Yeshiva University – Stern College for Women

Classical Jewish History – Spring 2011

JHIS 1200

Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:30-11:45AM

Richard Hidary

email the whole class

            This course will survey the history of the Jews during the Second Temple and Rabbinic periods (515BCE-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 or B&N)

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)

Requirements:

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

(2)   Preparation and Participation: Homework assignments and quizzes based on readings to prepare may be given throughout the semester. The purpose of these is to make sure you keep up with the preparation. Students may be selected randomly each class to read and explain the required texts or to summarize the assigned reading. (10%)

(3)   Exams. A midterm (40%) 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)   Oral presentation: Students will be required to give one oral presentation during the semester. The presentation will focus on one ancient document used as a primary source for history. You will need to research the following: who wrote it, when, where, in what language was it written, who read/used it, relationship to similar documents, oldest extant versions, summarize the contents, and bring in copies of a selection from the work that you found particularly interesting. You should also prepare a handout that outlines your talk and summarizes the essential content (5%). Material from all student presentation may be on the tests.

Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday 3:00-4:00PM or by appointment. Please email rhidary@yu.edu with any questions or concerns.

Unit I - Introduction

1. T. January 25 - Slides

Periods and Sources

Reading:

COJS - http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Overview:_Jews_and_Judaism_in_the_Greco-Roman_Period

• 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?

2. Th. January 27

When Did Exodus Happen? - Slides

Unit II – Persian Period

3. T. February 1 -Slides for classses 3 -4

The Babylonian Period and Chronology

Reading:

FTTT 1-32 (this pdf only starts on page 17. go to the library for the first chapter.)

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. Th. February 3

Return from Exile, Counting 70

Reading:

FTTT 33-45

T&T 65-73

Ezra 1-6, 2 Chron 36, Haggai 1, Is 44:28-45:1, Jeremiah 29, Zechariah 7-8, Daniel 9

Bring a Tanakh

Wikipedia on “Achaemenid Empire”

Menachem Leibtag article - http://tanach.org/special/purim.doc

Recommended Reading at COJS

*Oral Presentation - Haggai

                              Zechariah

• How did the exile end and what happened when the Jews were allowed to return to Israel?
• How do you count the 70 years prophesied by Jeremiah?
• What is the historical setting of Megilat Esther and how can history help us better understand Purim?

Activities of Ezra and Nehemiah

Reading:

FTTT 47-59

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

T&T 80-92, 104-5

Recommended Reading: T&T 103-116 and COJS

 *Oral Presentation: Book of Ezra - Avital

• What did Ezra and Nehemiah do to ensure the survival and growth of the Jews and Judaism?
• How do they turn to for guidance when the age of prophecy ends?

5. T. February 8 - Slides

Samaritans

Reading:

FTTT 45-47

T&T 92-103

2 Kings 17, Ezra 4

Recommended Readings at COJS

Encyclopedia Judaica - "Samaritans" and "Samaritan Pentateuch"

On DNA research of Samaritans

Robert T. Anderson, "The Elusive Samaritan Temple," The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Jun., 1991), pp. 104-107.

Feldman, Louis. “Josephus’ Attitude Toward the Samaritans: A Study in Ambivalence.” Studies in Jewish Civilization 3 (1992) 23-45.

*Oral Presentation: Samaritan Joshua or Tibat Marqe, both found at Anderson, Robert and Terry Giles. Traditions Kept: The Literature of the Samaritans. Peabody, Hendrickson, 2005.

• Who are the Samaritans and where did they come from?
• What are their beliefs and practices?
• What has been their relationship with the Jews?
• Where are they today?

6. Th. February 10

Trip to New York Public Library

Elephantine Papyri - Slides

Reading:

Purvis and Meyers, "Exile and Return: From the Babylonian Destruction to the Reconstruction of the Jewish State," in Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple.

T&T 73-79. Passover, Temple

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. February 15 - Slides

Alexander the Great, Hellenism

Reading:

            FTTT 60-79

Recommended Reading T&T 121-150 and at COJS

*Oral Presentation: Ezekial the Tragedian, “The Exodus” printed in H. Jacobson, The Exagogé of Ezekiel, Cambridge, England, 1983.

• Did Alexander the Great visit Israel?
• What is Hellenism and how did it effect Judaism?
• How did Israel get stuck between two warring empires again?

8. Th. February 17

Maccabees, Hanukkah, Hasmonean Dynasty

Reading:

            T&T 151-169

Recommended Reading at COJS

*Oral presentation: Book of Maccabees I - Jenna

                               Book of Maccabees II - Shani

• Why did Antiochus IV issue decrees against the Jews?
• What does this incident reflect about varying degrees of Hellenization among the Jews?
• Did everyone accept Hasmonean rule?
• How did Hannukah develop into what it is today?

9. T. February 22

The Legacy of the Hasmoneans

"Hellenism." in Encyclopaedia Judaica.

• What were the lasting effects of Hellenism on Judaism?

• How have the Maccabees been remembered through the centuries?

• How were the Maccabees used by Zionists?

• Why is our basketball team called the Maccabees? And what about the Maccabeats?

10. Th. February 24 & 11. T. March 1 & 12. Th. March 3 - Intro Slides, Sects handout, MMT Slides, MMT handout

Sectarianism and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Reading:

            Magen Broshi, A Day in the Life of Hananiah Nothos: A Story”

            FTTT 98-119, 120-138

            T&T 266-299, 340-1, 363-6

*Oral Presentation: Community Rule

                               Copper Scroll

                               Pesher Habakkuk - 3/1 Atara

                               War Scroll - Rachel - 2/24

                               Thanksgiving Scroll

                               Temple Scroll - Ariella - 3/3

http://blip.tv/file/1888211/

• What were the major sects competing during the late Second Temple?
• What were they fighting about?
• Did they all share a common Judaism or were these sects multiple “Judaisms”?
• What can we learn from the library of a long-extinct group of isolationist Jews with strange practices who lived near the Dead Sea?

13. T. March 8

Midterm Review Sheet

Midterm

14. Th. March 10

Septuagint – “The Most Important Translation Ever Made”

Reading:

            FTTT 80-94

            T&T 211-220

                        Letter of Aristeas, BT Megillah 9a-b

*Oral Presentation: Ben Sira

                               Judith

                               Suzzana

                               Bel and the Dragon

• Why does Elias Bickerman call the  Septuagint, “the most important translation ever made”?
• What are the differences between the Septuagint and the Hebrew Massoretic Text?
• What was the status of the Septuagint in the eyes of the Rabbis?

15. T. March 15

Apocrypha – Tobit and Esther Additions

powerpoint

Reading:

            FTTT 120-130

            T&T 306-307, 330-333

            Book of Tobit – pdf or http://www.ebible.org/kjv/Tobit.htm

Recommended Reading at COJS

*Oral Presentation: 1 Enoch

• What can we learn from the Apocryphal books about the religion and culture of the Jews in Judea and in the diaspora?        
• What was the view of the Rabbis towards the Apocrypha?

[Philo Judaeus - we skipped this

Reading:

            FTTT 94-97

            T&T 220-230

Suggested Reading: Wolfson, Harry A. Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948.

*Oral Presentation: Allegorical Interpretations or Special Laws

• Who was Philo, how Jewish was he, and did he even read Hebrew?
• Why did the Christians preserve his writings?
• What can we learn from his writings?
• What shul would Philo go to if he were alive today?]

Unit V – Roman Period

16. T. March 22

Herod, Roman rule - Slides

Reading:

            FTTT 139-149

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

*Oral Presentation: Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XV - Eliana

                              Josephus, Life of Flavius Josephus 

• 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?

17. Th. March 24

The Beginnings of Christianity (Slides)

Reading: T&T 407-414

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

*Oral Presentation: Mark - Tamar

                               Mathew - Shira Lasker

                               Luke, John

Christian Schism

Reading:

            FTTT 149-156

            T&T 414-427

*Oral Presentation: Book of Acts - Gina

• 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?

18. T. March 29

Destruction of Temple II (Slides)

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.

*Oral Presentation: Josephus, Jewish War, Book VI - Ruchama

• 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?

19. Th. March 31

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.

*Oral Presentation: Beresheet Rabbah - Chani

                               Vayikra Rabbah

• 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?

20. T. April 5

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?

Unit VI – Tannaitic Period

21. Th. April 7

Bar Kokhba Revolt (Slides)

Reading:

            FTTT 171-176

            T&T 487-495

*Oral Presentation: Tosefta - Holly

                              Mekhilta

                              Sifre - Elianna

• 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?

22. T. April 12

The Publication of the Mishnah and the Patriarch

History of Palestine until the Muslim Conquest (Slides)

Reading:

            FTTT 177-213

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

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

*Oral Presentation: Iggeret haRav Sherira Gaon

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

23. Th. April 14

Passover Haggadah

Sanhedrin

Reading:

            T&T 497-504, 507-514

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

Recommended Reading:

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?

Unit VI - Amoraic Period

24. Th. April 28

Jews in Babylonia and the Exilarch (Slides)

Readings: FTTT 214-219

            T&T 596-617, esp. 605-609

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?

25. T. May 3

The Talmuds and the Yeshivot

From Priest to Rabbis - sourcesheet

Reading:

            FTTT 220-239

            T&T 605-609, 613-616

Rubenstein, Jeffrey. "Social and Institutional Settings of Rabbinic Literature." In The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature, edited by Charlotte Fonrobert and Martin Jaffee, 58-74. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Recommended Reading at COJS

Goodblatt, David. Rabbinic Instruction in Sasanian Babylonia. Leiden: Brill, 1975.

• What do we know about the Amoraim and the literature that they produced?
• Where did the Rabbis study?
• How were the Talmuds composed and what are the differences between the Yerushalmi and the Bavli?

26. Th. May 5

Legal Pluralism in the Talmud - powerpoint

Conclusions and Looking Forward

Reading:

            FTTT 240-269

Final Review

Final – Thursday May 19th at 9:30AM

All readings in one pdf.