Preliminary Course Offerings

MORNING COURSES
Sunday 2-4 pm and
Monday-Thursday 9 am-1 pm

Philosophy, Religious Experience, and Poetry:
The Writings of Judah ha-Levi
[DSJS text and concentration courses] (3 qh)
Edward Breuer

Judah Ha-Levi (1075-1141) was one of the most interesting and influential Jewish thinkers to emerge from medieval Spain. A philosopher with a soul of a poet, he gave sensitive expression to the temporal and existential torments of medieval Jews. At the same time, he offered a philosophically sophisticated critique of medieval Jewish rationalism. In this seminar, we’ll read some of his classical poems as well as his philosophical opus, the Kuzari. We’ll focus on subjects such as the relationship of philosophy and Torah, God in history, and the nature of prophecy. The aim of the course is to expose students to an outstanding medieval mind and to the complexity and profundity of medieval Jewish thought.

AFTERNOON COURSES
Sunday 4:15-6:15 pm and
Monday-Thursday 2-6 pm

The Golem Legend: Origins and Implications
[DJS or DSJS with advanced Hebrew]
(3 quarter hours)
Byron Sherwin 

Of all post-biblical Jewish legends, the legend of the Golem has been the most durable and influential. Its influence is found in a wide variety of areas: literature (novels, poetry, short stories, science fiction), music, theater, film, science, technology, bioethics, and computer science ... to name just a few. The Golem legend is of Talmudic and Midrashic origin, and was developed further in subsequent halakhic and Jewish mystical writings. A study of relevant classical Hebrew texts related to the Golem can serve as a model for how to bridge the gap between classical religious texts and cutting-edge contemporary issues, the conceptual and the applied, medieval magic and current biotechnology. Texts to be studied in class will include Talmudic and Midrashic excerpts and selections from Sefer Yetzirah, Sefer ha-Bahir, Maimonides, Meiri, Maharal, Nahmanides, Zvi Ashkenazi, Zadok of Lublin, and others. 

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