Syllabus

"The Jewish People II: Jewish History from Medieval Times to the Present”

Judaic 102, section 1 (class #: 13679)

Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Spring 2007

Professor: Dr. Aviva Ben-Ur

Class Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-10:45 a.m.

Classroom: Tobin 304

Office: Herter Hall 731

Office Telephone: (413) 577-0649

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. and by appointment

E-mail: aben-ur@judnea.umass.edu

Course Description

Jews have always comprised a fraction of the world population.  Why are they worthy of study?  One of the reasons is their critical and disproportionate impact on the non-Jewish world.  Another is the fascinating internal diversity of the Jewish people, both ideologically and ethnically.  This course will explore Jewish civilization through the often overlapping lenses of religion and ethnicity.  Throughout the course, the Jews will also be considered as a culture and a civilization, with the gendered experiences of both Jewish men and women emphasized.  We will also consider the impact of Jewish communities on the non-Jewish host societies in which they settled. Through primary and secondary source readings, lectures, films, film and audio clips, maps, overhead visuals, a slide show, and class discussions, this course will cover the medieval through modern eras of Jewish history (315 C.E. to the present), and both the western and eastern hemispheres.

Course Requirements

Prerequisites

While there are no prerequisites for this course, “The Jewish People I” is recommended as preparatory background.  This is a university, not a seminary—you need not be of Jewish ancestry or religion to take and/or succeed in this course.  For those seeking a basic understanding of the Jewish religion, recommended reading is Rabbi Milton Steinberg’s Basic Judaism (“the essential book for both Jews and non-Jews eager to know more about one of the world’s great religions) (San Diego, New York, London: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1975).

Important note: this is not a course on the Jewish religion.  This is a course on nearly 2,000 years of Jewish history.  Some religious topics will be covered, of course, on Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Readings

Readings include the course textbook, Electronic Reserves texts, and documents and visuals posted to the class website.

Readings must be completed before the class session in which they are assigned.

Quizzes

Students will take six in-class quizzes on the readings, class website documents and visuals, outline maps on which students must identify regions or countries discussed in class, slide shows, lectures, films, and film and audio clips covered since the previous quiz.  Quizzes are always given on Tuesdays (weather permitting) and do NOT cover the readings due for the Thursday on which the quiz is given.  In the event of a canceled class, the quiz will be given during the following class meeting.  The quizzes last 40 minutes and class resumes after each quiz.

Students are permitted to drop one quiz (the lowest grade).  In addition, the last quiz (quiz #6, known as the “Bouncing Quiz”) can double for a previous quiz that earned a lower score than the last quiz.  For example, if a student earns 0, 80, 62, 79, 95, 98 on the six quizzes, the 0 will be dropped.  In addition, the last quiz, which in this hypothetical situation scored 98, will transform the 62 into a 98.  The final grade (not including engagement) will thus be a 90 (A-).  If the last quiz scores lower than any of the previous quizzes, it is either dropped (if it is the very lowest score), or averaged in along with the remaining 4 quizzes (if it is the second to lowest score) and will NOT count double.  For example, if the student earns a 0, 80, 62, 79, 95 and 51 on the quizzes, the 0 will be dropped.  In this case, the 51 would not bounce.  The remaining 5 scores will be averaged for a total of 73.4 (C-).  (Quizzes represent 80% of the final grade.)

Periodically in class, students will be given the opportunity to submit to the professor questions and/or short off-the-cuff essays relevant to the class. Relevant questions and outstanding essays—particularly those chosen to be answered in class, read aloud, or posted anonymously to the course website—will count towards the class engagement portion of the grade (20% of the final grade).  Within a week, students will know how many points they scored for each exercise, and whether or not they received full credit for each exercise.  But the value of these points relative to the 20% of their grade will not be calculated until the very end of the semester.  All of this information will be posted to the class website.  Finally, contributions to the class are encouraged.  If you read a relevant news item, have experienced something relevant, or would like to share your feedback about a certain lecture or reading, do share it with the professor by email or in person.  If I use it for this class or for my own research, you will receive engagement credit!

Succeeding in this Class

Think of this class as a job you love.  Just as missing workdays and neglecting to complete office work efficiently will harm your chances of promotion, so too will missing classes and not keeping up with the reading adversely affect your grade for this class.  Likewise, regular attendance and high quality performance on quizzes should help bring you the results you seek.  While I do my best to assist students in their academic performance, I cannot make predictions or promises about performance or final grades.  Students must take responsibility for their own learning.

Lectures are as important as readings.  Lectures reinforce the readings, and also add new material for which students are responsible.

If you have questions about your quiz or final grade in this class, you should first approach the T.A. in order to ensure that your grades were not improperly recorded.  If such a mistake did occur, the T.A. will contact the Professor immediately.  NEVER THROW AWAY YOUR CORRECTED QUIZZES.  You may need them in case of a grading error.

Missed Classes and Quizzes

You should attend class because you WANT to attend class.  Attendance will not be taken.  Come to class because you WANT to be there!

Students who must miss class for whatever reason (lab exams, University-sanctioned activities, such as athletics and field trips, illness, personal emergency) should get the notes from a reliable classmate.  For this purpose, make sure to exchange your phone number/email address with at least two fellow classmates.  THIS IS THE STUDENT’S RESPONSIBILITY.  In the case that a student cannot avoid missing a class, that student is still responsible for the material covered and for changes in the class schedule announced during that class and/or on the class website. 

Important note: there are no make-up quizzes, nor can a quiz be given early or late because of a special circumstance.  Students may drop one quiz (of the lowest grade) and the last quiz can replace the lowest scoring quiz (see above, “Quizzes”).  If you think you may miss more than one quiz, you should seriously consider dropping the course.  There are absolutely no make-up quizzes, even with an excused absence.  (See “Personal Problems” below.)

If students encounter a life crisis that interferes with their academic work they should inform their student Dean, who will then confidentially contact the Professor. 

Official Warning

Academic dishonesty (also known as “plagiarism” or “cheating”) is absolutely forbidden in any form.  This includes glancing at someone else’s paper during a quiz; bringing prepared answers and submitting them on one’s quiz; signing in, taking a quiz, or completing an engagement exercise for someone else; and communicating in any form during a quiz—including with a cell phone or pager—even after a quiz has been submitted.  DO NOT REACH INTO YOUR BAG WHILE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR QUIZ.  TURN OFF CELL PHONES BEFORE YOU ENTER THE CLASSROOM.  If you need to retrieve a pen/pencil during a quiz, raise your hand for permission.  Cell phones or beepers that go off during a quiz will be immediately confiscated.  Any student who commits academic dishonesty will receive an automatic “F” for the course.  There are absolutely no exceptions to this policy.  For details on Academic Dishonesty, refer to the 2006-2007 “Code of Student Conduct” handbook.

Course outlines will generally be posted to the class website the evening before each lecture.  Occasionally, due to unforeseeable circumstances, a course outline may be posted the day of the class.  Students are encouraged to print these out before class—this will make it unnecessary to copy the outline down by hand during the lecture.

In addition, documents or visuals will also be posted to this website and announced in class.  See the website for other pertinent information, such the syllabus, a course description, details on quiz format, study tips, and contact information and biographies of the Professor and T.A.  VISIT THE COURSE WEBSITE REGULARLY FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ON THE SYLLABUS AND CLASS!

The website address is: http://courses.umass.edu/juda102/

Receiving Extra Assistance

Teaching Assistant (T.A.)

The T.A. for this course is Joshua Bolton.

Office: 214 Hampshire House

Office Hours: Mondays and Tuesdays, 1:00-2:00 p.m. (or by appointment).  Students should count on him being available and in his office, but are encouraged to email/speak to him in person beforehand.

Email: jbolton@english.umass.edu

Learning Disabilities

Students with learning disabilities should immediately contact:

Disabilities Services

231 Whitmore Administration Building

University of Massachusetts

Amherst, MA 01003-9256

(413) 545-0892

DS@educ.umass.edu

DS will evaluate and diagnose students, and then contact the professor within the firstfew weeks of class.  The professor will not accept claims about learning disabilities unless they are documented by Disabilities Services.

Students with documented learning disabilities must submit a form to the Professor at least a week before each quiz if they are eligible for and would like an extended-time quiz. 

Getting Into This Class

This class fills up quickly and always reaches capacity.  There is no waiting list for this class.  However, students who are not registered for the class and would like to be, are encouraged to attempt to sign up for this class several times a day via SPIRE—there is much turnover during the Add/Drop period.  If you still fail to register, I do teach this class every semester.

Required Texts

1.  Ben-Ur, Aviva.  Electronic Course Page for “The Jewish People II.”  In this syllabus, the Electronic Course Page is designated as (EReserves)

The Electronic Course Page (EReserves) may be found at:

http://ereserves.library.umass.edu/

Click on the “Click Here for Course Readings!” link, and search for your course reading page using instructor or department name.

You will need a password, which will be distributed on the first day of class.  Please note that all letters in your password are lower-case, and that if you lose your password, you should get it from the Professor—THE LIBRARY WILL NOT DISTRIBUTE PASSWORDS.

You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer to read the PDF files. Acrobat Reader may be downloaded for free at:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

There is a “Troubleshooting” link on the electronic reserves home page.  Students may wish to refer to this page if they encounter difficulties.  There is a reporting form available on this page, as well as tips and contact information for support.  

DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS CLASS UNLESS YOU HAVE UNIMPEDED ACCESS TO THE WEB AND ABILITY TO USE ADOBE ACROBAT READER!

The following is available for $15.95 at Food for Thought Bookstore:

Raymond Scheindlin.  A Short History of the Jewish People (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).  In this syllabus, this book is designated as (RS).  Three copies are available on library reserves.

Food for Thought Bookstore

106 N. Pleasant St., Amherst

(413) 253-5432

Calculation of Grades

Six quizzes                                                                        80%

Class engagement                                                             20%

Note: points for any portion of the grade and/or the final grade may be deducted for class incivility.  See “Code of Student Conduct” Handbook.  (This rarely happens, as Judaic 102 students are generally wonderful.)

Class Schedule With Assigned Readings

Note: readings listed under a date are due on that date!  NOTE: ALWAYS REFER TO THE MAIN PAGE OF THE CLASS WEBSITE FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION.

Cultural note of interest: dates in parentheses are from the Hebrew calendar. 

Tuesday, January 30 (11 Shevat): Introduction—The Jews: A People, A Religion, A Civilization

No advanced readings required.  Read this syllabus carefully to decide if this class is right for you.  ENROLLING IN THIS COURSE MEANS YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR UNDERSTANDING AND COMPLETING COURSE REQUIREMENTS.

Assignment: Be sure to pick up, fill out, and return the student information form.  You will not receive a grade in this class unless you do so.

Optional: Harold Fisch, ed., The Holy Scriptures (Jerusalem: Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 1989), Selections from the Books of Genesis and Exodus, pp.11-18 and 63 to 87.  (EReserves)

Optional: Michael Paulson, “BC adds minor in Jewish studies: Program a rarity at Catholic college,” The Boston Globe (September 22, 2005).  Click here for text.

Thursday, February 1 (13 Shevat): Jews in the Roman Empire: Legal Status of the Jews and the Development of the Jewish Community in Exile

Various rabbinical authors.  A page from the Talmud, tractate Sukkot [Tabernacle].  Since this is in Aramaic and Hebrew you obviously don’t have to read it, but do be able to recognize and understand what it represents in general terms. (EReserves)

David B. Ruderman, “The Shaping of Traditions (First to Ninth Centuries),” etc., in William Hallo, et al., Heritage: Civilization and the Jews: Source Reader (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1984),pp.63-65. (EReserves)

Eleazar Ben-Yair’s speech at Masada (73 C.E.), as published in Flavius Josephus’s The Jewish War.  Click here for text.

Timeline of key events at Masada.  Click here for text.

St. Augustine. Excerpts from Contra Judaeos.  Note his theme: the mark of Cain.  Click here for text.

Saint John Chrysostom (c.347-407): a Homily Against the Jews.  Click here for text.

Chapter 3, “Roman Palestine and Sassanid Babylonia, 70 C.E.-632,” pp.51-69.  (RS)

Tuesday, February 6 (18 Shevat): Jews in the Islamic World

Norman A. Stillman, “The Koran on the Treatment of The People of the Book”, etc., in Norman A. Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1979), pp.149-151. (EReserves)

Chapter 4, “The Jews in the Islamic World: From the Rise of Islam to the End of the Middle Ages (632-1500),” p.71-last full paragraph of p.82.  (RS) 

Thursday, February 8 (20 Shevat): The “Golden Age” and Its “Golden Men”: Jews in Muslim Spain

Note: Monday, February 12 is the last day for all Undergraduate, Stockbridge, Continuing & Professional Education students to add or drop a course without record or to submit a pass-fail option.  It is also the last day for all graduate students to add or drop a course without record.

Lynn Hunt, “The Cairo Geniza”, in Lynn Hunt, et al., The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, (Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001), pp.320-321. (EReserves)

Benjamin R. Gampel.  “Jews, Christians and Muslims in Medieval Iberia: Convivencia Through the Eyes of Sephardic Jews,” in Vivian B. Mann, Thomas T. Glick, Jerrilynn D. Dodds, eds., Convivencia: Jews, Muslims, and Christians in Medieval Spain (New York: George Braziller in Association with The Jewish Museum, 1992), pp.11-20 (footnotes are on p.35). (EReserves)

Tuesday, February 13 (25 Shevat):Masters and Mistresses of Their Modest Domain: Jewish Autonomy in Medieval Europe

David Biale.  “Corporate Power in the Middle Ages,” in Power and Powerlessness in Jewish History (New York: Schocken Books, 1986), pp.58-86.  Footnotes are on pp.219-223. (EReserves)

Thursday, February 15 (27 Shevat): Women in the Medieval Jewish World

Quiz #1

Judith R. Baskin.  “Jewish Women in the Middle Ages,” in Judith R. Baskin, ed. Jewish Women in Historical Perspective (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1998), pp.101-120.  Footnotes are on pp.120-127. (EReserves)

Tuesday, February 20 (2 Adar): Jews and the Crusades

Jacob R. Marcus, ed.  “The Crusaders in Mayence” and “Rashi and Rashi’s Grandson and the Crusaders,” in Jacob R. Marcus, ed., The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book, 315-1791 (Cincinnati: The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1938), pp.115-120; pp.301-302; 304-305. (EReserves)

Pope Callixtus II (1119-1124) and his papal bull: Sicut Judaeis (“And thus to the Jews”).  Click here for text.

Thursday, February 22 (4 Adar): AOppression and Creativity in Medieval Christian Europe—Blood Libels, Expulsions, and Jewish Vitality

Various rabbinical authors.  A page from the Talmud, tractate Sukkah [Tabernacle].  Important: this image was also assigned in the first week of class.  Again, since this is in Aramaic and Hebrew you obviously don’t have to read it, but do be able to recognize and understand what it represents in general terms.  (EReserves)

The ethical wills of Judah ibn Tibbon (12th century) and Eleazar of Mayence (14th century).  Click here for text. 

Ephraim ben Jacob, report on the ritual murder accusation at Blois, France (May, 1171).  Click here for text.

Pope Gregory X: Letter on Jews (1271-76) - Against the Blood Libel.  Click here for text.

The Black Death and the Jews, 1348-1349.  Click here for text.

Tuesday, February 27 (9 Adar): Iberian Jews (Spain and Portugal): Forced Conversion, Expulsion, and Exile

David Raphael, ed.  “The Edict of Expulsion (Spain);” Isaac Abravanel, “Introduction to the Former Prophets” and ”Andrés Bernáldez, “How the Jews Were Ejected From Spain,” in David Raphael, ed., The Expulsion 1492 Chronicles: An Anthology of Medieval Chronicles Relating to the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal (North Hollywood, California: Carmi House Press, 1992), pp.189-193; 51-54; top of p.61 and 69-76 (read in this order).  (EReserves)

The Association Press, “Builders Reveal Hidden Synagogue and Dark Era of Portugal’s Past” (December 26, 2005).  Click here for text.

Thursday, March 1 (11 Adar): New Christians in Exile: The Sephardic Jews of Amsterdam

Quiz #2

Yosef Kaplan.  “The Travels of Portuguese Jews From Amsterdam to the ‘Lands of Idolatry’ (1644-1724),” in Yosef Kaplan, ed., Jews and Conversos: Studies in Society and the Inquisition (Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies and The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1985), pp.197-211.  (EReserves)

Cultural note of interest: the Jewish holiday of Purim falls this year on Saturday evening March 3-Sunday evening March 4.

Tuesday, March 6 (16 Adar): Jews in the Ottoman Empire: Romaniote, Mizrahim, Sephardim and Ashkenazim

Chapter 6, “Jews in the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East,” pp.122-137 and p.147.  NOTE: SKIP SECTION TITLED “SAFED” ON P.135-136.  Optional pages, which deal with the modern period, are: 138-146.  (RS)

Thursday, March 8 (18 Adar): The Kabbalah of Isaac Luria and Shabbetai Zvi

Friday, March 9 is the last day to drop with a DR.

Jacob R. Marcus, ed.  “Isaac Luria,” and “Shabbethai Zebi, False Messiah,” in Jacob R. Marcus, ed., The Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book, 315-1791 (Cincinnati: The Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1938), pp.256-259; 261-269. (EReserves)

Chapter 6, “Safed,” read only pp.135-136. (RS)

“Campus Briefs: A Chocolate Messiah,” New Voices (October 2001).  Click here for text or visit: http://newvoices.org/cgi-bin/articlepage.cgi?id=87

Tuesday, March 13 (23 Adar): The Jews in Renaissance Italy

Lynn Hunt, et al.  “Renaissance,” in Lynn Hunt, et al., The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures, (Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001), p.492.  (EReserves)

William Hallo, et al.  “A Handbook of Hebrew Rhetoric in the Setting of Renaissance Italy” and “The Burning of the Talmud in Italy,” in William Hallo, et al., Heritage: Civilization and the Jews: Source Reader (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1984),pp.159-middle of p.163; pp.169-top of 174.  (EReserves)

Thursday, March 15 (25 Adar): The Jews and the Protestant Reformation

Quiz #3

Martin Luther on the Jews: That Jesus Christ Was Born a Jew (1523) and Concerning the Jews and Their Lies (1543).  Click here for text.

Reminder: Wednesday, March 29 is Mid-Semester Date (Last day to drop with “W” - Undergraduate, Stockbridge, Continuing Education)

Spring break begins after class on March 17.

March 17-March 25: Spring break

Tuesday, March 27 (8 Nissan): The Jews of the Caribbean: Slaves, Sugar and Salvation in the Context of the New World

Last day for Undergraduate, Stockbridge, and Continuing & Professional Education students to drop courses with a “W” (withdrawn).

slide presentation

Z. Loker and R. Cohen.  “An Eighteenth-Century Prayer of the Jews of Surinam,” in Robert Cohen, ed., The Jewish Nation in Surinam, ed. (Amsterdam: S. Emmering, 1982), 1; 75-87.  (EReserves)

Thursday, March 29 (10 Nissan): “Here We Stay”: The Jews of Poland

Diane K. Roskies and David G. Roskies, eds.  “How Jews First Came to Poland: Three Legends,” in Diane K. Roskies and David G. Roskies, eds., The Shtetl Book (New York: Ktav Publishing House), pp.xi-xiii.  (EReserves)

Isaac Lewin.  “The Origin and Rise of the Jewish Community in Poland” (chapter 1), in The Jewish Community in Poland: Historical Essays (New York: Philosophical Library, 1985), pp.1-16.  (EReserves)

Tuesday, April 3 (15 Nissan)

No class: First day of Pesach (the Jewish holiday of Passover)

Thursday, April 5 (17 Nissan): Hasidim and Mitnagdim (Jewish Pietistic Mystics and their Opponents)

Quiz #4

Martin Buber.  “Introduction” and “Israel Ben Eliezer, The Baal Shem Tov,” in Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim: Early Masters (New York: Schocken, 1975 [1947]), pp.1-14 and pp.35-48. (EReserves) 

Chapter 8, “The Hasidic Masters,” read only pp.182-183.  (RS)

Tuesday, April 10 (22 Nissan)

No class: Last day of Pesach (the Jewish holiday of Passover)

Thursday, April 12 (24 Nissan): Enlightenment and Emancipation

“The Process of Political Emancipation in Western Europe, 1789-1871,” in Paul R. Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980), pp.112-113; pp.118-126 and pp.128-136. (EReserves)

Tuesday, April 17 (29 Nissan)

No class: Monday schedule is followed

Thursday, April 19 (Rosh Hodesh Iyar): The Jews of Germany and Germanic Lands

William Hallo, et al., eds.  “The Opening of Glückel of Hameln’s Diary”, in William Hallo, et al., eds., Heritage: Civilization and the Jews, Source Reader (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1984), pp.204-207.  (EReserves)

William Hallo, et al., eds.  “The Culmination of Emancipation in Germany,” in William Hallo, et al., eds., Heritage: Civilization and the Jews, Source Reader (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1984), p.226-top of p.227. (EReserves)

Bertha Pappenheim.  “Excerpts from On the Condition of the Jewish population in Galicia,” and “Impressions of a Voyage and Sisyphus-Arbeit,” in Melinda Given Guttman, The Enigma of Anna O.: A Biography of Bertha Pappenheim (Wickford, R.I.: Moyer Bell, 2001), 153-168 and 193-213.  (EReserves)

Tuesday, April 24 (6 Iyar): The Jews of Russia and Eastern Europe and “Ashkenazi Intelligence”

Chapter 8, “The Jews of Eastern Europe and the United States,” read only pp.172-187.  (RS)

Nicholas Wade, “Researchers Say Intelligence and Diseases May Be Linked in Ashkenazic Genes,” New York Times (Science page, June 3, 2005).  Click here for text.

Madeleine Elfenbein, “The Ashkenazi Advantage: It’s Un-American,” New Voices (July 2005).  Click here for text or visit: http://newvoices.org/cgi-bin/articlepage.cgi?id=409

Thursday, April 26 (8 Iyar): The Rise of Zionism

Quiz #5

Chapter 10, “Zionism and the Origins of the State of Israel,” read only pp.216-224.  (RS)

Tuesday, May 1 (13 Iyyar): The Holocaust, Holocaust Denial, “Holocaust Industry,” and “Holocaust Fatigue”

Chapter 9, “The Holocaust.”  (RS)

Peter Novick.  “Introduction” and “We Are Not Equipped to Answer,” in The Holocaust in American Life, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), pp. 1-15 and 267-281.  (EReserves)

Thursday, May 3 (15 Iyar): The Establishment of the State of Israel: Reality, Myth and Counter-Myth (1917-1948)

Chapter 10, “Zionism and the Origins of the State of Israel,” read only first full paragraph of p.224 through p.248  (RS)

Israel’s Declaration of Independence (May 14, 1948).  Click here for text.

Tuesday, May 8 (20 Iyar): Leaving the Fold: American Jews in New Religions and Sects

Selengut, Charles.  “American Jewish Converts to New Religious Movements,” The Jewish Journal of Sociology 30:2 (December 1988): 95-109. (EReserves)

Shea Hecht.  Confessions of a Jewish Cultbuster (Brooklyn: Tosefos Media, 1985), 20-32 and 47-55. (EReserves)

Gilbert Kollin.  “Perversity,” Jewish Spectator 44 (1979): 61-62. (EReserves)

Thursday, May 10 (22 Iyar): “The Changing Face of American Jewry”: Multi-Cultural/Multi-Racial Jews

Gabriel Rothblatt, “Mixed Heritages: Finding Rejection and Inspiration,” New Voices (April 2002).   Click here for text or visit: http://newvoices.org/cgi-bin/articlepage.cgi?id=52

Rebecca Meiser, “Chinese Are Jews Too: A Chinese-American Jewish scholar puts the spotlight on Jewish diversity,” New Voices (November 2001).  Click here for text or visit: http://newvoices.org/cgi-bin/articlepage.cgi?id=70

Michael Lukas, “Is being “half-Jewish” the wave of the future?,” New Voices (April 2002). Click here for text or visit: http://newvoices.org/cgi-bin/articlepage.cgi?id=43Divisible Jewishness

Optional: A Judaic 102 student's family story of Jewish identity. Click here for text.

Tuesday, May 15 (27 Iyar): The “Bouncing” Quiz

Quiz #6.  You may use the entire class session for this quiz. 

Professor submits final grades no later than May 29 at noon.  Important note: students should carefully review the calculation of their final grades.  If you think an error has been made, email the professor.  Remember: never throw away your quizzes—they are the only proof of your quiz grade.

syllabus copyright © 2007 Aviva Ben-Ur