the diverse forms of Jewish religious
and cultural life. The course has two major purposes: (1) to provide students
with a better and deeper understanding of the importance of the Jewish past
upon the Jewish world today and (2) contemporary Jews' own self-understanding
of their system(s) of religious faith and practices, and ethnicity . While it
is not a history course, anyone taking it should come away with a basic grasp
of the larger historical framework within which Jewish civilization has
developed. Moreover, students will learn from American Jews themselves what it
means to be a Jew - particularly in the modern American context - by visiting
local synagogues, observing celebrations of Jewish holidays, and by the option
of conducting interviews ("oral histories") of members of the local
Jewish community in Providence, RI and Attleboro, MA.
BOOKS:
Required:
David Ariel, Kabbalah:The Mystic Quest in Judaism (Rowman and Littlefield, 2006) (paper)
Ruth Fredman Cernea, The Passover Seder
Samuel J.
Freedman, Jew Versus Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry
Judah Goldin, trans.,The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath
Jacob Neusner, A
Short History of Judaism: Three Meals, Three Epochs (Fortress Press, 1992) paper
Readings on EReserve:
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on
Exodus (commentary on the weekly Torah
portion)
Recommended:
Food and Judaism: Studies in Jewish Civilization, Volume 15
(Studies in Jewish Civilization) Creighton U. Press, 2005(Paperback)
Assignment Schedule
The reading specified for a class meeting is supposed to be finished by the
class meeting, and will be the subject of class discussion. Each reading
assignment has associated Study Questions.
Week One: Jan 24
Thursday: Introductory Class. Read and discuss Zornberg, “Parashat Yitro,” Particulars
of Rapture in class
Week Two: Jan 29, 31
Tuesday: Read the Liturgy for the Sabbath Day on EReserve (or distributed in
class)
Thursday: Read Chapters 1 and 2 in Heschel's The Sabbath; Zornberg,
“Parashat Mishpatim”
Particulars of Rapture
Week Three: Feb 5,7
Tuesday: Read Chapters 3 and 4 in Heschel's The Sabbath; Read Neusner,
A Short History: Three Meals, Part I,
pp. 1-48.
Thursday: Read pages 1-53 in The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan; Zornberg, “Parashat Terumah” Particulars of
Rapture
Week Four: Movies: Feb 12,14
Tuesday: Read pages 101-128 in The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan.
Thursday: The Talmud and the Scholar (about
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, spirituality of Torah study); Neusner, A Short
History: Three Meals, Part II, pp. 49-83; Read
Zornberg, "Parashat
Tetzaveh” Particulars of Rapture
Saturday: Shabbat field trip to synagogues in Providence?
Week Five: Feb 19, 21
Tuesday: Half the Kingdom (feminist perspective on women's roles
in Judaism): Read Neusner, A Short History: Three Meals, Part II, pp. 84-139.
You should have contacted your interviewee and made an appointment by this week.
Thursday: Midterm Exam; Zornberg,
"Parashat Ki Tisa”
Particulars of Rapture
Week Six: Feb 26, 28
Tuesday: Read pages 1-46 in The Passover Seder.
Thursday: Read pages 47-73 in The Passover Seder; Zornberg, "Parashat Vayakhel”
Particulars of Rapture
Week Seven: Mar 4,6
Tuesday: Read pages 75-127 in The Passover Seder
Thursday: Read Brumberg-Kraus, "Does God Care What We Eat? Jewish
Theologies of Food and Reverence for Life” and "Meals as Midrash: A Survey
of Ancient Meals in Jewish Studies Scholarship" in Food and Judaism
(on 2 hr Reserve); Zornberg, "Parashat
Pekudei” Particulars of Rapture
SPRING BREAK: Mar 10-14 NO CLASS
Week Eight: Mar 18, 20
Tuesday: Read pages 17-63 in The Mystic Quest; Neusner, A
Short History: Three Meals, Part II, pp. 123-166.
Thursday: Read pages 65-88 in Kabbalah: The Mystic Quest.
MAR 20 EREV PURIM Evening Field trip to Temple Emanuel, Providence RI for
Purimshpil
Week Nine: Mar 25, 27
Tuesday: Read pages 89-109 and 139-162 in Kabbalah: The Mystic Quest.
Thursday: Read pages 163-189 in Kabbalah: The Mystic Quest.
Week Ten: Apr 1,3
Tuesday: Read Arthur Green's "The Zaddik as Axis Mundi" in the Course
Reader: “Holy Kugel” in Food
and Judaism (on 2 hr Reserve).
Thursday: Read pages 104-129 of Arthur Green's "Hasidism: Discovery and
Retreat" in The Other Side of God: A Polarity in World Religions, ed. by Peter Berger
Week Eleven: Apr 8,10
Tuesday: Read Neusner, A Short History: Three Meals, Part III,
pp. 167-215.
Thursday: Read Freedman, Jew vs. Jew, Prologue and Chapter 1, pp. 13-70 Student
Presentation ___________________
Week Twelve: Apr 15,17
Tuesday: Read Freedman, Jew vs. Jew, “Who is a Jew?”, Chapter 2, pp. 71-114 Student
Presentation ___________________
Thursday: Read Freedman, Jew vs. Jew, “Judaism and Gender,” Chapter 3, pp. 115-161 Student
Presentation ___________________
APR 19 -27 PESAH; 1ST, 2ND SEDER APR 19,20
Week Thirteen: Apr 22,24
Tuesday: Read Freedman, Jew vs. Jew, “Israel and America,” Chapter 4, pp. 162-216. Student
Presentation ___________________
Thursday: Read Freedman, Jew vs. Jew, “Who Owns Orthodoxy?,” Chapter 5, pp. 217-74 Student
Presentation ___________________
Week Fourteen: Apr 29, May 1
Tuesday: Read Freedman, Jew vs. Jew, “Unity vs. Pluralism,” Chapter 6, pp. 275-337. Student
Presentation ___________________
Thursday: Read Freedman, Jew vs. Jew, “Epilogue: The Jewish Reformation,” pp. 338-359; Review for
the Final Exam, conclusions
MAY 2 (Friday) YOM HA-SHOAH (Holocaust Remembrance Day)
MAY 8 (Thursday) YOM HA-ATZMAUT
(Israel Independence Day)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Class attendance (including film viewing) and full participation in class
discussion. For each week, EACH STUDENT will have read the material and
prepared a double-spaced typed one-page response paper due by midnight Monday
on Blackboard. Each Thursday a discussion group will be led by a student who is
not required to write a response paper but instead will comment on all the
response papers of the group.
Late response papers or papers from people not present at discussions are
not acceptable (unless by prior arrangement with the instructor.)
Absences will have an extremely adverse effect on this portion of the grade.
If you know in advance that you must be away, please notify me of this. The
first two absences and the lowest response paper grade will be dropped in the
final grade computation, Attendance, discussion work and preparation will be
20% of the course grade, There may be some evening showings of films to augment
the course which will make up for my expected absences. There will also be at
least two field trips scheduled outside of class time, Thursday evening 3/20 (for Purim) and
one Saturday morning to observe Shabbat Services. Lectures presume prior
familiarity with the assigned readings,
2. Hands on project: Making Challah (5% of course grade)
a. Read Jewish Catalogue article on Challah, Tkhine of Three Gates (woman’s petitional prayer) on making challah (on
EReserve)
b. Baking session outside of class
time TBA
c. 1-2 page reflection paper
3. A one hour midterm examination covering the first seven weeks of the
course in a term identification and essay format. The midterm is a sample of
the kind of preparation needed for the final exam. Both will focus on
comprehension and understanding of the material of the course other than sheer
memorization of material. Study sheets will be handed out the prior week. It
will be 20% of the course grade.
4. In class presentation of a chapter of Jew vs. Jew (5% of course grade)
5. One essay (6-8 pp., typed, double-spaced)
is to be based on one or more of the required primary texts assigned for the
weekly discussion. Students may choose one of the ten topics covered on the
syllabus for their paper. The essay will be 25% of the course grade.
The purpose of this essay is to think about the source material at length,
both in the light of one's own interests and ideas and in respect to the
secondary readings, lectures or any other information that helps one elucidate
a particular text or idea in the reading(s) under discussion. Attention will be
given to form as well as content. Use a manual of style and be consistent.
Important: everyone must rewrite this essay The rewrite grades will offer the
student a chance to improve his or her essay grade.
OR: Students may participate
in an oral history project, involving:
a. assigned preparatory readings in oral history, focusing on use of interviews
for "thick" cultural description; arranging, preparing, and
conducting the interview; asking questions; writing up transcripts; ethical and
legal ramifications of oral history; and examples of oral histories of Jews
living in America.
b. practice assignment interviewing a friend or family member
c. interview of member(s) of a local Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist
synagogue
d. make transcript of the interview
e. 5-6 page reflection paper relating their experience to concepts or
procedures covered in prior class readings, lectures, or discussions.
Students have the option of working in teams of 2 where labor could be
divided - one student performing and recording the interview; the other
transcribing it - if some students feel more comfortable with a
behind-the-scenes role. Still, while steps (c) and (d) may be divided, all
students will be responsible for (a)-(b) and (e).
The project requires at least 2 visits to synagogues or homes outside
regular class time (Friday night, Saturday morning, plus an additional time that
does not fall on Shabbat [it is not permitted to write or use electronic
recorders on Shabbat according to Jewish law]) on dates TBA.
The completed project will be 25% of the course grade.
Please consult with me first
about whatever assignment or topic you choose, by the 4/14/08.
6. A Self-scheduled final examination will be given during exam period. It
will be 25% of the course grade.
___________________________
Last Update 1.22.08