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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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