Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University – Stern College for Women

Classical Jewish History – Fall 2017

JHIS 1201

Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:45-3:00PM

This course will survey the history of the Jews during the Diaspora, Second Temple and Rabbinic periods (600BCE-600CE). This period is witness to the development of many aspects of Judaism as we know it today, such as, the holidays of Purim and Hanukkah, the fast days, the canonization of Tanakh, the publication of the Mishnah and Talmud, and the rise of the Rabbis. But this period is also interesting for the variety of forms of Judaism and groups of Jews that did not gain hegemony: Samaritans, Hellenists, Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and the Dead Sea sect, among others. Each of these groups had to respond to and a find a way to survive two destructions and exiles, many wars and revolts, strong influences from foreign cultures, and internal strife while at the same time remaining committed to monotheism and the Biblical tradition. Not all of these groups were successful; we will try to figure out why. The relevance of this material for understanding our own identities and for evaluating the current state of Judaism and its future prospects will become obvious.

In addition to these themes and questions, class discussion will focus on historical analysis and critical evaluation of primary sources. We will learn to think and write like historians. By identifying all relevant literary and archeological sources, recognizing the interpretive difficulties presented by these sources, and evaluating the methodological issues confronting the modern historian, we will be able to formulate not only what we know, but also how we know it, how sure we are of it, and what gaps are there in the historical record. As with everything in life, you’ll only get as much from this course as you put into it, so let’s dig in!

Required text books: (available on Amazon)

Schiffman, Lawrence. From Text to Tradition: A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Hoboken: Ktav Publishing House, 1991. (FTTT)

---------. Texts and Traditions: A Source Reader for the Study of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Hoboken: Ktav Publishing House, 1998. (T&T)

Some of the information in these textbooks is also available at the Center for Online Judaic Studies -COJS

Requirements:

(1) Attendance, prompt arrival and class participation are assumed. Anything more than two absences will lower your grade. Three lates are equivalent to one absence.

(2) Preparation and Participation: Reading assigned primary and secondary texts is essential for you success in grasping the wide survey of history we are covering in this course. Primary texts are important so that you learn the methodology of how historians use these sources to construct the past. Secondary texts help in presenting, organizing and helping us remember important historical data. I may assign written and electronic homework assignments and quizzes based on the readings. Students may also be selected randomly each class to read and explain the required texts or to summarize the assigned reading. (10%)

(3) Exams. A midterm (35%) and a final (45%) will assess your grasp and retention of material as well as give the class an opportunity to review and notice patterns that recur through many topics.

(4) Writing Project, see under class 22 below, due on December 14th. (10%)

Office hours: Tuesday & Thursday after class at 3PM or by appointment. Please email rhidary@yu.edu with any questions or concerns.

Unit I - Introduction

1. Th. August 31 - Slides

Periods and Sources

Overview of the periods and topics to be covered
What primary sources can we use to reconstruct history and how do we evaluate those sources?
Methodology and Themes

Josephus video

2. T. September 5

When Did Exodus Happen? - Slides

Reading:

COJS - http://cojs.org/overview-_jews_and_judaism_in_the_greco-roman_period/

and http://cojs.org/jews_in_the_persian_period_-520-332_bce)/
FTTT 1-32 (this pdf only starts on page 17.)

Unit II – Persian Period

3. Th. September 7 -Slides for classses 3 -4 (pdf)

The Babylonian Period and Chronology

Reading:

FTTT 33-45

T&T 65-73

Read 2 Kings 24-25 and Jer 52 carefully. Make note of dates. Bring a Tanakh.

Read Wikipedia on “Neo-Assyrian Empire” and “Neo-Babylonian Empire”

How do historians calculate when important events happened? Where do the dates of our fast days come from?
What are the events at the end of the First Temple that set the stage for the Second Temple period?

4. T. September 12

`Return from Exile, Counting 70

Activities of Ezra and Nehemiah

Reading:

FTTT 47-59

T&T 80-92, 104-5

Ezra 1, 7-10, Nehemiah whole book especially chs. 8 and 10. Bring a Tanakh

2 Chron 36, Haggai 1, Is 44:28-45:1, Jeremiah 29, Zechariah 7-8, Daniel 9

Recommended Reading:

Bezalel Porten “The Jews in Egypt” in The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume One, The Persian Period, pp. 378-400.

Why are there Jews making sacrifices in Egypt?
What can we learn about these documents about Judaism during this period?

Unit III – Hellenistic Period

7. T. September 26 - Slides

Alexander the Great, Hellenism

Reading:

FTTT 60-79,COJS

Unit V – Roman Period

17. Th. November 16

Herod, Roman rule - Slides

Reading:

FTTT 139-149

T&T pp. 369-407, esp. 385-395

What was life like in Judea under the Herod and the Roman procurators?
What is the historical background for the Jesus movement?
Did Jesus ever intend to start a new religion?
Who really killed Jesus?

18. T. November 21 - 19. T. November 28

The Beginnings of Christianity (Slides)

Reading: T&T 407-414, 149-156.

T&T 414-427

E.P. Sanders. “The Life of Jesus.” in Shanks, Hershel, ed. Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. Washinton D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1992, 41-83.

Recommended: Gospel of Mark

When and how did Christianity become a separate religion?
How were the early Christians treated by the Roman empire?
How antagonistic were relations between Jews and Christians?

20. Th. November 30

Destruction of Temple II (Slides, Josephus and The Talmud)

Reading:

FTTT 157-164

T&T pp. 429-469, esp. 446-457

Recommended Reading:

Feldman, Louis. Judaism and Hellenism Reconsidered. Brill, 2006, pp. 763-782.

Rubenstein, Jeffrey. Talmudic Stories: Narrative Art, Composition, and Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, pp. 139-173.

What were the different views about the revolt among the Jews?
How does Josephus describe his own experiences during the war?
How do the Rabbis recall these events and what lesson do they take from them?

Masada

21. T. December 5

Reactions to Destruction

Development of the Synagogue

Reading:

FTTT 164-171

T&T 118-120, 469-479

Steven Fine, “From Meeting House to Sacred Realm: Holiness and the Ancient Synagogue” in Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World, 21-47.

Mosaics Word

What were the economic, political, religious, and theological reactions to the destruction of the Temple?
How did the decision of the Rabbis at Yavneh ensure the continuity of Judaism without a Temple?
What institutions and rituals replaced the functions of the Temple?

Unit VI – Tannaitic Period & Rabbinic Judaism

22. Th. December 7

Bar Kokhba Revolt (Slides)

Reading:

FTTT 171-176

T&T 487-495

Why did the Jews decide to revolt again?
What was the opinion of the Rabbis about the revolt?
What were the effects of the revolt’s failure on Jewish society and where they lived?

Writing Assignment, due December 14th

Write a 5 page essay on:

Choose a topic from COJS that we have not covered in class, read all of the primary and secondary sources (texts and images) on that topic and write a paper analyzing what you have read. It must be a topic within the period covered in this course: 600BCE-600CE.
Or choose topic of your choice. It should include at least 5 primary sources and three secondary sources. Please approve the topic with me first.
Or write on this topic: What was the level of acculteration of the Rabbis during the Talmudic period compared with the acculteration of American rabbis. Did the ancient Rabbis speak Greek? Did they read the Greek literature of their day? Were they acquainted with Greco-Roman mythology, science, history, and philosophy? Choose one of these fields, cite relevant primary and secondary sources, and discuss. What was the the Rabbis' attitude towards the outside culture? Do you think their approach to outside culture is similar or different from modern Rabbis in America? In your opinion, to which modern denomination of Judaism, if any, were the ancient Rabbis most similar? Sources and Articles:

Greek Language:

Did the Rabbis Study Greek? - Sources

Reading: H. A. Fischel, Encyclopedia Judaica, “Rabbinic Knowledge of Greek and Latin Languages”

Lieberman, Saul. Hellenism in Jewish Palestine. New York: The Jewish Theological Seminary, 1962, 100-114.

Daniel Sperber, A Dictionary of Greek and Latin Legal Terms in Rabbinic Literature (1984).

Greek Fables

Aesop's Fables - Sources

Reading: Yassif, Eli. The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre, Meaning. Translated by Jacqueline Teitelbaum. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999, 191-209.

Greek Science - The Sun’s Path

Reading: Nathan Slifkin, “The Sun’s Path at Night.”

Suggested Reading: Simon-Shoshan, Moshe. “'The Heavens Proclaim the Glory of God': A Study in Rabbinic Cosmology.” Bekhol Derakhekha Daehu; Journal of Torah and Scholarship 20: 67-96.

23. T. December 12

The Publication of the Mishnah and the Patriarch

History of Palestine until the Muslim Conquest (Slides, Mishnah Slides)

Reading:

FTTT 177-213

T&T 537-559, 609-612, esp. 537-543

Recommended Reading: T&T 571-596 and at COJS

What literature did the Tannaim produce?
What was the leadership structure of the Jews?

24. Th. December 14

Sanhedrin

Recommended Reading:

Levine, Lee. The Rabbinic Class of Roman Palestine in Late Antiquity. Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi Press, 1989, pp. 76-83.

Hezser, Catherine. The Social Structure of the Rabbinic Movement in Roman Palestine. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997, pp. 186-195.

What did the Sanhedrin look like before the destruction of the Temple?
Was there a Sanhedrin after the destruction? Where was it?
Were the Houses of Shammai and Hillel an example of sectarianism? What kept them from splitting apart?

25. T. December 19

Roman Attitudes Towards Judaism (Slides)

Reading:

T&T 568-570

http://www.livius.org/am-ao/antisemitism/antisemitism01.html - and continue to page two and read especially http://www.livius.org/am-ao/antisemitism/antisemitism-t.html

What did Romans think of Judaism? What were their popular stereotypes? Which of these were true?
What did Roman writers admire and despise about Jews and Judaism?

26. Th. December 21

Rabbinic Thought (Slides)

Jews in Babylonia and the Exilarch (Slides)

Readings: FTTT 214-219

T&T 596-617, esp. 605-609

Recommended Reading:

Gafni, Isaiah. "Babylonian Rabbinic Culture." In Cultures of the Jews, edited by David Biale, 223-65. New York: Schocken, 2002.

· How were the Jews treated under Parthian and Sassanian Empires?

· How much interaction was there between the Jews and their Zoroastrian and Christian neighbors?

The Talmuds and the Yeshivot

From Priest to Rabbis - sourcesheet (pdf)

FTTT 220-239

T&T 605-609, 613-616

Final Review (from 2015)

Final – Sunday December 31 10:00AM

Readings in one pdf.

Students with disabilities who are enrolled in this course and who will be requesting documented disability-related accommodations should make an appointment with the Office of Disability Services, (646) 592-4132, rkohn1@yu.edu, during the first week of class. Once you have been approved for accommodations, please submit your accommodation letter to ensure the successful implementation of those accommodations.