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JUDAIC STUDIES

School

Boston University Graduate Program in Religion

GRS RN628

Judaism in the Modern Period

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies

FA25

Encounters between Judaism and modernity from the Renaissance and Reformation; the Spanish expulsion and creation of Jewish centers in the New World; emancipation and its consequences; assimilation, Reform Judaism, Zionism, the American Jewish community, non-European communities, Jewish global migration, and modern antisemitism.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Steven Katz

TR

3:30PM-4:45PM

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N/A

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1416

Ancient Jewish Wisdom Literature

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies

FA25

A close critical reading and interpretation of works thought to derive from the Wisdom tradition of ancient Israel, principally in the Second Temple period. The workings of the world and the ways of God as they appear in works such as Proverbs, Job, Qohelet, Ben Sira, some Psalms, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Fourth Maccabees as well as narratives such as the Joseph story, Esther, and Daniel. Concludes with the early rabbinic Pirq� Avot. Egyptian and Mesopotamian antecedents and parallels briefly considered. Emphasis on matters of worldview and literary form. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1232.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Levenson

TR

10:30am-11:45am

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

N

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1232.

School

Boston University Graduate Program in Religion

GRS RN760

Seminar on the Holocaust

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies

FA25

This course will examine historical, ethical and religious issues arising from the Holocaust. We will discuss antisemitism and ideology; what communities were considered "other"; human motivation regarding collaborators, perpetrators and bystanders; the role of individuals, organizations and governments; the treatment of women; the ethics of resistance; the behavior of the Jewish Councils; and attitudes to the existence of God during and after the Holocaust. We
will also compare the Holocaust to contemporary crises now occurring around the world.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Steven Katz

M

2:30PM-5:15PM

Grading Option

Letter, P/F, Audit

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

N

Notes

N/A

School

Harvard Divinity School

HDS 1480

Prayer Book Hebrew and the History of Jewish Liturgy

BTI Category

Semester

Judaic Studies

FA25

Throughout most of Jewish history, the form of the Hebrew language that most Jews have encountered is the language of Jewish prayer found in the Siddur (Jewish Prayer Book), including but not limited to the daily prayers that structure lived Jewish time. Course offerings in Hebrew within universities like Harvard, however, are typically limited to Biblical Hebrew and Modern Hebrew, with not much in between. Despite its centrality to Jewish life, the Siddur has received far less academic attention than the Bible and the Talmud. This course combines close reading of such materials in Hebrew with analysis of Jewish prayer from both historical and phenomenological perspectives. Students are required to have some background in Hebrew, equivalent to at least one year of biblical or modern Hebrew.

Professor

Class Day & Time

Magid

W

09:00am-11:00am

Grading Option

Letter

Credits

4

Online?

N

Professor Approval Req'd?

Y

Prerequisites?

Y

Notes

equivalent to at least one year of biblical or modern Hebrew

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