Fall 2005 Jewish Studies Courses

Jewish Studies 031.401 Beginning Yiddish I Hellerstein TR 12:00-1:30
Jewish Studies 051.401 Elementary Modern Hebrew I Staff MTWRF 11:00-12:00
Jewish Studies 051.402 Elementary Modern Hebrew I Staff MTWRF 12:00-1:00
Jewish Studies 052.401 Elementary Modern Hebrew II Staff MTWRF 11:00-12:00
Jewish Studies 053.401 Elementary Modern Hebrew III Staff MTWRF 12:00-1:00
Jewish Studies 053.402 Elementary Modern Hebrew III Staff MTWRF 1:00-2:00
Jewish Studies 054.401 Elementary Modern Hebrew IV Staff MTWRF 12:00-1:00
Jewish Studies 054.402 Elementary Modern Hebrew IV Staff MTWRF 1:00-2:00
Jewish Studies 059.401 Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature Engel TR 1:30-3:00
Jewish Studies 122.401 Religions of the West Fishman MW 10:00-11:00
Jewish Studies 150.401 Introduction to the Bible Tigay TR 4:00-5:00
Jewish Studies 154.401 Holocaust in Literature and Film Gold T 1:30-4:30
Jewish Studies 171.401 Elementary Biblical Hebrew I Carasik MW 3:00-4:00
Jewish Studies 173.401 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew: Prose Carasik MW 5:00-6:30
Jewish Studies 202.401 The Holocaust: Ghetto Life in its Historical Context Weber R 1:30-4:30
Jewish Studies 257.401 The Synagogue and its Literatures in Late Antiquity Bregman T 2:00-5:00
Jewish Studies 259.401 Emergence of Women Authors vs. Male Canon Gold TR 10:30-12:00
Jewish Studies 260.401 Jewish Folklore Ben-Amos MWF 10:00-11:00
Jewish Studies 261.401 Jewish American Literature Hellerstein TR 10:30-12:00
Jewish Studies 320.401 Spirit and Law Fishman M 2:00-5:00
Jewish Studies 335.401 Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Relations Sharkey M 2:00-5:00
Jewish Studies 380.401 Modern Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History Ruderman TR 1:30-2:30
Jewish Studies 471.401 Elementary Biblical Hebrew I Carasik MW 3:00-4:30
Jewish Studies 473.401 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew: Prose Carasik MW 5:00-6:30
Jewish Studies 490.401 Transformation of Sephardic Jewry in the Early Modern Period: From Hispanic Decline to Ottoman Revival Hacker W 4:00-7:00
Jewish Studies 520.401 Spirit and Law Fishman M 2:00-5:00
Jewish Studies 550.401 A Book of the Bible: Psalms Tigay W 2:00-5:00
Courses Related to Jewish Studies:
French Studies 376.401 Jewish Identity and French Culture Samuels TR 3:00-4:30
Religious Studies 535.401 Varieties of Early Christianity: Apocalyptic Kraft T 3:00-5:00




JWST 031.401 Beginning Yiddish I Hellerstein
Yiddish is a 1000-year-old language, with a rich heritage. Learn the basic skills of reading, writing, and speaking Yiddish. Discover the treasures of Yiddish culture: songs, literature, folklore, and films. We will learn to sing various songs from the vast Yiddish music repertoire, travel to New York to see a Yiddish play, and have a special presentation with Bob Freedman in the Special Collections Department of Van Pelt Library. (GRMN 401)
Time: TR 12:00-1:30
JWST 051.401 Elementary Modern Hebrew I Staff
An introduction to the skills of reading, writing, and conversing in modern Hebrew. This course assumes no previous knowledge of Hebrew. (HEBR 051)
Time: MTWRF 11:00-12:00
JWST 051.402 Elementary Modern Hebrew I Staff
An introduction to the skills of reading, writing, and conversing in modern Hebrew. This course assumes no previous knowledge of Hebrew. (HEBR 051)
Time: MTWRF 12:00-1:00
JWST 052.401 Elementary Modern Hebrew II Staff
A continuation of HEBR 051, First Year Modern Hebrew, which assumes basic skills of reading and speaking and the use of the present tense. Open to all students who have completed one semester of Hebrew at Penn with a grade of B- or above and new students with equivalent competency. HEBR 051 or permission of instructor. (HEBR 052)
Time: MTWRF 11:00-12:00
JWST 053.401 Intermediate Modern Hebrew III Staff
Development of the skills of reading, writing, and conversing in modern Hebrew on an intermediate level. Open to all students who have completed two semesters of Hebrew at Penn with a grade of B- or above and new students with equivalent competency. HEBR 052 or permission of the instructor. (HEBR 053)
Tme: MTWRF 12:00-1:00
JWST 053.402 Intermediate Modern Hebrew III Staff
Development of the skills of reading, writing, and conversing in modern Hebrew on an intermediate level. Open to all students who have completed two semesters of Hebrew at Penn with a grade of B- or above and new students with equivalent competency. HEBR 052 or permission of the instructor. (HEBR 053)
Tme: MTWRF 1:00-2:00
JWST 054.401 Intermediate Modern Hebrew IV Staff
This course constitutes the final semester of Intermediate Modern Hebrew. Hence, one of the main goals of the course is to prepare the students for the proficiency exam in Hebrew. Emphasis will be placed on grammar skills and ability to read literary texts. Open to all students who have completed three semesters of Hebrew at Penn with a grade of B- or above and new students with equivalent competency. HEBR 053 or permission of instructor. (HEBR 054)
Tme: MTWRF 12:00-1:00
JWST 054.402 Intermediate Modern Hebrew IV Staff
This course constitutes the final semester of Intermediate Modern Hebrew. Hence, one of the main goals of the course is to prepare the students for the proficiency exam in Hebrew. Emphasis will be placed on grammar skills and ability to read literary texts. Open to all students who have completed three semesters of Hebrew at Penn with a grade of B- or above and new students with equivalent competency. HEBR 053 or permission of instructor. (HEBR 054)
Tme: MTWRF 1:00-2:00
JWST 059.401 Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature Engel
Further development of reading, writing, and speaking skills in modern Hebrew. The course is designed for students who have completed the basic language courses and passed the proficiency examination (or passed the Department's placement test at the appropriate level). The readings are based on literary texts and poetry. Special attention is given to the recurrence of biblical themes in modern Hebrew writing. HEBR 054 or permission of instructor. Since the content of this course may change from year to year students may take it for credit more than once (if the course is indeed different). (HEBR 059, HEBR 552)
Tme: TR 1:30-3:00
JWST 122.401 Religions of the West Fishman
This course introduces students to the academic study of religion through examination of Judaism, Christianity and Islam from their historical origins to the present time. Beliefs and practices of each of these faith traditions will be explored within broad historical contexts, paying attention to the diversity of practitioners, and with reference to cross-cultural encounters. We will consider the ways in which each of the monotheistic cultures responded to the advent of modernity, and reflect on the roles played by these religions - and their exponents - in contemporary society. Fulfills General Requirement II: History and Tradition. (RELS 002)
Time: MW 10:00-11:00 [plus recitation 402 W 11-12; 403 W 11-12; 404 F 10-11; 405 F 10-11]
JWST 150.401 Introduction to the Bible Tigay
This course will introduce students to the Hebrew Bible (the "Old Testament"), its major themes and ideas, and the methods, discoveries and theories of modern Biblical scholarship. Special attention will be paid to the historical background of the Bible, archaeology, ancient Near Eastern parallels to the Bible, and Biblical criticism; the narratives and civil and religious laws of the Torah; the historical books; prophecy; the Psalms; wisdom literature, including Job; Biblical religion; postbiblical Jewish and Christian interpretation of the Bible; and the Bible in Western civilization. The course is truly introductory: no prior knowledge of the subject matter, nor of Hebrew, is presupposed. Fulfills General Requirement III: Arts & Letters. (NELC 150, RELS 125)
Time: TR 4:00-5:00 [plus recitation 402 M 2-3; 403 T 3-4; 404 R 3-4; 405 F 12-1]
JWST 154.401 Holocaust in Literature and Film Gold
The momentous Holocaust narrative, "The Diary of Anne Frank," appeared in 1947, one year prior to the establishment of the Jewish State. The Israeli psyche and therefore Israeli art, however, "waited" until the 1961 public indictment of a Nazi war-criminal to hesitantly begin to face the Jewish catastrophe. The Zionist wish to forge a "New Jew" was in part responsible for this suppression. Aharon Appelfeld's understated short stories were the first to enter the modernist literary scene in the 1960s, followed in 1970 by the cryptic verse of Dan Pagis, a fellow child survivor. Only in 1988 did the Second Generation of survivors reveal themselves. Indeed, two Israeli-born pop singers -- haunted children of survivors -- broke the continuous practice of concealing the past and its emotional aftermath in the watershed documentary "Because of That War." This course will follow and analyze the transformation of Israeli literature and cinema from instruments of suppression of the Holocaust into means for dealing with this historic national trauma. Although Israeli works constitute more than half of the course's material, other works of film and fiction will play comparative roles. Five 1 page film response papers, a 5 page midterm paper and a final exam. There will be five film screenings; the films will also be placed on reserve at the library for those students unable to attend these screenings. No background is required. Since the content of this course may change from year to year students may take it for credit more than once (if the course is indeed different.) Fulfills Distribution III: Arts & Letters. (NELC 159, ENGL 279, COML 282, FOLK 154, FILM 329)
Time: TR 1:30-4:30
JWST 171.401 Elementary Biblical Hebrew I Carasik
An introduction to the grammar of biblical Hebrew with an emphasis on developing the skills necessary to read and understand Biblical texts. No previous knowledge of Hebrew is expected, though prospective students are recommended to make an effort to become familiar with the Hebrew alphabet and vowel signs. (HEBR 151, HEBR 451, JWST 471)
Time: MW 3:00-4:30
JWST 173.401 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew: Prose Carasik
This course will introduce students to the prose writings of the Hebrew Bible (in narrative, legal, and prophetic genres), with a continued emphasis on sharpening grammatical skills. Students will also learn how to interpret the accent/punctuation marks on the text, and will work on translating English into Biblical Hebrew. Among the biblical texts to be read are Ruth and Jonah. This semester is a good choice for students with a strong Hebrew background to enter the Biblical Hebrew sequence. (HEBR 153, HEBR 453, JWST 473)
Time: MW 5:00-6:30
JWST 202.401 The Holocaust: Ghetto Life in its Historical Context Weber
This course examines the almost complete destruction of the European Jewry by Nazi Germany and her allies. The first sessions deal with the Nazi policy towards the Jews, anti-Jewish ideology and the dynamics of annihilation in a condition of war. It asks why the citizens of arguably the most educated country in the world became the perpetrators of genocide. The second half of the course takes the case of the Lodz ghetto in occupied Poland to study death and survival in the Holocaust from the victim's perspective. It uses newly available photographs (which were taken secretly by a Jewish photographer) and contrasts them with written testimonies. The course aims to discuss the dilemmas the inmates of the ghetto found themselves in: collaboration vs. resistance, the 'guilt' of survival, etc. Did morality cease to exist in the ghetto? What difference did the actions of victims make? The final session investigates the problems of comparing genocide. (HIST 202)
Time: R 1:30-4:30
JWST 257.401 The Synagogue and its Literatures in Late Antiquity Bregman
From the Talmudic period and on, the synagogue has served as the social and religious center of Jewish life. In this course we will attempt to enter the world of the ancient synagogue through the portals of its architecture, art and literature. Texts for preparation and study in class will include passages from rabbinic literature viewed as artifacts of synagogue sermons, piyyutim (liturgical poems) and selections from traditional liturgy in rabbinic Hebrew. English translations will be supplied as necessary. Fulfills General Requirement III: Arts and Letters. (HEBR 257, RELS 226)
Time: T 2:00-5:00
JWST 259.401 Emergence of Women Authors vs. Male Canon Gold
The Hebrew literary tradition, even in its modern, twentieth-century phase, has almost uniformly excluded women. Indeed, various critics have referred to female Hebrew literary figures alternatively as "step-sisters" or those who "did not leave a mark on the canon." Only in the 1980s did women burst onto the Israeli scene, and it was not until the 1990s that they practically "conquered" it. Using literary approaches and considering historical and cultural contexts, this course follows the winding path of women into the Hebrew canon. Although the majority of works we will read are fiction and poetry by female authors such as Lea Goldberg, Orly Castel-Bloom and Dahlia Ravickovitch, their works will be compared with those of their male counterparts. Class conducted in Hebrew. Texts read in the original language but student level and literary taste will influence the choice of works. Prerequisite: Hebrew 054 or equivalent. Five 1-page response papers, a 5-page midterm paper in Hebrew and a final exam. Fulfills General Requirement III: Arts and Letters. (HEBR 259, HEBR 559)
Time: TR 10:30-12:00
JWST 260.401 Jewish Folklore Ben-Amos
The Jews are among the few nations and ethnic groups whose oral tradition occurs in literary and religious texts dating back more than two thousand years. This tradition changed and diversified over the years in terms of the migrations of Jews into different countries and the historical, social, and cultural changes that these countries underwent. The course attempts to capture the historical and ethnic diversity of Jewish folklore in a variety of oral literary forms. A basic book of Hasidic legends from the 18th century will serve as a key text to explore problems in Jewish folklore. Fulfills General Requirement II: History & Tradition. (NELC 258, COML 283, FOLK 280)
Time: MWF 10:00-11:00
JWST 261.401 Jewish American Literature Hellerstein
What makes Jewish American literature Jewish? What makes it American? This course will address these questions about ethnic literature through fiction, poetry, drama, and other writings by Jews in America, from their arrival in 1654 to the present. We will discuss how Jewish identity and ethnicity shape literature and will consider how form and language develop as Jewish writers "immigrate" from Yiddish, Hebrew, and other languages to American English. Our readings, from Jewish American Literature: A Norton Anthology, will include a variety of stellar authors, both famous and less-known, including Isaac Mayer Wise, Emma Lazarus, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Celia Dropkin, Abraham Cahan, Anzia Yezierska, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Cynthia Ozick, and Allegra Goodman. Students will come away from this course having explored the ways that Jewish culture intertwines with American culture in literature. Fulfills Distribution Requirement III: Arts and Letters.
(GRMN 263, ENGL 079)
Time: TR 10:30-12:00
JWST 320.401 Spirit and Law Fishman
While accepting "the yoke of the commandments", Jewish thinkers from antiquity onward have perennially sought to make the teachings of revelation more meaningful in their own lives. Additional impetus for this quest has come from overtly polemical challenges to the law, such as those leveled by Paul, medieval Aristotelians, Spinoza and Kant. This course explores both the critiques of Jewish law, and Jewish reflections on the Law's meaning and purpose, by examining a range of primary sources within their intellectual and historical contexts. Texts (in English translation) include selections from Midrash, Talmud, medieval Jewish philosophy and biblical exegesis, kabbalah, Hasidic homilies, Jewish responses to the Enlightenment, and contemporary attempts to re-value and invent Jewish rituals. Seminar. (JWST 520, NELC 454, RELS 520)
Time: M 2:00-5:00
JWST 335.401 Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Relations Sharkey
This seminar addresses several recurring questions about Muslim, Christian, and Jewish relations in the Middle East. How have Islam, Christianity, and Judaism influenced each other in the region historically? How have Jews, Christians, and Muslims fared as religious minorities? To what extent have communal relations been characterized by harmony and cooperation, or by strife and discord, and how have these relations changed in different contexts over time? To what extent and under what circumstances have members of these communities converted, intermarried, formed business alliances, and adopted or developed similar customs? How has the emergence of the modern nation-state system affected communal relations as well as the legal or social status of religious minorities in particular countries? How important has religion been as one variable in social identity (along with sect, ethnicity, class, gender, etc.), and to what extent has religious identity figured into regional conflicts and wars? The focus of the class will be on the modern period (c. 1800-present) although we will read about some relevant trends in the early and middle Islamic periods as well. Students will pursue individually tailored research to write a final paper and to share their findings with the class at the end of the semester. Seminar. (NELC 335, RELS 311)
Time: M 2:00-5:00
JWST 380.401 Modern Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History Ruderman
An overview of Jewish intellectual and cultural history from the late 18th century until the present. The course considers the Jewish enlightenment Reform, Conservative and Neo-Orthodox Judaism, Zionist and Jewish Socialist thought, and Jewish thought in the 20th century, particularly in the context of the Holocaust. Readings of primary sources including Mendelsohn, Geiger, Hirsch, Herzl, Achad-ha-Am, Baeck, Buber, Kaplan, and others. No previous background is required. (HIST 380)
Time: TR 1:30-2:30 [plus recitation 402 R 4:30-5:30; 403 F 10-11; 404 F 11-12:30]
JWST 471.401 Elementary Biblical Hebrew I Carasik
An introduction to the grammar of biblical Hebrew with an emphasis on developing the skills necessary to read and understand Biblical texts. No previous knowledge of Hebrew is expected, though prospective students are recommended to make an effort to become familiar with the Hebrew alphabet and vowel signs. (HEBR 151, HEBR 451, JWST 171)
Time: MW 3:00-4:30
JWST 473.401 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew: Prose Carasik
This course will introduce students to the prose writings of the Hebrew Bible (in narrative, legal, and prophetic genres), with a continued emphasis on sharpening grammatical skills. Students will also learn how to interpret the accent/punctuation marks on the text, and will work on translating English into Biblical Hebrew. Among the biblical texts to be read are Ruth and Jonah. This semester is a good choice for students with a strong Hebrew background to enter the Biblical Hebrew sequence. (HEBR 153, HEBR 453, JWST 173)
Time: MW 5:00-6:30
JWST 490.401 The Transformation of Sephardic Jewry in the Early Modern Period:
From Hispanic Decline to Ottoman Revival		 Hacker
This course explores Jewish society in the Iberian Peninsula during the era of expulsions. Topics include Jews, Conversos and Christians; social and religious values; economic and social crises; spiritual character and intellectual trends; the expulsions and their repercussions on Sephardic Jewry; Messianic reactions and inner-criticism; migrations to the Ottoman Empire; the new demography of Mediterranean Jewry; the encounter between Sephardic Jewry and other Jewries, such as Romaniotes, Italians, Mustaaribs and Ashkenazic Jews; the structure and the organs of the communities; language, education, culture and ways of life; the encounter between Spanish heritage and Moslem culture; local patriotism; attitudes toward the Moslem authorities and Moslem society; cultural and religious trends; the world of Ottoman Jewish scholars; Hebrew printing in the Empire; high culture and popular education; messianic impulses; the rise of Kabalah; Safed and its mystical societies; Ottoman Jews and European Christians; sixteenth century and Ottoman Jewry. Hebrew Required. Please Contact Professor David Ruderman for permission to enroll. (HIST 490, RELS 429)
Time: W 4:00-7:00
JWST 520.401 Spirit and Law Fishman
While accepting "the yoke of the commandments", Jewish thinkers from antiquity onward have perennially sought to make the teachings of revelation more meaningful in their own lives. Additional impetus for this quest has come from overtly polemical challenges to the law, such as those leveled by Paul, medieval Aristotelians, Spinoza and Kant. This course explores both the critiques of Jewish law, and Jewish reflections on the Law's meaning and purpose, by examining a range of primary sources within their intellectual and historical contexts. Texts (in English translation) include selections from Midrash, Talmud, medieval Jewish philosophy and biblical exegesis, kabbalah, Hasidic homilies, Jewish responses to the Enlightenment, and contemporary attempts to re-value and invent Jewish rituals. Seminar
(JWST 520, NELC 454, RELS 320)
Time: M 2:00-5:00
JWST 550.401 A Book of the Bible: Psalms Tigay
The Hebrew text of selected psalms representing the main genres of poetic prayer in the Bible. Attention will be given to the ideology and values of the psalms, their character as prayer and as poetry, to their affinities with ancient Near Eastern literature, and to their unique features. Prerequisite: Intermediate Biblical Hebrew or the equivalent and advance permission of the instructor. Since the content of this course may change from year to year students may take it for credit more than once (if the course is indeed different). Seminar.
Distribution III: Arts & Letters. (HEBR 550)
Time: W 2:00-5:00
French 376.401 Jewish Identity and French Culture Samuels
France was the first European country to grant the Jews full civil rights and today has the largest Jewish population in Europe. But despite a tradition of openness to Jews, France continues to struggle with a legacy of anti-semitism. This class interrogates notions of Jewish identity in French culture from the Revolution to the present. Focusing on significant moments from the past (the Revolution, the Dreyfus Affair, WWII), as well as recent instances of anti-semitic violence, we will explore representations of Jews and Jewishness in a variety of media, including fiction, film, art, memoirs, propaganda, political discourse, and journalism. How have Jews in France negotiated the relation between the particular and the universal? To what extent have debates about Jews helped define notions of Frenchness? Topics to be addressed include: emancipation, anti-semitism, images of Jews, Jewish self-imaging, representing the Shoah, de-colonization, and sephardic identity. For their final projects, students will work with primary sources relating to the Dreyfus Affair in the Beitler Collection at Van Pelt Library. All readings and discussion will be in French.
Time: TR 3:00-4:30
Relgious Studies 535.401 Varieties of Early Christianity: Apocalyptic Kraft
A primary focus of earliest Christianity was the belief that the expected end-times had in some sense arrived with "Messiah Jesus" and that a "new age" was about to begin (or had already begun). When things didn?ft develop exactly as expected, various adjustments were made including projection of a new set of end-times expectations. In this seminar, we will explore the (largely Jewish) backgrounds of early Christian "apocalyptic" orientation (centering on "revealed" information about God?fs plans, especially for the future) and the ways in which different early Christian representatives expressed and transmitted (or transformed) their apocalyptic hopes and fears as time went on.
No prerequisites, but knowledge of Christian origins at the level of RELS 135 is expected (remedial readings will be recommended, where necessary). (COML 535)
Time: T 3:00-5:00

 


Rossi Rossi, Azariah ben Moses dei, ca. 1511-ca. 1578. Me'or `enayim [A. de Rossi]. [Mantua : s.n., 1573-1575]. Frontispiece. The "Light of the Eyes" established the foundations of critical Jewish historiography. Its author, the sixteenth-century Italian Jew Azariah de' Rossi, was a polymath who was familiar not only with the texts of his own Jewish tradition, but also with Christian and pagan literature.



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