SYLLABUS
RLST 3100:
JUDAISM Professor
Ira Chernus
Fall 2010 Grad Assistant: Danielle Lancellotti
MWF 11:00 - 11:50, Hellems
199
The course will provide a basic introduction to the historical development of Judaism from its beginnings to the present day. We will focus on the religious experiences, worldviews, beliefs, behaviors, and symbols of the Jewish tradition, and on the historical forces--cultural, political, social, and economic--that have shaped Judaism. The course does not aim to reinforce or to change the student's feelings about Judaism, Jewish identity, or the Jewish people. It does aim to provide, as objectively as possible, a detailed understanding of the history of Judaism.
The following books will form the required reading for the course:
Raymond
SCHEINDLIN, A Short History of the Jewish
People
Jacob NEUSNER, A
Short History of Judaism
William
DOORLY, The Religion of Israel: A Short History
Barry W. HOLTZ, Back to the Sources
Lloyd P. GARTNER,
History of The Jews in Modern Times
The BIBLE (in a modern translation; e.g., New Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New Jewish Version, New American Bible, New International Version;
avoid King James Version and Authorized Version)
This syllabus and other information pertinent to the course can be found online at: http://www.colorado.edu/ReligiousStudies/chernus/3100/index.html
SCHEDULE OF READING
ASSIGNMENTS
Assignments are week by week. Please have the reading done by the Friday class for each week.
All assignments are by page number except in the Bible, where assignments are by book and chapter number.
August 27: Origins of Ancient Israel:
SCHEINDLIN viii-14; NEUSNER 1-10; DOORLY 1-11, 18-65; BIBLE: Exodus 15; Judges 4, 5; I Samuel 5,6
September 3: The Monarchy and the Early Prophets:
SCHEINDLIN end of 14-23; NEUSNER 17-21; DOORLY 66-143; HOLTZ 105-124; BIBLE: Psalms 2 ,6, 42 ,43, 93 99; Proverbs 16, 22; I Kings 17, 18; Amos 5, 8; Hosea 1-4; Isaiah 1, 2, 6, 10
September 10: Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History:
NEUSNER 21 - 35; DOORLY 144 - 160, 12-17; HOLTZ 83 - 101;
BIBLE: Deuteronomy 6, 9, 11, 12, 14; Jeremiah 20, 30
September 17: Exile and Return:
SCHEINDLIN 25 - 33; DOORLY 163-196; HOLTZ 37-71; BIBLE: Genesis 12, 15, 22; Exodus 14, 19, 20; Job 1-3, 8, 9, 23, 38-42; Ezekiel 36, 37; Isaiah 40, 45, 49; Haggai 1
September 24: Persian and Hellenistic Eras:
SCHEINDLIN 33 - 49; NEUSNER 35 - 47; BIBLE: Nehemiah 8; Ezra 9, 10; Ecclesiastes 1-3; Daniel 6, 7, 12
October 1: Introduction to Rabbinic Judaism and the
Law:
SCHEINDLIN 51 - 69; NEUSNER 51 - 83, 216 - 224; HOLTZ 129 - 175
October 8: Prayer and Redemption in Rabbinic Judaism:
NEUSNER 84 - 139; HOLTZ 177 - 211
October 15: The Middle Ages, Jews and Muslims:
SCHEINDLIN 71 - 95; NEUSNER 140 - 145, 155 - 160; HOLTZ 213 - 226, 261 - 299
October 22: The Middle Ages, Jews and Christians:
SCHEINDLIN 97 - 136; NEUSNER 146 - 155, 161 - 164; HOLTZ 305 - 347; GARTNER 1-35
October 29: Hasidism and Origins of Modern Judaism:
SCHEINDLIN 149 - 171, 182 - 183; NEUSNER 164 - 182; GARTNER 61 - 133; HOLTZ 361 - 399
November 5: Reform Judaism, Neo-Orthodoxy, and
Conservative Judaism:
NEUSNER 182 - 192; GARTNER 134 - 161
November 12: Origins of Zionism and Its Many Forms:
SCHEINDLIN 137 - 147, 173 - 187, 217 - 224; GARTNER 162 - 201, 213 - 258; NEUSNER 192 - 201
November 19: Judaism in the Early 20th Century
and the Holocaust:
GARTNER 201 - 212, 258 - 266, 276 - 333, 347 - 376; SCHEINDLIN 187 - 215
December 3: Zionism and Israel:
NEUSNER 202 - 215; SCHEINDLIN 225 - 248; GARTNER 267 - 276, 333 - 346, 376 - 404, 421 - 436
December 10: Judaism in the U.S. and into the 21st
Century:
SCHEINDLIN 249 - 263; GARTNER 404 - 420
EVALUATION
Your grade in this course will be based on two take-home essay exams. The first exam will cover material studied through October 8. It will be due in class on Wednesday, October 13.
The second exam will cover material studied from October 11 through the end of the term. It will be due on Tuesday, Dec. 14. There will be NO in-class exams and NO in-class final exam.
Course requirements include occasional participation on an online discussion board. Each student will also be required to submit a question about the material, via email, at least once during the semester.
Details about both of these requirements will be given during the first week of class.
Ira Chernus: Monday and Wednesday, 12:30 - 1:30, or by appointment
Office: HUMN 284; phone: 492-6169; email: chernus@colorado.edu
Danielle Lancellotti: Monday 12:30 – 1:30, Wednesday 9:50 – 10:50, or by appointment
Office: HUMN 260; email: Danielle.Lancellotti@colorado.edu
c. 1000 BCE: Monarchy begins: David
becomes king, succeeded by his son Solomon
922: Dual Monarchy begins: northern kingdom of Israel
secedes; David’s descendants rule over southern kingdom of Judah
722: Israel destroyed by Assyrians; population
dispersed
586: Judah and Jerusalem temple destroyed by
Babylonians; population exiled
539: exiles allowed to return to Judah; Judah
province of Persian empire
515: Jerusalem temple rebuilt
333: Judah conquered by Greeks under
Alexander the Great
167 – 152: Maccabeean war leads to independent
state of Judah
64: Romans establish de facto
control over Judah
66 – 70 CE (AD): Jews rebel against Rome;
Jerusalem temple and last vestiges of Jewish independence destroyed; all land
of Israel becomes Roman province of Palastina
THE BOOKS OF THE HEBREW
BIBLE (TANAKH; OLD TESTAMENT)
5 BOOKS OF MOSES (Torah; Pentateuch)
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
(the 4 books above possibly based on 3 earlier documents, interwoven: J, E, P)
Deuteronomy
DEUTERONOMIC HISTORY
Joshua
Judges
I & II Samuel
I & II Kings
PROPHETS (Nevi’im)
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
12 minor prophets (including Amos, Hosea, Haggai, Joel, Jonah)
WRITINGS (K’tuvim)
Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel
Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles