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BTI Consortium | Last Updated November 14 - 9:00AM
JUDAIC STUDIES
School
Hebrew College
JTH719
Medieval Jewish Thought
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
We will examine the key triad God-Torah-Israel through the views of four seminal thinkers of the medieval period: Rashi, Maimonides (Rambam), Nahmanides (Ramban), and Halevi.
Rashi is the quintessential Rabbinic Jew, whose views are shaped by the world of Talmud and Midrash; Maimonides is arguably the Rabbinic tradition’s greatest philosopher-theologian as well as the master systematizer of Talmudic law; Nahmanides is a consummate Talmudist, Bible commentator, and kabbalist; Halevi is the romantic poet with a post-philosophical sensibility and passionate love of Israel’s land and Torah, defending the faith with eloquence and conviction.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Nehemia Polen
T
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
2
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hebrew College
JTH918
Contemporary Jewish Thought
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
This course has two components. In the first half of the semester we will explore American Jewish history focusing on themes of particular importance to rabbinical students like the emergence of denominations and the evolution of the American synagogue. The second half of the course is a survey of the seminal Jewish thinkers who wrote in an American context such as Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Joseph Soloveitchik, Judith Plaskow and others. We will ultimately be aiming to place our own historical moment and our own theologies within broader historical/theological frameworks.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dan Judson
T
11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
2
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hebrew College
EDU850
Foundations of Jewish Education
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
Jewish Education is a practical art that has a theoretical base with application to practice. It has roots in Western industrial schooling as well as traditional pedagogies of teaching and learning in rabbinic antiquity. Recent innovation has drawn upon social, emotional and spiritual modes of learning to redefine Jewish Education for the 21st century. Jewish Education is a vast field including all kinds of schooling, camping, experiential and wilderness learning as well as college campus and adult and community learning. Students will be introduced to relevant theories and key pedagogical methods in the field of Jewish education so that they become familiar with the discourse of the field and can be skilled, innovative and knowledgeable about Jewish teaching and learning. The course incorporates the ways in which ordination students will utilize educational frameworks and approaches in their specific clergy roles.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Michael Shire
T
2:30 - 4:00 pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
2
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Online, asynchronous, with monthly synchronous meetings via Zoom
School
Boston University Graduate Program in Religion
GRS RN 626
Jewish Mysticism
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
This course explores the rich world of Jewish Mysticism from its earliest roots to its contemporary expressions in the 21st century. We look at the interaction between Jewish mystics and major western schools of thought such as Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, and Sufism. The course also introduces students to the Kabbalistic tradition and its various historical manifestations. No prior knowledge of Hebrew or other themes in Jewish studies required. This course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Aesthetic Exploration, Teamwork/Collaboration.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Yair Lior
MWF
12:20-1:10pm
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
Grad/Undergrad Split
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 2050
Gender and Judaism in Modern America
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
Contemporary Jews are as likely to view their tradition as a source of oppressive gender roles as they are to see it as an inspiration to activism for feminism or as a resource for queer identities. This course follows the construction of Jewish gender beyond the stereotypes, sometimes in collision with modern gender norms, sometimes in accommodation, and sometimes in open rebellion. It considers challenges to both demographic and cultural reproduction that place pressure on personal decisions, group dynamics, identity, and intergroup relations for members of minority religions. By juxtaposing modern scholarship with religious texts addressing gender in Judaism, the course incorporates historical accounts of the anxieties and opportunities that accompanied the construction of modern Jewish gender identities as well as textual traditions opening alternative possibilities. -Gender as a key marker of group identity forms a central axis of inquiry through three case studies:
-Jewish masculinities, from ideals of Talmud study and military service to comic book superheroes
-Ultra-orthodox communities, in which the rejection of modern gender roles is a defining tenet
-Jews as critics of gender and sexuality, including feminist and trans engagement with Jewish traditionPedagogically, the course draws on historical approaches and on developments in non-halachic Torah study closely tied to changing conceptions of gender in Judaism. Rather than assuming a fixed set of Jewish teachings about gender that confronted non-Jewish gender systems with the advent of modernity and Americanization, it invites students to participate in the ongoing process of questioning the meaning of religious texts in relation to human experience. Guest interlocutor, Yakir Englander, will visit the class twice to introduce the project of reading classical Jewish texts in modern perspectives and the practice of havruta (text study in pairs or groups). A product of both a traditional yeshivah education and a doctorate in feminist theory, Englander combines these approaches to open the topic of gender and Judaism beyond Western academic approaches. Teaching Fellow Emily Rogal, HDS alum and Rabbinical student at Hebrew College, will also lead text study throughout the term. Jointly offered in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences as Religion 1256.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Ann Braude
W
4-6:30PM
Grading Option
Letter
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
Y
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
To enroll send a paragraph to Tracy_Wall@harvard.edu expressing your reasons for interest in the course and any relevant background. HDS students should apply as soon as possible but no later than Thursday, Jan. 20 and will be notified whether they have been admitted no later than Friday, Jan. 21. FAS students should apply by Jan. 18 and will be notified by Jan. 19.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1656
American Jews, Judaism, and the Challenges of Identity
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
American Judaism is a distinctive form of the historical Jewish experience. Jews arrived in America emancipated and began a long process of acculturation, curating a new sense of "identity" in a place some called "the New Promised Land." The Judaism cultivated here included adaptation to American Protestant religiosity and values, democracy, freedom of religion, social activism for other minorities, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, as well as the encounter with new religious movements (e.g. Transcendentalism, Pragmatism, New Thought, New Age, etc.). In this course we will examine the theoretical underpinnings and challenges of Judaism in the United States, addressing questions of identity, continuity, and survival. This is not a history course but rather a course focused on identifying the structures, fissures, and complexities of an American religion in perpetual transition.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Shaul Magid
W
1-3PM
Grading Option
N/A
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hebrew College
JTH838
Modern Jewish Thought
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
This course will explore the writings of major Jewish thinkers living in the modern era and place them in the context of their historical setting. The class will focus on the various ways these thinkers – from Mendelssohn to Buber – understood the dynamic relationship between inherited tradition and modern conceptions of religious life.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Dan Judson
R
2:30 – 4:00 pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
2
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Hebrew College
JTH630
Theology of the Jewish Year
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
The calendar, with its cycle of sacred observances, is the great teacher of Judaism’s practices, values and theology. Our study will explore key texts from the Bible to Hasidism, beginning with Shabbat, the core of sacred time, an embodied practice of immersive locatedness and emplacement that transforms somatic awareness with transformative effect. The holidays will be presented as an interplay between solar and lunar rhythms. For every holy day we will attempt to uncover the ideas that motivate the rituals and that transform ceremonies into spiritual practices. Hasidic texts will be read with an eye to interiority and the personal and collective quest for meaning.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Nehemia Polen
R
2:30 – 4:00 pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
2
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Requires Hebrew 8
School
Hebrew College
BIB716
The Prophets in Bible, Theology and Jewish Life
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
This course will introduce the major literary prophets, with special focus on Isaiah and Jeremiah. We will examine the place of the prophets in biblical history, their theological and political roles, and their enduring literary and moral stature. Major themes include the centrality of ethics and concern for the poor; attitudes toward Temple, ritual, and Torah; covenant, restoration, and the future of Israel. Readings from classical meforshim and modern scholars. Attention to the beauty and power of the Hebrew text will be a central emphasis. You will be asked to read with fluency, nuance and grasp of meaning.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Justin David
R
11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Grading Option
Letter or P/F
Credits
2
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
Y
Notes
Prerequisite: Hebrew 7 or above.
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1649
Sources of Jewish Spirituality
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
In the 11th century Rabbi Bahia Ibn Pakuda wrote a book called "Hovot Halevavot" -- duties of the heart. He wrote it to counteract the idea that Judaism was a tradition of practice and did not prescribe or evoke emotional and spiritual responses. Bahya and others made clear that Judaism has a long and rich spiritual tradition, which encompasses not only biblical and Talmudic texts, but mysticism, poetry, song, story, art and ritual objects. Tracing this from the Bible, we will explore how generations of poets, mystics, philosophers and artists have elaborated and innovated themes of the soul and its yearnings, seeking God, nature, relationship, depth theology, a sense of wonder, laughter and love. Questions of evil, the Hidden face of God, mystic ecstasy and insight, relations to other faiths and the foundational biblical stories and ideas that undergird these quests will be discussed, bringing us into practices and ideas current in present day Jewish life. Class will be a combination of lecture/discussion with both the midterm and final being a creative working of these themes orally or in writing.
Professor
Class Day & Time
David Wolpe
MW
10:30-11:45AM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1642
Exile, Diaspora, and Trauma in the Jewish Imagination
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
In this course we will examine the various iterations and motifs of exile, Diaspora, and trauma in the Jewish tradition from the Hebrew Bible and its reception to the advent of Zionism. The concept of exile (galut) is not only a description of the Jewish "state-of-being" but may be the very cornerstone upon which Judaism as we know is founded and continues to exist. While exile stands at the center of Jewish self-fashioning and ritual as a theological category, Diaspora (golah) is a more value-free historical term describing the dispersion of the Jews throughout the world. Tension between exile and Diaspora emerged with the advent of Zionism when questions of messianism problematized the concept of exile as an operational category. In addition, trauma filters through the entirety of the Jewish theological and historical experience as both a real and imagined category of identity and posture toward the world. All readings will be in translation.
Professor
Class Day & Time
Shaul Magid
M
12-2PM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
School
Harvard Divinity School
HDS 1416
Ancient Jewish Wisdom Literature
BTI Category
Semester
Judaic Studies
SP24
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 Pirqé 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
Jon Levenson
TR
10:30-11:45AM
Grading Option
Letter, P/F, Audit
Credits
4
Professor Approval Req'd?
N
Online?
N
Prerequisites?
N
Notes
N
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