JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM (AS) {JWST}

Jewish Studies at Penn is an interdisciplinary program which draws upon the methodologies and expertise of a wide range of university departments, including Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Religious Studies, History, Anthropology, Political Science, English, Folklore, Sociology, Germanic Languages and Literatures, and the Law School. Please look for courses under listings for these departments.

031. (YDSH101, YDSH501) Beginning Yiddish. (A) Staff. The goal of this course is to help beginning students develop skills in Yiddish conversation, reading and writing. Yiddish is the medium of a millennium of Jewish life. We will frequently have reason to refer to the history and culture of Ashkenazie Jewry in studying the language.

032. (YDSH102, YDSH502) Beginning Yiddish II. (B) Staff. Prerequisite(s): JWST 031 or permission of the instructor. In this course, you can continue to develop basic reading, writing and speaking skills. Discover treasures of Yiddish culture: songs, literature, folklore, and films.

033. (YDSH103, YDSH503) Intermediate Yiddish I. (A) Hellerstein. Prerequisite(s): GRMN 402 or equivalent. The course will continue the first year's survey of Yiddish grammar with an additional emphasis on reading Yiddish texts. The course will also develop conversational skills in Yiddish.

034. (YDSH104, YDSH504) Intermediate Yiddish II. (B) Hellerstein. Prerequisite(s): GRMN 403 or permission of the instructor. Continuation of JWST 033; emphases in reading texts and conversation.

051. (HEBR051, HEBR651) Elementary Modern Hebrew I. (F) Staff. An introduction to the skills of reading, writing, and conversing in modern Hebrew. This course assumes no previous knowledge of Hebrew.

052. (HEBR052, HEBR652) Elementary Modern Hebrew II. (F) Staff. Prerequisite(s): HEBR 051 or permission of instructor. 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.

053. (HEBR053, HEBR653) Intermediate Modern Hebrew I. (C) Staff. Prerequisite(s): HEBR 052 or permission of the instructor. Development of the skills of reading, writing, and conversing in modern Hebre 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.

054. (HEBR054, HEBR654) Intermediate Modern Hebrew II. (C) Staff. Prerequisite(s): HEBR 053 or permission of instructor. 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.

059. (HEBR059, HEBR552) Advanced Hebrew: Reading & Comprehension. (C) Engel. Prerequisite(s): HEBR 054 or permission of instructor. 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.

083. (AFRC083, ENGL083) 20th-Century Literatures in Dialogue. (M) What dialogues have defined and constituted American and other literatures? This course examines critical intersections between different literatures, addressing questions of race, ethnicity, and culture. Previous versions of this course have included such titles as "African-American and Jewish-American Literature." Our readings will consider a range of literary interactions, and will take a self-consciously comparative and intertextual approach.

See the Jewish Studies Program website for a description of the current offerings.

SM 100. (NELC252, RELS129) Themes in Jewish Tradition. (M) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Staff. Course topics will vary; have included The Binding of Isaac, Responses to Catastrophies in Jewish History, and Concepts of Jewishness from Biblical Israel to the Modern State (Stern); Holy Men & Women (Ben-Amos); Rewriting the Bible (Dohrmann); Women in Jewish Literature (Hellerstein).

SM 113. (RELS113, GSOC113) Major Western Religious Thinkers. (M) Staff. Introduction to the writings of one or two significant western religious thinkers, designed for those who have no background in religious thought. Possible thinkers to be studied: Augustine, Maimonides, Spinoza, Luther, Teresa of Avila, Edwards, Mendelssohn, Kierkegaard, DuBois, Bonhoeffer, King.

122. (RELS002) Religions of the West. (C) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Matter/Fishman. Introduction to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the three major traditions that originated in the Middle East. Attention to sacred scriptures, historical development, and modern expressions.

SM 123. (NELC283, RELS123) Introduction to Judaism. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Fishman. Focusing on the festivals of the Jewish calendar and on Jewish life-cycle events, this course examines primary sources from various periods and places that illuminate changes in Jewish practice, in Jewish understandings of ritual, and in ritual's place in Jewish life.

126. (NELC186, RELS126) Jewish Mysticism. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Survey of major periods of development of mystical speculation and experience within Judaism. Mystical symbolism as a basis for theosophical interpretations of Torah, Immanentist theologies, mystical ethics. Types of experiences and practices which were cultivated by Jewish mystics in order to achieve intimate communion with the Divine and to facilitate a sacred transformation of themselves and the world. Includes "Riders of the Chariot", The Zohar (Book of Splendor), Lurianic Kabbalah, Hasidism.

128. (RELS128) Jews, Judaism, and Modernity. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. A survey of Jewish thinkers and movements of the modern period focusing on the historical, intellectual, and social foundations of modern Judaism. Through careful reading of primary sources in translation, students will be exposed to seminal writings that respond both to new challenges and the broader issues of religious continuity and discontinuity.

130. (HIST150, JWST430, RELS124) American Jewish Experience. (A) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Wenger. This course offers a comprehensive survey of American Jewish history from the colonial period to the present. It will cover the different waves of Jewish immigration to the United States and examine the construction of Jewish political, cultural, and religious life in America. Topics will include: American Judaism, the Jewish labor movement, Jewish politics and popular culture, and the responses of American Jews to the Holocaust and the State of Israel.

150. (NELC150, RELS125) Introduction to the Bible (The "Old Testament"). (A) Humanities & Social Science Sector. Class of 2010 & beyond. Tigay. A survey of the major themes and ideas of the Bible, with special attention paid to the contributions of archaeology and modern Biblical scholarship, including Biblical criticism and the response to it in Judaism and Christianity.

151. (COML057, NELC156, RELS027) Great Books of Judaism. (A) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Stern. The study of four paradigmatic classic Jewish texts so as to introduce students to the literature of classic Judaism. Each text will be studied historically -- "excavated" for its sources and roots -- and holistically, as a canonical document in Jewish tradition. While each text will inevitably raise its own set of issues, we will deal throughout the semester with two basic questions: What makes a "Jewish" text? And how do these texts represent different aspects of Jewish identity? All readings will be in translation.

SM 152. (NELC152, RELS127) Introduction to Jewish Law. (A) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Eichler. Freshman Seminar. An introduction to the literary and legal sources of Jewish law within an historical framework. Emphasis will be placed upon the development and dynamics of Jewish jurisprudence, and the relationship between Jewish law and social ethics.

SM 153. (COML257, NELC158, NELC458, RELS223) Jewish Literature in the Middle Ages. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Stern. An introduction to medieval Hebrew literature, with special attention to poetry, narrative, and the interpretation of the Bible, and to the varieties ofJewish experience that these literary works touch upon. All readings in translation.

154. (COML282, NELC159) Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture in Translation. (M) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Gold. The course is taught in English and the texts are in translation. The content of this course changes from year to year, and therefore, students may take it for credit more than once.

This course focuses on Israeli literature and cinema, examining works of fiction, poetry and film created by men and women from 1948 to the present. Although Israeli works constitute more than half of the courses material, European and American film and fiction often play comparative roles. This course analyzes how the media of film,poetry and prose use their respective languages to reconstruct experience and memory. It analyzes the artistic works using theorectical, literary and psychological methods. Additionally, many of the works are placed, and therefore discussed, against a backdrop of national, collective, or historical conflicts. Throughout the various semesters of this course, it has dealt with canonic works representative of the central Israeli narrative, but also responded to previously unheard Israeli literary and cinematic expressions. Past topics have included: "Childhood in Times of Peace and War;" "War and Love: Heroism and Anti-Heroism in Israeli Writings;" "Fantasy, Dreams & Madness in Hebrew Literature: Escape or Solution;" "The Many Voices of Israel: The 'Other';" "The Holocaust in Literature and Film"

156. (HIST139, NELC051, NELC451, RELS120) History of Jewish Civilization I--Jews and Judaism in Antiquity: From the Bible to the Talmud. (A) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Staff. An overview of Jewish culture and society in its Biblical, Hellenistic-Roman, and Rabbinic settings. It will trace the political, social, and intellectual-religious development of Judaism from its biblical beginnings through the Second Temple period to the formation of the rabbinic class and its literature. Some topics to be covered include: Biblical thought and religious practice; varieties of Judaism, the Dead Sea sect and the birth of Christianity; the emergence of the rabbinic class and institutions; Babylonian Judaism and the composition of the Talmud; the role of the Geonim and the solidification of normative religious practice.

157. (HIST140, NELC052, NELC452, RELS121) History of Jewish Civilization II: The Middle Ages. (A)History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Ruderman. Exploration of intellectual, social, and cultural developments in Jewish civilization from the dawn of rabbinic culture in the Near East through the assault on established conceptions of faith and religious authority in 17th century Europe. Particular attention will be paid to the impact of Christian and Muslim "host societies" on expressions of Jewish culture.

L/R 158. (HIST141, NELC053, NELC453, RELS122) History of Jewish Civilization: 17th Century to the Present. (B) History & Tradition Sector. All classes. Nathans. This course offers an intensive survey of the major currents in Jewish culture and society from the late middle ages to the present._ Focusing upon the different societies in which Jews have lived, the course explores Jewish responses to the political, socio-economic, and cultural challenges of modernity._ Topics to be covered include the political emancipation of Jews, the creation of new religious movements within Judaism, Jewish socialism, Zionism, the Holocaust, and the emergence of new Jewish communities in Israel and the United States. No prior background in Jewish history is expected.

171. (HEBR151, HEBR451, JWST471) Elementary Biblical Hebrew I. (A) Carasik. Prerequisite(s): For the second semester: Completion of the first semester or permission of the instructor. This course is an introduction to Biblical Hebrew. It assumes no prior knowledge, but students who can begin to acquire a reading knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet before class starts will find it extremely helpful. The course is the 1st of a 4-semester sequence whose purpose is to prepare students to take courses in Bible that demand a familiarity with the original language of the text.

173. (HEBR153, HEBR453, JWST473) Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I. (A) Carasik. Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of HEBR 152 or permission of the instructor. This course will focus on using the grammar and vocabulary learned at the introductory level to be able to read Biblical texts independently and take advanced Bible exegesis courses. We will also work on getting comfortable with the standard dictionaries, concordances, and grammars used by scholars of the Bible. We will concentrate on prose this semester, closely reading Ruth, Jonah, and other prose selections. We will begin to translate from English into Biblical Hebrew, and there will also be a unit on the cantillation/punctuation marks used in the Bible. A suitable entry point for students who know modern Hebrew or have previously learned Biblical Hebrew in a less demanding framework.

179. (ENGL079) Jewish-American Literature. (M) Staff. From vaudeville comedy to modernist poetry, from Tin Pan Alley to the postwar novel, from Yiddish theater to midrashic approaches to literary interpretation, Jewish American literature and thought have been central to, and on the cutting edge of, the fabric of American culture -- high, low, and, especially, in between. This course will examine the many facets of Jewish American literature, both secular and observant, assimilationist and particularist -- from films such as The Jazz Singer (1927) to the fiction of Roth and Bellow to the poetry of Bob Dylan and Adrienne Rich. While we will focus on significant works of fiction and poetry, we also will read within the wider world of philosophy, criticism, radio, film, theater, and television that surround them. See the English Department's website at www.english.upenn.edu for a description of the current offerings.

199. Directed Readings. (C) Staff. A tutorial under the direction of a member of the Jewish Studies Program faculty. Student and faculty member will create a reading list designed to achieve specific goals. The students will meet regularly with the faculty member and submit written assignments. Prior approval and sponsorship by a Jewish Studies Program faculty member is needed to take the course.

200. (EDUC200) Teaching Jewish Texts. (M) Reiss-Medwed. This course is designed to provide you with opportunities to develop the intellectual and practical tools and skills crucial to teaching Jewish texts. We will focus on two main questions over the course of the semester. First, what does learning entail, and what does it mean to "know" something? Second, what do teachers need to do to prepare content for teaching? How is this different from what one does to learn content oneself? How do teachers move from thinking about content, to designing lessons, to creating ways to assess their students? This course will focus on the teaching of Humash and rabbinic texts. The ability to read these texts in the original is strongly desirable.

SM 201. (HIST201) Major Seminar in History: Europe Before 1800. (C) Staff.

SM 202. (HIST202, JWST502, RELS207) Major Seminar in History: Europe After 1800. (C) Staff.

203. (EDUC245) Jewish Education and Developmental Psychology. (M) Staff. Prerequisite(s): No previous background in psychology or Jewish education is required for the course. Students will be introduced to pertinent material from both fields through the class. Education, to be successful, must be closely attuned to the psychological development of students. This course applies theories and empirical data from the field of lifespan developmental psychology to issues in Jewish education. For example, how can contemporary research on spiritual development inform the teaching of Jewish prayer and theology at different ages? What should educators in Jewish settings consider about adolescent social learning when they plan their curricula and programs? What are the implications of recent research on adult development for adult Jewish learning? Students will have opportunities to observe learners in a variety of Jewish education settings.

SM 208. (ANCH208, CLST208, NELC288, RELS219) Jerusalem: Jews, Christians and the Struggle for the Holy City in Late Antiquity. Staff. (Jerusalem between Its Demise as a Jewish Center and Its Appropriation by the Church, 1st - 5th centuries CE) This course examines the role of the city of Jerusalem within the ongoing polemics and dialogue between Christianity and Judaism in Late Antiquity. The seminar focuses on the holy city of Jerusalem, exploring the events leading to its demise in 70 CE at Roman hands and its fate in the centuries that followed. We will examine the complex history and symbolic legacy of the city in the Jewish and Christian imaginations--from the formative period of early Christianity when Jerusalem was at the forefront of contention between the two groups, to the relative demise of attention to the city in Jewish and Christian thought during the 2nd and 3rd centuries under pagan Roman rule, to the revival of interest in the 4th century under Roman Emperor Constantine, with the appropriation of Jerusalem as a Christian city in a Christian world. Following the fascinating transmutations in the history of the holy city, this course explores the exchange of ideas between adherents of both Judaism and Christianity in this ancient cradle of their pasts.

SM 225. (NELC251, RELS225) Introduction to the Dead Sea Scrolls. (M) Staff. Exploration of the issues relating to the identification and history of the people who produced and used these materials as well as the claims made about the inhabitants of the Qumran site near the caves in which the scrolls were discovered, with a focus on what can be known about the community depicted by some of the scrolls, its institutions and religious life, in relation to other known Jewish groups at that time (the beginning of the common era). This will involve detailed description and analysis of the writings found in the caves -- sectarian writings, "apocrypha" and "pseudepigrapha," biblical texts and interpretations.

SM 227. (RELS227) Modern Jewish Thought. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Through a reading of such thinkers as Martin Buber, Gershom Scholem and Franz Rosenzweig, the course will address some of the fundamental issues in modern Jewish thought and experience.

SM 239. (PHIL239) The Golden Age of Jewish Philosophy. (M) Manekin. The course will examine three hundred years of Jewish philosophy from Maimonides to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain. Attention will be paid to Maimonides and the post-Maimonidean thinkers Abner of Burgos. Moses of Narbonne, Levi Gersonides, Hasdai Crescas, and Joseph Albo. Topics to be discussed will be: the existence of God, creation, providence, prophecy, free will, and Divine knowledge. Of special interest will be the increasing influence of Christian philosophy on Jewish philosophy during this period.

251. (ANTH235, NELC255, RELS215) Archaeology and Society in the Holy Land--4,500 BCE - 500 BCE. (M) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in History & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. This course will survey the archaeological history of the southern Levant (Israel, West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, southern Lebanon and Syria) from the early complex societies of the Chalcolithic through the demise of the biblical early complex societies of the Chalcolithic through the demise of the biblical states of the Iron Age. It will focus in particular on the changing organization of society through time, using excavated evidence from burials, houses, temples and palaces to track changes in heterogeneity, hierarchy and identity. In following the general themes of this course, students will have opportunity to familiarize themselves with the geographic features, major sites and important historical events of the southern Levant. Class materials will be presented in illustrated lectures and supplemented by the study of artifacts in the University Museum's collections. Anyone interested in a better understanding of the land that has given us both the "Old Testament"/TaNak and so much of our daily news, should find much of interest in this course.

SM 255. (COML380, NELC250, NELC550, RELS224) The Bible in Translation. (C) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Tigay. May be repeated for credit. Careful textual study of a book of the Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament") as a literary and religious work in the light of modern scholarship, ancient Near Eastern documents, and comparative literature and religion. The book varies from year to year.

256. (COML228, HEBR250, RELS220) Studies in the Hebrew Bible. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Tigay. Fluency in reading and translating Biblical Hebrew and prior study of the Bible in the original, at a high school or college level.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the methods and resources used in the modern study of the Bible. To the extent possible, these methods will be illustrated as they apply to a single book of the Hebrew Bible that will serve as the main focus of the course.

The course is designed for undergraduates who have previously studied the Bible in Hebrew either in high school or college. It presupposes a working knowledge of Biblical Hebrew grammar.

SM 257. (HEBR257, RELS226) Studies in Rabbinic Literature. (D) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Stern. Prerequisite(s): Students must be able to read an unpointed Hebrew text.

An introduction to the modern study of Rabbinic literature. Topics range from Midrash to Talmud. No previous background in Rabbinic literature is required but students must be able to read unpointed Hebrew texts.

SM 258. (FOLK258, HEBR258, NELC285, RELS228) Studies in Medieval Hebrew Literature. (A) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Stern. Prerequisite(s): Reading knowledge of Hebrew.

This course introduces students to medieval Jewish literature and to the various modern methods and critical approaches--cultural history, literary theory, codicology, the comparative history of religions that have been developed to study the literature and its cultural meaning. Texts studied will vary from semester to semester, and will include medieval Hebrew poetry, both religious and secular, Biblical exegesis, philosophical and ethical texts, and historiographic works.

SM 259. (COLL227, COML266, HEBR259, HEBR559) Introduction to Modern Hebrew Literature. (A)Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Gold. Prerequisite(s): Near-advanced or advanced knowledge of Hebrew. The content of this course changes from year to year; and, therefore, students may take it for credit more than once. This course is designed as a first course in Hebrew and Israeli literatures in their original forms: no re-written or reworked texts will be presented. It aims to introduce major literary works, genres and figures, Texts and discussions will be in Hebrew. Depending on the semester's focus, fiction, poetry or other forms of expression will be discussed. This course is meant to provide methods for literary interpretation through close reading of these texts. Personal, social, and political issues that find expression in the culture will also be examined. Past topics include: "Poems, Song, Nation;" Israeli Drama," "The Israeli Short Story;" Postmodernist Israeli Writing;" and "Israel through Poets' Lenses."

Fall 2006: This course concentrates on contemporary Israeli short stories, post-modernist as well as traditional, written by male and female authors. The diction is simple, often colloquial, but the stories reflect an exciting inner world and a stormy outer reality. For Hebrew writers, the short story has been a favorite genre since the Renaissance of Hebrew literature in the 19th century until now, when Hebrew loiterature is vibrant in a country where Hebrew is spoken. The lion share of the course focuses on authors who emerged in the last 25 years like Keret, Kastel-Bloom, Taub.

260. (COML283, FOLK280, NELC258, RELS221) Jewish Folklore. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in History & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. 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 relating to both earlier and later periods.

261. (ENGL079, GRMN261, GRMN263) Topics in Jewish-American Literature. (M) Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Hellerstein. From the 1922 silent film "Hungry Hearts" through the first "talkie," "The Jazz Singer," produced in 1927, and beyond "Schindler's List," Jewish characters have confronted the problems of their Jewishness on the silver screen for a general American audience. Alongside this Hollywood tradition of Jewish film, Yiddish film blossomed from independent producers between 1911 and 1939, and interpreted literary masterpieces, from Shakespeare's "King Lear" to Sholom Aleichem's "Teyve the Dairyman," primarily for an immigrant, urban Jewish audience. In this course, we will study a number of films and their literary sources (in fiction and drama), focusing on English language and Yiddish films within the framework of three dilemmas of interpretation: a) the different ways we "read" literature and film, b) the various ways that the media of fiction, drama, and film "translate" Jewish cultue, and c) how these translations of Jewish culture affect and are affected by their implied audience.

SM 262. (CINE330, ENGL261) Jewish Literature in Translation. (M) Staff. The course explores an aspect of 20th-century literature intensively; specific course topics will vary from year to year.

265. (GRMN265, GRMN565, HIST265, JWST465) Yiddish in Eastern Europe. (C) May be counted as a General Requirement Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Hellerstein. All readings and lectures in English.

This course presents the major trends in Yiddish literature and culture in Eastern Europe from the mid-19th century through World War II. Divided into four sections - "The Shtetl," "Religious vs. Secular Jews," "Language and Culture," and "Confronting Destruction" - this course will examine how Jews expressed the central aspects of their experience in Eastern Europe through history, literature (fiction, poetry, drama, memoir), film, and song.

299. Independent Study. (C) Staff. An independent study course culminating in a final written project. Prior approval and sponsorship by a member of the Jewish Studies Program faculty is needed to take the course.

SM 320. (JWST520, NELC454, RELS321, RELS520) Spirit and Law. (M) 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.

352. (HEBR357, HEBR657, JWST552) Classical Midrash & Aggadah. (D) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Stern. Prerequisite(s): Students must be able to read an unpointed Hebrew text. Readings in Rabbinic lore from classical Midrashic texts.

355. (HEBR358, HEBR658) Siddur and Piyyut *. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Stern. Prerequisite(s): AMES 052 or equivalent. A study of the institution of Jewish prayer, its literature, and synagogue poetry. Texts will be read in Hebrew with supplementary English readings.

SM 356. (COML556, JWST555, NELC356, RELS418) Ancient Interpretation of the Bible. (M) Stern. Christianity and Judaism are often called "Biblical religions" because they are believed to be founded upon the Bible. But the truth of the matter is that it was less the Bible itself than the particular ways in which the Bible was read and interpreted by Christians and Jews that shaped the development of these two religions and that also marked the difference between them. So, too, ancient Biblical interpretation --Jewish and Christian-- laid the groundwork for and developed virtually all the techniques and methods that have dominated literary criticism and hermeneutics (the science of interpretation) since then.

The purpose of this course is to study some of the more important ways in which the Bible was read and interpreted by Jews and Christians before the modern period, and particularly in the first six centuries in the common era. We will make a concerted effort to view these interpretive approaches not only historically but also through the lens of contemporary critical and hermeneutical theory in order to examine their contemporary relevance to literary interpretation and the use that some modern literary theorists (e.g. Bloom, Kermode, Derrida, Todorov) have made of these ancient exegetes and their methods. All readings are in English translation, and will include selections from Philo of Alexandria, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Rabbinic midrash, the New Testament and early Church Fathers, Gnostic writings, Origen, and Augustine. No previous familiarity with Biblical scholarship is required although some familiarity with the Bible itself would be helpful.

SM 358. (FOLK355, NELC358) Readings in Jewish Folklore. (M) Ben-Amos. For the last forty five years folklorists in Israel have been recording and transcribing folktales told by Jews who came to Israel from many countries. In this course we will read - in Hebrew and English translation - tales that were submitted to the Israel Folktale Archives. We will try to interpret them by employing comparative, historical, literary and cultural analyses.

SM 359. (COLL220, COML359, HEBR359, HEBR659, JWST556) Seminar Modern Hebrew Literature. (B)Arts & Letters Sector. All Classes. Gold. Prerequisite(s): Near-advanced or advanced knowledge of Hebrew. This course fulfills the Language and Literature component of the English major. The purpose of this seminar is to analyze Hebrew and Israeli literary texts through the framework of various theoretical approaches. The original text will be our point of departure for both, the above analysis and our broader discussion of the writer's relationship to society and political issues. Prerequisite for this course is HEBR259 or permission of instructor, as the texts are more complex, linguistically and artistically. This course is designed for students seeking to further their acquaintance with this literary corpus and who are in advanced to native levels. Past topics include: "Hebrew Poetry and Identity: 1900-1948;" "He and She in Modern Hebrew Literature;" Rebel Children of Israeli Literature;" and Giants of Hebrew Literature."

L/R 380. (HIST380, RELS320) Modern Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. 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 Socialis thought, and Jewish thought in the 20th century, particularly in the conte of the Holocaust. Readings of primary sources including Mendelsohn, Geige Hirsch, Herzl, Achad-ha-Am, Baeck, Buber, Kaplan, and others. No previous background is required.

SM 390. Senior Research Seminar. (B) Staff. Permit required. JWST 390 is required of all students majoring in the Interdisciplinary Jewish Studies major, but all majors and minors in the various departmental programs are encouraged to take the seminar. Students will conduct independent research and complete a 20-30 page paper.

399. Senior Honors Thesis. (C) Staff. Jewish Studies Honors majors must take JWST 399 in which they will design, with the guidance of an advisor, an individualized directed reading program culminating in the writing of an honors thesis.

SM 414. (HIST214, JWST214) JEWS AND THE CITY.

SM 419. (NELC489, RELS419) Jewish-Christian Relations Through the Ages. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Fishman. This is a Bi-directional course which explores attitudes toward, and perceptions of, the religious "Other", in different periods of history. Themes include legislation regulating interactions with the Other, polemics, popular beliefs about the Other, divergent approaches to scriptural interpretation, and cross-cultural influences, witting and unwitting.

Different semesters may focus on Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, Early Modern period, or contemporary times. May be repeated for credit.

SM 426. (HEBR486, RELS426) Rabbinic Writers on Rabbinic Culture. (M) Fishman. Prerequisite(s): Reading knowledge of Hebrew. This course traces reflections on rabbinic culture produced within Jewish legal literature of the classic rabbinic period -Midrash, Mishna, and Talmud -- and in later juridical gemres -- Talmudic commentary, codes and responsa. Attention will be paid to the mechanics of different genres, the role of the underlying prooftext, the inclusion or exclusion of variant opinions, the presence of non-legal information, attitudes toward predecessors, balance between precedent and innovation.

430. (HIST150, JWST130, RELS124) American Jewish Experience. (A) Wenger. This course offers a comprehensive survey of American Jewish history from the colonial period to the present. It will cover the different waves of Jewish immigration to the United States and examine the construction of Jewish political, cultural, and religious life in America. Topics will include: American Judaism, the Jewish labor movement, Jewish politics and popular culture, and the responses of American Jews to the Holocaust and the State of Israel.

435. (GRMN425, GSOC433) Women in Jewish Literature. (M) Distribution Course in Arts & Letters. Class of 2009 & prior only. Hellerstein. This course will introduce undergraduate and graduate students of literature, women's studies, and Jewish studies to the long tradition of women as readers, writers, and subjects in Jewish literature. All texts will be in translation from Yiddish and Hebrew, or in English. Through a variety of genres -- devotional literature, memoir, fiction, and poetry -- we will study women's roles and selves, the relations of women and men, and the interaction between Jewish texts and women's lives. The legacy of women in Yiddish devotional literature will serve as background for our reading of modern Jewish fiction and poetry from the past century.

438. (YDSH108, YDSH508) Readings in Modern Yiddish Literature. (M) Hellerstein. Prerequisite(s): Reading knowledge of Yiddish. This course will survey modern Yiddish literature through readings of Yiddish prose and poetry from the end of the 19th century through the late 20th century. The class will be conducted in both Yiddish and English. Reading knowledge of Yiddish is required, although some texts will be available in English translation. Authors include I.L. Peretz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Moyshe-Leyb Halpern, and Kadya Molodowsky.

SM 448. (HIST448) Jews and Christians in the Renaissance. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Ruderman. Intensive study of aspects of Jewish cultural history during the periods of the Renaissance and Baroque [the period of the ghetto] in Italy, with special emphasis on Jewish-Christian interaction. Reading of primary documents in order to define the special character of the era in the Jewish experience. Topics include: Jewish/Christian polemics, the influence of rhetoric and humanism on Jewish culture, Jewish historical writing, Jewish and Christian study of magic and kabbalah, Jewish messianism, Jewish scientific writing, and more. Course will considerthe impact of the erection of the ghetto on the formation of Jewish religion and culture.

SM 449. (HIST449) Jewish Historical Writing. Ruderman. The seminar will consider Jewish reflections on the meaning of the past from the Bible until the present. It will present a survey of the history of Jewish historical writing including Josephus, medieval chronicles written both in the Moslem and Christian worlds, Jewish histories of the Renaissance and Early Modern Europe, and the rise of the academic study of Judaism in the 19th century. It will conclude with a consideration of modern and contemporary historical trends. The alleged tension between Jewish notions of memory and the modern writing of history, as articulated in Yosef Yerushalmi's well-known book Zachor, will be a consistent theme throughout the course. Considerable reading of primary sources. A reading knowledge of Hebrew is helpful but not required.

457. (ANEL575, ANEL576) Aramaic. (E) Golomb. Prerequisite(s): For the Spring semester, completion of the first semester or permission of the instructor. An introduction to the grammar of the Aramaic language with emphasis on developing skills in reading Aramaic texts.

465. (GRMN265, GRMN565, HIST265, JWST265) Yiddish in Eastern Europe. (C) Hellerstein. All readings and lectures in English. This course presents the major trends in Yiddish literature and culture in Eastern Europe from the mid-19th century through World War II. Divided into four sections - "The Shtetl," "Religious vs. Secular Jews," "Language and Culture," and "Confronting Destruction" - this course will examine how Jews expressed the central aspects of their experience in Eastern Europe through history, literature (fiction, poetry, drama, memoir), film, and song.

471. (HEBR151, HEBR451, JWST171) Elementary Biblical Hebrew I. (A) Carasik. Prerequisite(s): For the second semester: Completion of the first semester or permission of the instructor. This course is an introduction to Biblical Hebrew. It assumes no prior knowledge, but students who can begin to acquire a reading knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet before class starts will find it extremely helpful. The course is the 1st of a 4-semester sequence whose purpose is to prepare students to take courses in Bible that demand a familiarity with the original language of the text.

473. (HEBR153, HEBR453, JWST173) Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I. (A) Carasik. Prerequisite(s): Successful completion of HEBR 152 or permission of the instructor. This course will focus on using the grammar and vocabulary learned at the introductory level to be able to read Biblical texts independently and take advanced Bible exegesis courses. We will also work on getting comfortable with the standard dictionaries, concordances, and grammars used by scholars of the Bible. We will concentrate on prose this semester, closely reading Ruth, Jonah, and other prose selections. We will begin to translate from English into Biblical Hebrew, and there will also be a unit on the cantillation/punctuation marks used in the Bible. A suitable entry point for students who know modern Hebrew or have previously learned Biblical Hebrew in a less demanding framework.

SM 490. (GRMN581, HIST490, RELS429) Topics in Jewish History. (C) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Reading and discussion course on selected topics in Jewish history.

499. Independent Study. (C)

SM 512. (RELS512) Comparing Judaism to Christianity. (M) Staff.

SM 520. (JWST320, NELC454, RELS321, RELS520) Spirit and Law. (M) 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.

SM 523. (COML527, HEBR583, HIST523, RELS523) Studies in Medieval Jewish Culture. (A) Fishman. Prerequisite(s): Unless otherwise noted, reading knowledge of Hebrew is required. Primary source readings from a broad array of medieval Jewish genres. Topic will vary from one semester to another, for example: custom, gender, dissent.

SM 525. (COML580, RELS525) Varieties of Judaism in the Greco-Roman Era. (H) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Kraft. An examination of the varieties of Jewish Thought current from ca. 300 B.C.E. to ca. 200 C.E., and of the ways in which the early Christian church adapted and/or reacted to this Jewish heritage.

SM 533. (HIST533, RELS533) MEDIEVAL CHURCH HISTORY.

SM 540. (COML539, ENGL588, GRMN540) MEMORY. (M)

545. (HEBR555) Hebrew Epigraphy. (D) Staff. Ability to read an unpointed Hebrew text and facility in the Hebrew Bible. This course is a seminar covering inscriptions in Hebrew of the Biblical period, such as the Gezer Calendar, the Arad and Lachish letters, and numerous other inscriptions. We will read these texts and examine their linguistic features, but primarily we will focus on the ways these texts are useful in Biblical studies. The historical and linguistic information we glean from these texts, and the use of this information in studying Biblical history and interpreting the Hebrew Bible will be central to the course.

SM 550. (HEBR550, RELS521) Book of the Bible. (A) Tigay. Prerequisite(s): Thorough command of Biblical Hebrew and prior experience studying the Bible in the original in high school, college, or a comparable setting. Qualified undergraduates are welcome but must contact the instructor for permission to register and show how they meet the requirements. Language of instruction is in English.

In-depth study of a book of the Bible studied in the light of modern scholarship (including archaeology and ancient Near Eastern literature) as well as ancient and medieval commentaries. The book varies each semester and the course may be repeated for credit.

SM 551. (HIST550) Topics in Jewish History. (C) Staff. Reading and discussion course on selected topics in Jewish history.

552. (HEBR357, HEBR657, JWST352) Classical Midrash and Aggadah. (M) Stern. Prerequisite(s): Students must be able to read an unpointed Hebrew text. See description for JWST 352.

SM 555. (COML556, JWST356, NELC356, RELS418) Ancient Interpretation of the Bible. (M) Stern. May be repeated for credit. See NELC 356 for description. Graduate option would require a lengthier research paper.

SM 556. (COLL227, COML359, HEBR359, HEBR659, JWST359) Seminar Modern Hebrew Literature. (M) Gold. Prerequisite(s): Near-advanced or advanced knowledge of Hebrew. The content of this course changes from year to year; and, therefore, students may take it for credit more than once. The purpose of this seminar is to analyze Hebrew and Israeli literary texts through the framework of various theoretical approaches. The original text will be our point of departure for both, the above analysis and our broader discussion of the writer's relationship to society and political issues. Prerequisite for this course is HEBR259 or permission of instructor, as the texts are more complex, linguistically and artistically. This course is designed for students seeking to further their acquaintance with this literary corpus and who are in advanced to native levels. Past topics include: "Hebrew Poetry and Identity: 1900-1948;" "He and She in Modern Hebrew Literature;" Rebel Children of Israeli Literature;" and Giants of Hebrew Literature."

558. (ANEL572) Northwest Semitic Epigraphy. (M) Distribution Course in Hist & Tradition. Class of 2009 & prior only. Staff. Prerequisite(s): Ability to read an unpointed Hebrew text and facility in the Hebrew Bible. This is a seminar in which we read inscriptions in the Canaanite dialects other than Hebrew (Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite) as well as Aramaic and Philistine texts, which were written in the 10th-6th centuries BCE, and discovered in the last 140 years by archeologists. The course is a continuation of HEBR555, but can be taken independently.

SM 580. (COML578, ENGL592, CINE544, ITAL580) Holocaust in Italian Literature & Film. (M) Staff. Topics for discussion may vary from semester to semester. One possible topic is: "The Literature of the Holocaust in Italy". Taking Primo Levi as a focal point, the first part of the course will center on his work. Through the study of a range of texts drawn from different genres, using memoir, fiction, poetry, and historiography, we will consider major aspects such as incarceration in Auschwitz, the annihilation of the personality versus the "liberation" of poetic expression, linguistic plurality, miscomprehension as a basis for condemnation and death, the language of violence as a universal language and the jargon of the camps. Analysis of these themes will lead us to consider such issues as the drama of survival and the inadequacy of the therapy of writing. We will also look at other intellectuals, among them Jean Amery, who wrote about their experiences in the concentration camps, from the perspective of the question of limits of intellect and his theory of suicide. We will contrast the experience of Levi and Amery with that of Paul Celan. The second part of the course will deal both with the Italian women writing about the Holocaust (Edith Bruck, Giuliana Tedeschi) and Italian Jewish writers introducing the Holocaust in their fiction (Giorgio Bassani, Carlo Levi, Elsa Morante).

SM 620. (HIST620, RELS621, GSOC620) Modern Jewish History. (A) Staff. JWST 620 will be offered when the HIST 620 Colloquium subject matter is appropriate.

SM 650. (HEBR556, RELS620) Seminar in Biblical Studies. (A) Tigay. Prerequisite(s): Facility in Biblical Hebrew. In-depth study of a special topic or problem in biblical studies.

SM 655. (HEBR658) Siddur & Piyyut. (M) Stern. A study of the institution of Jewish prayer, its literature, and synagogue poettry. Texts will be read in Hebrew with supplementary English readings.

699. Independent Study. (C) Staff.

SM 726. (ANTH726) Readings and Research in Near Eastern Archaeology. (M) Staff. May be repeated for credit. Advanced seminar for students wishing to pursue study of field data, methods, theoretical problems in archaeology of Near East.

SM 735. (RELS735) Seminar in Judaism and/or Christianity in the Hellenistic Era. (F) Kraft. Knowledge of Greek Presupposed. Student may enter either term. Selected topics from current research interests relating to early Judaism and early Christianity.

999. Independent Study. (C)