Fall 2022 Undergraduate Course Descriptions

Description: This course introduces the Hebrew Bible as a primary influence not just on later Jewish culture but also on pre-modern non-Jewish cultures which accepted its sacred authority as well as modern secular cultures since the French Revolution. Particular attention will be given to English literature in the 16^th and 17^th century, when the Protestant revolution established the Bible as the basis of English national identity; and to Hebrew literature of the 1881-1948 period, when Hebrew, with its biblical base, was revived as a spoken language and Hebrew literature grew as a modern secular national culture.

Texts:

• S.J. Agnon, In the Prime of Her Life
• C.N. Bialik, ‘Poems of Wrath’
• John Dryden, Absolom and Achitophel
• Heine, from Hebrew Melodies
• Paul Johnson, from History of the Jews
• Mendele Mocher Sefarim, from The Mare, The Travels of Benjamin the Third
• John Milton, Paradise LostJoseph Roth, Job
• William Shakespeare, King LearSholom Aleichem, from the Tevye stories
• Edmund Spenser, EpithalamionTchernichowsky, poems
• Stefan Zweig, The Buried Candelabrum

Evaluation: Four in-class exams, each consisting of an essay and commentaries on course texts and one long essay. Essay questions are normally given out in advance of exams.

Format: Round table discussion.

Description: A survey of Yiddish literature and culture with a particular focus on the modern period (the 1860s to the present). As we read major works of Yiddish literature (in English translation), we will discuss the main factors in its development, including its position as a minority literature, Ashkenazi civilization’s religious foundations and multilingualism, the rise of political movements, and the trauma of the Holocaust. We will pay close attention to issues of Jewish identity and the relations between Jews and their Christian neighbors in Poland, Ukraine, Romania, and other regions of Eastern and Central Europe, and will also examine the special place of humor, music (including “klezmer”), and mysticism in Yiddish culture. In his Nobel lecture, Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer described Yiddish as “the idiom of the frightened and hopeful humanity.” What are the reasons behind and the effects of such universalization of Yiddish language, literature, and culture? In addition to literary works, we will also explore films, music, historical documents, and oral history.

Selected Texts (in the Course Reader):

• The Memoirs of Glikl of Hameln
• Nahman of Bratslav, “The Wise Man and The Simple Man”
• Sholem Aleichem, Railroad Stories and Tevye the Dairyman
• Sholem-Yankev Abramovitch (Mendele Moykher-Sforim), The Travels of Benjamin the Third
• I. L. Peretz, If Not Higher; Bella Chagall, Burning Stars; Isaac Bashevis Singer, In My Father’s Court

Selected Films:

• The Dybbuk (1937)
• Green Fields (1937)
• Tevye the Dairyman (1939)

Evaluation: 
Attendance, Preparation and Participation (25%)
Short Reading Responses (25%)
Midterm Paper/Project (20%)
Final Paper/Project (30%)

Description: This is a survey course that highlights the encounters between Jews and Hellenistic Civilization in late antiquity and Islamic Civilization is the early Middle Ages. The "parting of the ways" between Christianity and Judaism will be an important sub-unit in the course. Because this is a first-year History course, emphasis is placed on introducing students to the modes of inquiry associated with the discipline.

Texts: John Efron, Steven Weitzman, Matthias Lehmann, Joshua Holo, The Jews: A History, Pearson-Prentice-Hall,3rd ed. 2018.
Coursepack and assigned online readings.

Evaluation:
Attendance and participation in all class meetings.
Completion of required reading assignments on time.
Short Paper 10%
Class Tests 50%
Term Paper 40%

Description: This course is an introduction to the history and literature of the biblical period, the earliest era of Jewish Studies. Its primary goal is to familiarize the student with the text of the Hebrew Bible, the historical context in which it came it be and the academic disciplines that contribute to its analysis, such as linguistics, archaeology, comparative literature and comparative religions. All texts will be examined in translation, and no prior knowledge of the Bible or its languages is required.

Texts:
Hebrew Bible in English translation. Other primary texts and secondary readings will be available on MyCourses or on reserve in the library.

Evaluation: Grades will be based on three short written assignments, a series of short “thinking questions” that emerge from the lectures as well as regular readings for each class from the Bible itself, attendance and participation.

Description: The objective is to master basic communication in Modern Hebrew language. Students will develop the four language skills of understanding, speaking, reading and writing through the acquisition of basic structures of the language, i.e., grammar, syntax, vocabulary, as well as idiomatic expressions, in order to be able to communicate in Modern Hebrew orally and in writing. Communicative activities, oral practice, written exercises and compositions will be assigned regularly, in order to help integrate skills and reinforce learning. In addition, because the acquisition of a modern language also entails awareness of the culture of its linguistic community, the students will become aware of cultural elements associated with the language. 

Texts: Shlomit Chayat et al. Hebrew from Scratch, Part I

Evaluation:
60% 4 class tests
15% essays
20% oral presentation
5% class participation

Description: The Nazi assault, organized robbery of rights and possessions, and eventual genocide of European Jewry is one of the most consequential events in both Jewish and world history. This course will provide an overview of the context, crimes of the perpetrators, and nightmarish experiences of the millions that fell victim to this Khurbn (Yiddish, “catastrophe”). Starting with the early 1930s, we will analyze how it was possible for the Nazis to come to power, what the first policies of persecuting Jews in Germany were, and how those policies escalated to expulsion, ghettoization, and mass murder across Europe. Towards the end of the semester, drawing on examples from Europe, Israel, Canada, and the United States, we will discuss contemporary cultural representations and the often-intricate politics of Holocaust memory.

Texts:

• Doris Bergen, War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust, Third Edition
• Emanuel Ringelblum, Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto
• Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz
• Course Reader

Evaluation:
Attendance and participation: 15%
Primary Source Analysis (3-4 pg.): 25%
Midterm: 30%
Final Exam: 30%

Description: Until the early modern period, most of the world’s Jews spoke Arabic and called the Islamic world home. This course explores the Jewish experience among Muslims from the seventh century until the present. Through close readings of primary sources and historical scholarship, students will learn how Jews under Islam shaped modern Judaism, how engagement with Arabic in Islamic Spain led to the revival of Hebrew, and how the Jewish-Muslim relationship fared in the age of imperialism.

Texts:
Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole, Sacred Trash: the Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza (Schocken Books, 2011); Vitalis Danon, Ninette of Sin Street; edited with an introduction and notes by Lia Brozgal and Sarah Abrevaya Stein; translated by Jane Kuntz (Stanford University Press, 2017).

Description: The key issue of medieval religious philosophy is the relationship between revelation and reason or between religion and philosophy. While this issue is common to the three revealed religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, each religion takes up the issue in its own way. Generally speaking, we may say that Christianity focuses more on the relationship between faith and reason or theology and philosophy, while Islam and Judaism focus more on the relationship between philosophy and the Divine Law. In this course we will examine the trajectory of the various attempts to bring Judaism and philosophy together, beginning with Philo in late Antiquity, reaching its culmination in the Middle Ages in the writings of Saadya Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakudah, Judah Halevi, and, above all, Moses Maimonides, and coming to an end in the writings of Benedict Spinoza who seeks to prise Judaism, and more generally revealed religion, and philosophy apart.

Evaluation:
Attendance and participation: 10%
In Class Mid-Term: 20%
Take home Final: 35%
Research paper: 35%

Description: An introduction to Yiddish, the millennium-old language of Ashkenazic Jews. This course will cover the fundamentals of Yiddish grammar and vocabulary and will include practice in speaking, reading, and writing. The course materials draw on Yiddish literature, songs, and films, allowing students to combine the acquisition of practical language skills with an exploration of Yiddish culture—from its beginnings in medieval Germany through its past and present in Central and Eastern Europe, the Americas, Israel, and all over the world. An important component of the course is the opportunity students will have to pursue Yiddish-related artistic or research projects (individually or in small groups), combining exploration of Yiddish with creative writing, translation, acting, filmmaking, religion, anthropology, history, painting, and journalism, to name just some of the options.

Texts: Course Pack; online resources.

Evaluation: 
Attendance and Homework (40%)
In-Class Quizzes (20%)
Final Project (20%)
Final Exam (20%)

Format: Language course.

Description: This course will explore the world of Jewish-themed documentary films. We will see how filmmakers in Canada, the US, Europe and Israel have used the lived reality of Jewish experience as a canvas for their documentary explorations. We will examine how Jewish identity is depicted across a wide spectrum of perspectives – related to variations in religious and national affiliations, cultural experience, the attachment to Israel, the connection to the Holocaust and the politics of gender and sexual orientation. We will try to understand how documentary films as “the creative treatment of actuality” function as an interface between reality “out there” and the original, personal perspectives of filmmakers. Students are encouraged to developed individual responses to the films as triggers for personal explorations of identity, Jewish or otherwise.

Texts: Course pack (available at McGill Bookstore)

Films: The Lady in No. 6 / Bonjour! Shalom! / Jews and Money Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream Night and Fog / Dark Lullabies / Baghdad Twist Trembling before G-d / Waltz with Bashir /Promises / The “Socalled” Movie

Evaluation:
6 film reflections 500-750 words each: 60%
Final Paper 2500 - 3000 words: 25%
Class participation / Presentation: 15%

Description: The course. as indicated by its subtitle, will focus on such juridical issues as Damages, Liability, Negligence, and Responsibility discussed in relevant texts in the basic work of Rabbinic Judaism, the Babylonian Talmud, specifically Tractate Bava Kamma. After a general introduction to rabbinic literature and the general issue of Law and Morality in rabbinic Judaism, the course will turn to a close reading in translation of selected texts from Chapters 1, 3, and 6 from Tractate Bava Kamma, the Talmudic work dealing with Damages and Theft. A eeading knowledge of Hebrew is recommended but not required. A key goal will be to acquire a “feel” for characteristic modes of halakhic (Jewish legal) thinking and reasoning, precisely through immersing oneself in the primary sources. A special feature of this course will be its havruta style: that is, for part of some classes, students will study and prepare the primary texts in havrutot (small groups) All texts and readings assigned are in English, with no prior background pre-supposed.

Evaluation:
Attendance and participation: 20%
In Class Mid-Term: 20%
In Class presentation 20%
Take home Final: 40%

Description: The objective is to master communication in Modern Hebrew language.

Students will develop the four language skills of understanding, speaking, reading and writing through the acquisition of basic structures of the language, i.e., grammar, syntax, vocabulary, as well as idiomatic expressions, in order to be able to communicate in Modern Hebrew orally and in writing. Communicative activities, oral practice, written exercises and article analysis will be assigned in order to help integrate skills and reinforce learning. In addition, because the acquisition of a modern language also entails awareness of the culture of its linguistic community, the students will become aware of cultural elements associated with the language and the diversity of the Israeli society.

Texts: Shlomit Chayat et al. Hebrew from Scratch, Part I + CD

Evaluation: 
48% - 4 Class Tests (6%, 10%, 14%, 18%)
12% - Quizzes
12% - 2 In-Class Essays
10% - Compositions
10% - Oral Presentation
​8% - Class Participation

Description: This course examines the book of Job and its reception in Jewish literature. When a person experiences serious illness, physical suffering, tragedy or loss, how do they negotiate the trauma of these events? How does the trauma alienate an individual and affect their ability to interact with their significant others, their family, and friends? How does it change or shape their religious beliefs and relationship to the divine? What language does an individual have available to them that enables them to describe their experiences to those around them? On the converse side, when an individual witnesses a friend suffering such trauma, what is their responsibility towards that individual? How does one best aid that individual? And, how might particular theological beliefs about the nature of good and evil and divine providence affect how society treats people who suffer? The Book of Job is deeply invested in these questions. This class will explore how this book and its reception in Jewish literature, philosophy, and theater, has sparked different conversations around trauma in relationship to theology, psychology, ethics, and political behavior.

Texts: Texts will range from the Book of Job, rabbinic literature, the medieval poetry of Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, to modern theatrical works like Angels in America. All texts will be taught in translation. For interested students, there will be the option to read some of the Hebrew and Aramaic texts in the original.

Evaluation: Participation and Attendance (15%), weekly written posts (15%), lead class discussion (10%), Final Project (35%), Final Exam (25%).

Description: The Graeco-Arabic translation movement (8^th-10^th C.) posed a challenge to faithful Arabic-speaking theologians within the Islamicate world: Could one’s submission to the revealed tradition come into terms with the Greek way of independent reasoning? And if the answer is yes, then, how could it be done? In the following centuries, these and similar questions, spread among European Jewry upon the translation of falsafa literature into Hebrew. While such prominent philosophers as Avicenna (d. 1037) and Maimonides (d. 1204) argued for compatibility between the falsafa and revealed traditions, devoting their intellectual lives to read and teach the Scriptures within a rationalistic paradigm, others remained critical of such harmonious accord, rejecting the religious philosophers’ reconciliatory project. Among the latter were Ghazzālī (d. 1111), whose attacks on Muslim philosophers were said to “put an end to the Islamic philosophy,” and Hasdai Crescas (d. 1410) who remained, in sharp contrast to Maimonides’ rationalist approach, committed to the primacy of Love and faithful submission to God.

This course surveys these competing discourses within a medieval Jewish and Islamic context, with a specific focus on the dichotomy of Love and Reason in selected works by the four abovementioned figures. Our main goal is to explore the complex relationship between the intertwined concepts of philosophical reasoning and faithful longing for the Divine in these two “schools” of medieval thought. We will attempt to figure out how and why self-claiming philosophers like Avicenna and Maimonides, on the one hand, and theologians like Ghazzālī and Crescas, on the other, define the limits of our independent intellectual reasoning and the place it could play in our emotional desire and love for God. To this end, we will follow a chronological order: Beginning with Avicenna and his Peripatetic philosophy, we will investigate how one can gain knowledge about God and how (and if) that philosophical knowledge can lead to an intellectual Love for Him. Then, moving on to Ghazzālī, we will visit our Sufi sage and his response to the tension between the intellect (al-ʿaql) and faithful submission. Although many would consider him an “anti-rationalist,” we shall see his endeavors to safeguard the intellect within his Sufi doctrine of monoism. At our third stop, we will familiarize ourselves with the greatest Jewish philosopher of the Medieval epoch, Maimonides, and his unique way of looking at God as the Intellect, the object of intellection, and the subject of intellection. The very last chapters of Maimonides’ magnum opus are dedicated to his description of divine Love and its intellectual background. Finally, we will meet Crescas and his preference for Abrahamic love over what Maimonides called the Mosaic intellectual Judaism. Crescas to Maimonides parallels Ghazzālī to Avicenna; his criticism of Maimonidean Judaism resonates with Ghazzālī’s attacks on what Aristotelianism Muslim philosophers sought to promote.

Texts (excerpts from the following titles):**

• Avicenna: The Metaphysics from The Book of Cure

---: Treatise on Love

---: Remarks and Admonitions

• Ghazzālī: The Revival of the Religious Sciences

---: The Niche of the Lights

---: Deliverance from Error

• Maimonides: The Guide of the Perplexed

---: Eight Chapters

• Crescas: The light of the Lord

**All texts will be available in English translations (reading the primary sources in Arabic/Hebrew is very much encouraged but not required).

Evaluation:

Attendance and active participation (10%): Attendance is mandatory. Active and thoughtful participation is also very important. Students must read assigned texts before each class and participate in class discussions.

Ten reading responses (10 x 3%= 30%): Each student is required to submit, in total, ten short reading responses (each ca. 200 words) addressing main themes of assigned readings. Responses are meant to show students’ intellectual engagement with texts and reflect their critical reading of them, hence cannot be merely a summary. Reading responses should be sent to me via e-mail BEFORE class begins. Late responses (i.e. sent during or after class hours) will not be accepted. For the exception of first and last sessions, students can choose any 10 classes and write one response for each.

Mid-term paper of ca. 1400 words (20%): The paper should focus on one of the figures discussed in the first half of the semester.

Final paper of ca. 2500 words (40%): The paper is comparative in nature and should address two figures. Students should confirm their topics for their final papers in the last week of the class.

Description: The objective is to communicate on familiar topics in Modern Hebrew language. Students will develop the four language skills of understanding, speaking, reading and writing through the acquisition of the advanced structures of the language, i.e., grammar, syntax, vocabulary, as well as idiomatic expressions, in order to be able to communicate in Modern Hebrew orally and in writing. Communicative activities, oral practice, written exercises and compositions will be assigned regularly, in order to help integrate skills and reinforce learning. In addition, because the acquisition of a modern language also entails awareness of the culture of its linguistic community, the students will become aware of cultural elements associated with the language.

Texts: Edna Amir Coffin. Lessons in Modern Hebrew: Level II (2) Publisher: University of Michigan Press 

Recommended Text: Hebrew Dictionary (Oxford, Eng-Heb, Heb-Eng Dictionary, Kernerman – Lonnie Kahn)

Evaluation: 
48% - 4 Class Tests (6%, 10%, 14%, 18%)
12% - Quizzes
12% - 2 In-Class Essays
14% - Compositions 
10% - Oral Presentation
4% - Class Participation 

Description: Between 1940 and 1942, the lives of half a million Jews in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia were dramatically altered by Vichy France’s implementation of racial quotas, ghettoization, deportation to labor and internment camps, spoliation (Aryanization), and in rarer cases, transport to Europe. Libyan Jewry faced equally draconian measures under fascist Italian rule. While the Allied landing in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942 brought some relief to the Jewish populations there through the vanquishing of Vichy rule (but not its leadership nor all of its decrees), it also led to the direct Nazi occupation of neighboring Tunisia. Under German rule, Tunisian Jews endured forced labor, among other injustices, until their liberation in May 1943.

North Africa has for too long been considered marginal, if not irrelevant, to a Europe-focused history of World War II and the Holocaust. Recent scholarship, aided by the unearthing of archival material, the growing availability of memoirs from the period, and an efflorescence of literature and film, is changing all of that. Through lecture and film, this course explores the entangled histories of France, North Africa, and World War II, as well as the layered history of racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, and colonialism.

Texts: Michael R. Marrus and Robert O. Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews, Basic Books, 1981; The Holocaust and North Africa, edited by Aomar Boum and Sarah Abrevaya Stein, Stanford University Press, 2018.

Evaluation: Reading responses, midterm, research paper, and final exam.

Course description: Literature addressed to children about the Jewish experience raises many questions. In a book designed to promote particular behavior or values, what aesthetic strategies are effective? For stories about the Holocaust, how can a book balance historical truth with a child reader's need for hope and a sense of personal control? How are the stories of the Hebrew Bible told differently to different children, children raised in various Jewish communities and children of various religions, ethnic backgrounds, times, and places? What does children's literature reveal about adults' understanding of children? These are among the questions we will consider in this course.

After tracing the history of Jewish children's literature, we will focus on particular authors, such as Isaac Bashevis Singer, Maurice Sendak, and Sydney Taylor. And we will learn from librarians of the Jewish Public Library, representatives of PJ Library (an international book-giving program active in Montreal), and local authors. All readings will be in English.

Texts: Authors mentioned above, TBD.

Evaluation:
Attendance, preparation, and participation: 15%
Oral presentation: 20%
Short paper (4 pages): 25%
Final paper (10-12 pages): 40%

Format: Lecture and discussion.

Description: The modern period, starting in the eighteenth century, brought with it far-reaching intellectual, cultural, social, and political developments across Europe and beyond. How did Jews interpret these new concepts? Which of them did they embrace and adapt to, in order to correspond with their modern Jewish identities? Some of the topics covered are the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), new Jewish religious movements, and the rise of modern Jewish politics. We will examine each of them by studying their conceptual framework, but we will also look at these ideologies as imagined and lived practices. Beyond focusing on the pivotal figures behind these movements, such as Moses Mendelssohn, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Vladimir Medem, and Theodor Herzl, this course will address the significant and often overlooked Jewish women, including the Maiden of Ludmir, Rosa Luxemburg, Sarah Schenirer, and Puah Rakovsky.

Texts:

• John Efron, et. al., The Jews: A History 3^rd edition
• Course Reader

Evaluation:
Attendance and participation: 15%
Primary Source Analysis (3-4 pg.): 25%
Research Essay: 30%
Final Exam: 30%

Description: From Biblical narratives to contemporary Israeli slang, this course explores the evolution of the Hebrew language in texts from all periods, including Rabbinical commentary, Medieval hymns, poetry by Jewish authors of the Islamic world, Haskalah literature in the modern Jewish Enlightenment, and contemporary texts that showcase the revival of a spoken Hebrew after 2000 years in exile. Discussions will highlight linguistic patterns, literary structures and vocabulary. The course is conducted primarily in Hebrew with some assignments in English.

Prerequisite: Advanced Hebrew- JWST 340D1/D2 or equivalent. Please consult with the instructor.

Description: This course is designed for students who have taken Introductory Yiddish 1 and 2, or have a comparable command of Yiddish from elsewhere, and wish to improve their knowledge of the language and to further explore the culture behind it. Further development of speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills, with a particular emphasis on expanding vocabulary and mastering grammar. Drawing inspiration from Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer, who in his Nobel Lecture described Yiddish as "the wise and humble language of us all, the idiom of frightened and hopeful humanity [which possesses] treasures that have not been revealed to the eyes of the world,” this course introduces students to selections from Yiddish literature, songs, and films of Jewish life past and present. An important component of this course is the opportunity students will have to pursue Yiddish-related artistic or research projects (individually or in small groups), combining exploration of Yiddish with creative writing, translation, acting, filmmaking, religion, anthropology, history, painting, and journalism, to name just some of the options. With questions about the expected prior knowledge, please email the instructor.

Texts: Course Pack; online resources.

Evaluation: 
Attendance and Homework (40%)
In-Class Quizzes (20%)
Final Project (20%)
Final Exam (20%)

Description: The Hebrew Bible has been a major influence on nationalism and national cultures, even as religious faith declined in modern times. This course is an introduction to the poetry of nationalism from the French Revolution to World War II. The course is divided into four parts: 1. The Hebrew Bible 2. 1789-1848 (Burns, Byron, Pushkin, Mickiewicz, Njegoš, and Solomos); 3. 1848-1871 (Whitman, Ibsen); 4. 1871-1939 (Bialik, Tchernichowsky, Kipling, Fikret, Yeats, D’Annunzio, Iqbal, Greenberg). Issues to be explored include: the life of the individual vs. national needs; national poetry, revolution and social change; religious conflict in national poetry; and the ambiguous relationship between nationalism and internationalism.

Texts: The JPS translation of the Hebrew Bible will be used. Most readings for the course will be sent by email. Use of library resources is strongly encouraged. At present, library resources for the course topic are stronger than those on the internet. Course textbooks, available as ebooks from the McGill Library: David Aberbach, Jewish Cultural Nationalism; and National Poetry, Empires and War.

Evaluation: Four in-class exams, each consisting of an essay and commentaries on course texts and one long essay. Essay questions are normally given out in advance of exams.

Format: Round-table seminar.

Description: Although this course will emphasize the period referred to as "early modern" - roughly the period between 1453 and 1789 - we will venture into the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well. A variety of topics and issues will be discussed including: the print revolution; absolutism; codification; kabbalah; Iberian inquisition and expulsion; commerce and early capitalism; tolerance and toleration; messianism and gender; did Jews have a Renaissance?; Ukrainian catastrophe; kabbalah; Jewish responses to the Reformation and more. To the extent possible the students' interests will configure the topics examined in depth. Discussions will focus on primary materials in English.

Texts: TBA

Evaluation:

1. Weekly summary-evaluations of the assigned reading. These will be presented orally as well. Each written submission will be graded /10 and the best four grades will be considered and will count for 40%
2. Punctual completion of all reading assignments; attendance at class meetings. Students are expected to prepare for and participate in class discussion. The incentive for this will be the assignment of 10% of the final grade for such participation. 10%
3. A substantial research paper (20 to 30 pp.) 50%