JS 110 CC: JEWISH TRADITIONS

How can an ancient religion be lived today? How can it encompass the various individuals and groups that identify as “Jewish”? Students will address these questions through an exploration of the history of Jewish texts, cultures, and societies from the biblical period to the present. Focusing on Jews and Judaism(s) in a global context, the course questions how Jews responded to the forces of modernity (individualism and nationalism) through the establishment of various sects and how, after the Holocaust, Ashkenazi Jews responded to the catastrophe by (re)establishing a state in Palestine. Students will examine how the responses to these events in turn shape Jewish cultures and societies. Students will read from Judaism’s legal, biblical, Talmudic, midrashic, and philosophical traditions and will explore the ways in which those traditions have influenced various contemporary expressions of Judaism. Both primary and secondary sources with different approaches to Judaism will be read as students explore 2000 years of Jewish traditions.