DV

Introductory Notes: Judaism, Religion, and Textual Interpretation

Course Logistics and Environment

  • Office hours and contact
    • Instructor hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 2:00–3:00 PM in the Library Tower, 13th Floor (Judaic Studies).
    • For accommodations, talk with the instructor; for course material questions, you can talk with the instructor or with Mister Gregory.
    • Mister Gregory’s drop-in hours: 12:00–1:00 PM in the library. Use the syllabus link to schedule appointments.
    • Favor in-person office hours or class questions over email for quicker, richer feedback.
  • Course setup and expectations
    • The class is introductory in approach but text- and discussion-heavy; prepared discussion is essential.
    • The syllabus outlines four sections of the course and the semester structure; the instructor will review expectations and the communication policy, followed by the text.
    • Academic honesty policy is emphasized; two take-home assignments exist and AI use is restricted for those assignments.
  • Structure and goals of the course
    • Four sections total, spanning the semester:
    • Section 1: Race, culture, ethnicity, religion – how Judaism is categorized and understood in American contexts; core questions about religion, ethnicity, culture, and language for defining communities.
    • Section 2: God’s sources, interpretations, and traditions – what a biblical text is, who wrote it, when, and how context shapes interpretation; focus on Genesis creation narratives and the influence of ancient Near Eastern contexts.
    • Section 3: Philosophy of religion – the instructor’s field; read Genesis 22 (Binding of Isaac) and excerpts from Job; explore authorship, interpretation, and meanings.
    • Section 4: Exodus and the formation of the Israelite people – how the Passover holiday evolved over two–three thousand years and how biblical material informs contemporary observance.
  • Weekly workflow and readings
    • Each week has a date, a set of guiding questions, and linked readings (free access on the syllabus).
    • Print readings in advance, read them, and take margin notes; bring both readings and notes to class.
    • All readings are publicly accessible via the syllabus; there is a print allowance; biblical texts may be accessed through public resources.
  • Participation, attendance, and assessment
    • Attendance and active participation are graded; about four evaluation points during the semester.
    • Students will take notes in class and upload photos of notes to Google Drive as part of participation tracking.
    • Approximately 80 students are enrolled; not everyone will speak, but discussion is central.
  • Readings and resources
    • The course includes three readings for the first week; readings are linked on the syllabus.
    • Print out the required readings, take notes, and bring them to class; the readings are free and no required purchases.
  • Reading strategy tips
    • The instructor suggests experimenting with different note-taking styles (one link describes several approaches).
    • If you lose the thread during a lecture, raise a hand and ask for clarification; pace may be rapid.
  • Biblical and textual approach: scholarly stance
    • The course treats religion as a human construction studied from scholarly perspectives, not as a confessional endorsement.
    • Two broad approaches to religion in the course materials:
    • Psychological (William James): religion as the experience of an individual standing before the divine.
    • Sociological (Émile Durkheim): religion as a set of beliefs, practices, and rituals organized around a deity, with regulated behavior and institutions.
    • Freud offers a third perspective: religion as an illusion used for psychological protection.
    • Distinctions between personal experience, institutionalized practice, and interpretive authority will be explored throughout the term.
  • Defining terms and identity in Judaism
    • Definitions of Jew/Judaism can be complex: ethnicity, race, religion, and cultural identity can overlap or diverge.
    • Some define Jewish status by birth (e.g., maternal line), others by parent's identity or religious practice; there are various streams within Judaism.
    • The course will examine competing definitions and how they interact with race, ethnicity, and religion.
  • Ethical and philosophical cautions in the classroom
    • The instructor emphasizes a non-confessional, scholarly approach: readers should hold their beliefs sacred but recognize the text as a historical record of human interpretation.
    • Students are urged to consider multiple interpretive frames and to distinguish between what texts say and how communities interpret them over time.
  • Core themes you’ll encounter this semester
    • What is religion? What is ethnicity? What is culture?
    • How does religion develop in immigrant and American contexts?
    • How do biblical texts function, and how should we read them in light of their ancient Near Eastern contexts?
    • How do holidays and religious observances evolve from biblical origins to contemporary practice?
    • How do different disciplines (psychology, sociology, philosophy) frame religion and belief?
  • Important policy points
    • AI policy: Two take-home assignments will exist; using AI to generate submissions will result in failure of the course; AI may be used to assist with writing in limited ways, but not to produce the final assignment.
    • Communication: Prefer office hours or in-class questions over email; email replies occur within work hours (roughly 9:00
       4:00) with occasional exceptions for weekends.

Section 1: Race, Culture, Ethnicity, and Religion

  • Core aims
    • Define and differentiate religion, ethnicity, and culture.
    • Explore how immigrant experiences shape religious practice and identity.
    • Discuss how Jews have been categorized in American society: race, ethnicity, and religion.
    • Prepare for a discussion of whether Jews are perceived as white, and what that implies for religion, culture, and ethnicity.
  • Big questions introduced
    • What is a religion? What is ethnicity? What is culture?
    • How does religion develop over time? How do immigrant experiences affect religious practice?
  • Course mechanics for this section
    • Readings include two older articles on Jews and whiteness; instructors will provide notes and lectures to connect topics.
    • The section provides a “feet wet” approach: define terms, discuss constructs, and set up the framework for later sections.
  • Key terms and concepts to track
    • Religion, ethnicity, culture, immigration, assimilation, whiteness, minority status.
  • Opening practical note
    • Seating is available; there is an emphasis on participation and speaking up when clarification is needed.

Section 2: God's Sources, Interpretations, and Traditions

  • Main focus
    • What constitutes a biblical text?
    • Who wrote biblical texts, when were they written, and what influenced their writing?
    • How is biblical text read and interpreted, and what are the different influences on interpretation?
  • Early, foundational texts to be covered
    • The story of Creation (Genesis) as a point of departure for understanding ancient Near Eastern context.
    • The relationship between biblical stories and their ancient milieu, including the way biblical texts draw on or diverge from Near Eastern myths.
  • Key questions
    • How does one read a biblical text and determine its purpose, author, and historical context?
    • How do “reading strategies” change when considering the historical development of a text?
  • Connections to broader themes
    • This section links to Section 1 by considering how religious texts inform conceptions of ethnicity, culture, and religion.
    • It paves the way for philosophical analysis of sacred narratives (Section 3).

Section 3: Philosophy of Religion (My Field of Focus and Research)

  • What you’ll read and analyze
    • Genesis 22 (the binding of Isaac) and excerpts from the Book of Job.
    • Discussion of authorship, purpose, and interpretation of biblical narratives.
  • Questions and aims
    • How do stories about humans, divine command, and divine response illuminate ideas about God and religion?
    • How do rabbis and other authorities read and reinterpret sacred narratives over time?
  • Key themes and concepts
    • The readings will examine how biblical stories are understood differently depending on the interpretive stance (historical, theological, ethical).
    • They will also explore how religious authorities (e.g., rabbis) read and regulate interpretation of sacred texts.
  • Important cross-section points
    • The stories of creation and of Exodus reveal how religious authorities reframe divine action to fit their communities’ needs.
    • The concept of law and interpretation emerges as central to religious authority.

Section 4: Exodus, Formation of the Israelite People, and Holiday Observance

  • Central scope
    • Understanding Exodus as a foundational narrative for communal identity and liberation.
    • Tracing how Passover, the festival of liberation, has transformed from its biblical commands to modern observance.
  • Core questions
    • How do holidays change in practice and meaning over time?
    • What does this evolution tell us about the relationship between sacred texts and lived religion?
  • Connections to earlier sections
    • Builds on the understanding of biblical texts (Section 2) and interpretation (Section 3) to explain how rituals and calendars develop.
  • Final emphasis
    • A critical look at how religious traditions respond to social, political, and historical shifts, and how scholarly reading can illuminate these changes.

The Oven of Akhnai (Gemara) – A Central Text for Textual Authority

  • What the text is and where it sits in the tradition
    • The Oven of Akhnai is a well-known rabbinic story cited in the Gemara (Babylonian Talmud), illustrating disputes about Jewish law and the authority of rabbis.
    • The narrative is set in the rabbinic academies and includes a debate among rabbis Yehuda, Shmuel, Eliezer, and Joshua.
  • Core sequence of events in the story
    • The rabbis debate whether an oven can become impure and how to treat it in ritual law.
    • Eliezer relies on miraculous signs (carob tree moving, stream reversing, walls falling) to prove his legal position.
    • Joshua stands against Eliezer, arguing that the law must be decided by the majority, not by miracles.
    • A heavenly voice supports Eliezer, but the rabbis insist that a human majority governs legal interpretation (not the divine sign alone).
    • God itself seems to back Eliezer, but the rabbis still decide otherwise, with Joshua’s position prevailing at the end of the episode.
    • The story ends with a dramatic close: the law is not determined by God alone but by the interpretive community, and later commentary (e.g., Rabbi Nathan) reflects on what happened behind the scenes.
  • Key interpretive points for our course
    • The text is often read to demonstrate that religious authority rests with a human community (the rabbinic court) empowered to interpret the law, sometimes with divine endorsement but not exclusively controlled by divine fiat.
    • It raises questions about the relationship between divine will and human interpretation, and about the role of majority rule in shaping religious practice (Exodus 23:2) and the assertion from Deuteronomy 30:12 that the law is “not in heaven.”
    • The narrative also includes the classic motif of public debate versus private dissent, and the ethics of disputation within a religious tradition.
  • Additional narrative details used in analysis
    • The text features a dramatic episode of signs (tree, stream, walls) and a challenge to establish whether empirical signs confirm legal conclusions.
    • The discourse presents a conflict between charismatic signs and formal legal procedure; the latter wins in the line of historical rabbinic authority.
    • The story is framed as a controversy about sources of authority (divine voice vs. interpretive majority) and the legitimacy of legal rulings.
  • Scholarly takeaways for this story
    • The purpose of including the oven story is to illustrate that religious law often evolves through human dialogue and disagreement, with divine sanction seen as accompaniment rather than exclusive class rule.
    • The episode contributes to the course’s broader argument that religion is a human construction shaped by social and textual practices over time.
    • It highlights the importance of meta-questions: What sources are cited? What is the historical context? How is interpretive authority constituted?
  • Reading questions to bring to class (examples)
    • What sources are being cited in the debates (Deuteronomy, Exodus, later rabbinic texts)?
    • What role does the concept of “majority rule” play in this narrative? How does this intersect with divine authority?
    • Is this text making a normative claim about interpretive authority or describing a historical process within the rabbinic community?
  • Important meta-questions for analysis
    • How does this text ground religious authority in a specific group (the rabbis) and how is this authority legitimized (and contested) within the narrative?
    • What does the text imply about whether divine will can be interpreted or a human community can establish binding legal norms?
    • How does this text set up the idea that religious law is ultimately an interpretive project, subject to majority decisions and ongoing debate?

Key Concepts, Terms, and Figures to Know (Glossary for the Course)

  • Religion: James’s view – the personal experience of standing before the divine; Durkheim’s view – a system of beliefs, practices, and regulated behavior centered on a deity; Freud’s view – religion as an illusion for psychological protection.
  • Ethnicity and culture: Socially constructed categories blending birth, language, practices, and identity markers.
  • The Hebrew Bible: Core corpus examined across sections; creation narratives; Exodus; Job; Genesis 22.
  • Mishnah, Gemara, Talmud: Core rabbinic literature that shapes rabbinic authority; Mishnah (2nd c. CE), Gemara (commentary on Mishnah; 4th–6th c. CE).
  • Avot/“Oven of Akhnai”: The rabbinic narrative illustrating interpretive authority and the tension between divine signs and human majority decisions.
  • Deuteronomy 30:12 and Exodus 23:2: Biblical verses cited in the Oven of Akhnai discussion to frame the authority of interpretation and the not-in-heaven principle.
  • Genesis 22 (Binding of Isaac): A key text for questions about divine command, ethics, and interpretation in Section 3.
  • Job: A second key text for theology, suffering, and theodicy in Section 3.
  • Passover (Pesach): Biblical origin and its evolution into a modern festival; linked to Exodus and the formation of Israelite identity in Section 4.
  • Key names in the Oven narrative: Eliezer (conservative legal position), Joshua (Rabbi Joshua, who argues for majority rule), Yehuda and Shmuel (other rabbis quoted in the story).
  • Concepts of omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and the idea of God as fundamentally mysterious.
  • The confessional mood vs. scholarly objective analysis: The lecturer’s stance on approaching religion as a historical and social phenomenon rather than a personal belief system.

Practical Study Tips and Study Skills for This Course

  • Before each class, print and read the assigned pages; write margin notes and bring your annotated readings to class.
  • Take notes in a way that can be uploaded to Google Drive for participation scoring; plan to capture your notes every few weeks.
  • Actively participate in discussions; be prepared to explain your definitions and interpretive arguments.
  • Use the provided readings to practice meta-questions:
    • What are the sources cited in the text?
    • Who is speaking and for what purpose?
    • What historical context informs the text’s creation?
    • What type of text is it (narrative, legal ruling, commentary)?
  • When reading the Oven of Akhnai, compare the rubric of divine endorsement with the rabbinic majority rule to understand the model of religious authority in this tradition.

Notes on Worldview, Ethics, and Real-World Relevance

  • Ethical implications of scholarly religion
    • Scholars study religion as a human construction that evolves; this highlights the importance of humility in interpreting religious claims and respecting different belief systems.
    • The course foregrounds critical engagement with sacred texts while recognizing the cultural and historical contexts that shape communities.
  • Philosophical implications
    • The tension between divine will and human interpretation raises questions about authoritative sources, the nature of religious truth, and the role of communal discourse in shaping law and practice.
  • Practical relevance
    • The evolution of rituals (e.g., Passover) demonstrates how traditions adapt over time to varying social contexts, a key concept in understanding contemporary religious life.
  • Important caution from the instructor
    • The aim is not to convert students or advocate for a specific religious position; the aim is to understand religion as a human and historical phenomenon through scholarly methods.

Quick Reference: Important Equations and Numerical References

  • Semester length and section structure
    • Total weeks: 14
    • Number of sections: 4
    • Approximate weeks per section: rac{14}{4} = 3.5 weeks
  • Office hours timing (example format)
    • Instructor: 2:00 ext{–}3:00 PM, Tue/Thu
    • Mister Gregory: 12:00 ext{–}1:00 PM (library)
  • Class size
    • Approximately 80 students

Reflection Prompts for Your Notes

  • When reading Genesis 22, what questions arise about divine command, ethical obligations, and human action?
  • In discussing the Oven of Akhnai, how does the majority rule interact with divine endorsement, and what does that imply about the source of religious authority?
  • How do James, Durkheim, and Freud differently conceptualize religion, and what are the strengths and limits of each perspective for interpreting biblical texts?
  • How does the Passover festival illustrate the transformation of sacred practices over time, and what factors drive such evolution in religious communities?

Final Reminders

  • Come prepared with printed readings and margin notes; bring your notebook and any questions to class.
  • If you have questions about readings, bring them to class or attend office hours; email replies are constrained to work hours.
  • Be mindful of the course's scholarly approach to religion and its emphasis on interpretive, collaborative discourse rather than prescriptive belief.