Introduction to the History of Judaism - Einzelansicht

This survey class will introduce students to some of the central transformations in the religious and intellectual history of Judaism. We will survey topics from the earliest beginnings of the Israelite people through today, including: biblical Israelite religion, the Second Temple period, the rise of Christianity, the rise of the Talmud(s) and the rabbinic academies, the rise of Sepharad (Spanish and Portuguese Jewry), the conversos, Inquisitions and Expulsions, the more open and “scientific” period of the Renaissance, Ghettos, the Haskala (Jewish Enlightenment) and emancipation, the Shoah/Holocaust and the founding of the State of Israel. Throughout, we will consider general socio-political trends, attending not just to elite expressions but also to developments in the community at large.

The class will be conducted in English.