Introduction to the History of Judaism - Einzelansicht

PARTICIPANTS MEET BUILDING 2, ROOM 2.09

This survey class will introduce students to some of the central transformations in the religious and intellectual history of Judaism. We will explore the innovations of the Rabbinic era; the rise of rationalism and mysticism in the Islamic world; the development of medieval talmudism and scholasticism; the more open and ”scientific” period of the Renaissance; the haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment); the Hasidic movement, Orthodoxy and eastern European yeshivot; the reformist movements and ”modern” Judaism into the early 21th century. Throughout, we will consider general socio-political trends, attend not just to elite expressions but also to developments in the community at large, and track differences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic experiences.

The class will be conducted in English.

A final exam will be administered.