Abstract
Should we say “Judaism” or “Judaisms”? During the more than 2,000 years of Jewish history, Judaism has been defined as a religion, a civilization, a nationality, an ethnicity, and a culture. In order to sort through all the aspects that make up these collective Judaisms, this course will be divided into three parts:
History – we will begin with the biblical roots of Judaism in the Ancient Near East, then trace the development of Judaism into the Modern period within Jewish communities of the US, Europe, and Israel, though we will also pay attention to the experience of Jews in the Middle East and North Africa. This overview of historical events and movements will give us the context for understanding changing beliefs and practices.
Beliefs - while Judaism is not a dogmatic religion with a defined creed of faith, we will still endeavor to delineate some major tenets of belief by examining foundational Jewish texts such as the Hebrew Bible and Talmud.
Practices – this part will be devoted to exploring the core practices of Jewish life and attempting to understand what, if anything, is axiomatic to all Judaism. Moreover, stress will be placed on those aspects, such as holidays and life cycle events, which are pertinent to understanding the Jewish communities that students might encounter in their lives.