Course Description and Syllabus: Religion 104, "Introduction to Judaism" Emory University, 1989-90

Abstract

98 SHOFAR COURSE DESCRIPTION AND SYLLABUS: RELIGION 104, "INTRODUCTION TO JUDAISM" EMORY UNIVERSITY, 1989-90 Laura Levitt Laura Levitt is a Ph.D. candidate in Constructive Jewish Theology at Emory University, where she will also receive a certificate in Women's Studies. Her dissertation, "Identity/ies: Rethinking Jewish Feminist Theory and Practice," uses the tools of Feminist and Critical Theory to address the diversity of Jewish Feminist experience. She has an M.A. degree from Hebrew Union College-JIR in Modern Jewish Thought and an A.B. in Religious Studies from Brown University. In January 1992, Ms. Levitt will become an Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Religion at Temple University, where she will teach courses in Jewish Studies and Feminist Theory. I. Rationale Traditionally in the Jewish community learning has been a communal activity. When I put together my course "Introduction to ~udaism," I wanted it to reflect this value. I also wanted to do this in a critical way which would take into account the fact that Jewish women were excluded from this process. Given this history, I ask my students to enter into worlds which on the one hand seem to offer much hope and much promise for contemporary practice. On the other hand, I ask them to do so with their eyes wide open to the asymmetrical power relationship which often hold up these very systems. Maintaining these contradictory positions is uncomfortable, but it is also honest. By doing both, I ask my students to engage in a kind of critical practice. Mine is a feminist critical practice which is informed by what Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza calls an "ethic of accountability." I want to teach my students to be accountable for their positions vis-a-vis the tradition. I want them to be responsible for the political, social, and moral implications of course readings. This is especially important given the power of "Torah," both Oral and Written, in shaping Jewish communal values and practices. Students are asked to take seriously the implications of their own interpretations. This is the challenge of the course. I hope to teach students to see not only what a text says on its surface but to think, as Schussler Volume 9. No.4 Summer 1991 99 Fiorenza suggests, about the rhetorical situation in which these statements were and are still being made. For example, as· feminist scholars like Bernadette Brooten and others have suggested, just because a text like the Mishnah may not mention women in the public sphere does not necessarily mean that women did not hold positions of communal authority at the time this text was written. Thus, the Mishnah needs to be read with a "hermeneutic of suspicion," for it may not be reflecting social practices as much as it may be prescribing them. This critical practice is reinforced in the requirements for the course. Students are expected to work together in small groups, whether outlining questions to be turned in as part of an exam or working on group projects. In addition to this, students are required to use gender-neutral language except when referring to gender-specific issues or materials. Finally in terms of accountability, students are each required to attend and critique two Jewish services. In these papers students must be clear and up-front about their experiences, whether they are non-Jews going to a Jewish service for the first time or Reform Jews going to an Orthodox service. In so doing, students are asked to take responsibility for their positions and not hide behind a cloak of objectivity. In this course there is no such thing. II. Syllabus for the Course Religion 104: Introduction to Judaism MWF 11-12:00 Spring 1990, Emory University Instructor: Laura Levitt Office Hours: by appointment This course will be an introduction to Jewish'history and the diverse faces of Judaism. Students will be exposed to a wide range of Jewish experience from the biblical period to the present. Given the diversity of these experiences, students will be encouraged to develop and articulate their own answer to the question: What is Judaism in various historical, cultural, political, and economic contexts? Method: In this course, students...