JWST 2777

Introduction to Rabbinic Literature and History

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

This course offers an overview of Rabbinic Literature from the first century BCE through the eight century of the Common Era. Each class will combine broad historical background with the close reading of Rabbinic texts. We will not only try to understand what these texts say and how they say it but we will also explore how Rabbinic ideas and modes of expression compare to those with which we as modern readers are more familiar. We will begin with a survey of various forms of Bibli-cal and post-Biblical Second Temple writings. These texts will serve to establish the literary frameworks against which the rabbinic genres form. We will then explore the Mishanh, the Tosefta, and the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds. Through an exploration of the development of parallel themes, we will come to an understanding of how and when these texts evolved. Finally, we will explore a number of Midrashic compilations and assess their historical settings as well as their literary and ideological relationships to the two Talmuds. All Texts will be read in translation.

When Offered Fall.

Breadth Requirement (GHB)
Distribution Category (LA-AS)

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