January 24: Course Introductions, Expectations
January 26: Religion & Culture
PRIMARY: “Religion as a Cultural System” (Geertz)
SECONDARY: “From Collards to Maple Syrup, How Your Identity Impacts the Food You Like” (Kusmer)
January 31: Religion & Food
PRIMARY: “Blood in the Barbecue?” (Roof)
SECONDARY: “I Gladly Adopted Judaism, but the Food Was Another Story” (Velez); “A Taste of the Jewish South” (Nathan)
February 2: Approaching Judaism
PRIMARY: HESCHEL (entire)
SECONDARY: Devarim [“Deuteronomy”] 26:5-11;
TERMS: Choseness; Covenant; Mitzvah; Shema
February 7: Divine Foundations
PRIMARY: “Law, the Sacred, & a Nosh” (Mazur); “Is Belief a Jewish Notion?” (Gutting)
SECONDARY: B’reshit [“Genesis”] (entire); Shemot [“Exodus”] (entire)
DUE: WORKSHEET #1
TERMS: Halakhah; Tanakh; Torah
February 9: Shabbat & Prayer
PRIMARY: COX, chapter 1
SECONDARY: “Guide to the Synagogue Sancturary, From Ark to Yad” (Strassfeld and Strassfeld); “Sabbath” (Sacks); “You Don’t Have to Be Jewish to Love Shabbat Dinner” (Stub); “Common Prayer Words” (Staff)
DUE: WORKSHEET #2
⇒ Worksheet References:
B’reshit: 1:1-5; 2:3; 22:3; 24:63; 28:11
Shemot: 20:8-11
D’varim: 6:4-7
Tehilim [“Psalms”]: 55:18
Daniel: 6:11
TERMS: Aliyah; Bimah; Challah; Daven; Eruv [Norfolk Eruv]; Havdalah; Kippah / Yarmulke; Mezuzah (in Torah); Minyan; Rabbi; Shomer Shabbat; Tallit (in Torah); Tefillin (in Torah)
February 14-16: Jewish Cycles of Time
PRIMARY: “Jewish Calendar: Solar and Lunar” (Staff); “Months of the Jewish Year” (Staff)
February 21-28: Food Rules
PRIMARY: “Kosher Food: What Makes Food Kosher or Not?” (Staff)
SECONDARY: Vayikra [“Leviticus”] (entire); “Jewish Food Does Not Begin and End With Kosher” (Gross)
DUE: WORKSHEET #3
⇒ Worksheet References:
B’reshit: 2:16-17; 32:25-33
Shemot: 22:30; 23:19
Vayikra: 11:2-47
D’varim: 14:3-22
TERMS: Heksher; Kashrut/Kosher; Parve; Talmud; Treyf
March 2: FIELD TRIP ‘n FOOD (REQUIRED)
DESTINATION: Food Lion Supermarket (5461 Wesleyan Dr., near intersection with Diamond Springs Rd.) – meet at the front entrance area of the store
[NOTE: Please download, print, and bring this WORKSHEET #4 with you.]
March 7: Purim Costume Party & Mid-Term Exam Review (No new readings)
Mid-Term PREP: Terms Worksheet #1
March 9: NO CLASS (Out of Town)
March 14-16: NO CLASS (Spring Break)
Worksheet answer keys:
#1: http://ericmazur.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KEY-Worksheet-1.pdf
#2: http://ericmazur.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KEY-Worksheet-2.pdf
#3: http://ericmazur.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/KEY-Worksheet-3.pdf
March 21: Mid-Term Exam
March 23: Torah Feasts, I (Rosh HaShanah, Sukkot)
PRIMARY: COX, chapters 2, 4
DUE: WORKSHEET #6
⇒ Worksheet References:
Shemot: 23:17; 34:22-23
Vayikra: 23: 24-25; 23:34-36
TERMS: Lulav / Etrog; Shofar; Sukkah; Yom Tov
March 28: Torah Feast, II (Pesah, Shavu’ot)
PRIMARY: COX, chapter 8
SECONDARY: “Passover, the Jewish Holiday for Gentiles” (Davidson); “What It Means to Keep Kosher for Passover” (Staff). [And for those of you who are 21 and older.]
DUE: WORKSHEET #7
⇒ Worksheet References:
Shemot: 34:18-23
TERMS: Haggadah; Hametz; Matzah; Seder
March 30: … & the rest (Shemini Atzeret, Simhat Torah, Tu B’Shevat, Yom HaShoah)
PRIMARY: COX, chapters 5, 9, 10
SECONDARY: “What is Shemini Atzeret?” (Steinberg); “What Happens in Synagogue on Simhat Torah” (Steinberg); “A Convert’s First Simhat Torah” (Gibby)
April 4: Torah Fast (Yom Kippur) & Tanakh History (Purim)
PRIMARY: COX, chapters 3, 7
SECONDARY: “Better to Suffer, or Better to Live?” (Kirsch); “The Story of Purim” (Goodman)
DUE: WORKSHEET #5
⇒ Worksheet References:
Vayikra: 23:27-28
TERMS: Grogger; Hamantashn; Kol Nidre; Shpiel, Tashlikh
April 6: NO CLASS (Pesah)
April 11: NOT-Tanakh & History (Hanukkah)
PRIMARY: COX, chapter 6
SECONDARY: “What You Need to Know About the Hanukkah Story” (Ross); “Why the Maccabees Aren’t in the Bible” (Turkienicz); “Why American Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas” (Chandler)
TERMS: Chanukiah / Menorah; Dreidl; Latke; Sufganiyot
April 13: Just History
PRIMARY: “Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Mizrahi, and Ethiopian Jews” (Solomin)
SECONDARY: “Sephardic Cuisine” (Staff); “The 22 Best Yiddish Words to Know” (Staff); “The Trefa Banquet and the End of a Dream” (Feldberg); “Who are the Hebrew Israelites?” (Kestenbaum)
TERMS: Ashkenazi; Diaspora; Exile; Sephardi; Temple;
FOOD! (Elements of a Pesah seder)
April 18-25: “Matching, Hatching, & Dispatching”: The Jewish Life Cycle … and Food
PRIMARY: COX, chapters 12, 14, 15
SECONDARY: “The Brit Milah (Bris): What You Need to Know” (Staff); “Liturgy, Ritual and Custom of Divorce” (Staff); “Down to Earth: The Vital Lessons Learned in Burying the Dead” (Sandler-Phillips); “Guarding the Dead” (Savage); “Jewish Funerals: What to Expect When You Go” (Wolfson); “Timeline of Jewish Mourning” (Staff)
DUE (April 25): WORKSHEET #8
⇒ Worksheet References:
B’reshit: 3:19; 17:10-14; 29:16-30; 34:14-17:
D’varim: 7:3-4;
Ezra: 10:10-11
TERMS: Bar Mitzvah / Bat Mitzvah; Beit Din; Brit Milah; Chuppah; Get; Hevra Kaddisha; Ketubah; Kittel; Mamzer; Mikveh; Mohel; Sandek; Shivah; Yahrzeit; Yizkor
April 27: NO CLASS (VWU Academic Symposium)
May 2: Conclusions, exam review (No new readings)
Final Exam Prep: Term Worksheet #2
Worksheet Answer Keys: #1 / #2 / #3 / #5 / #7 / #8
May 9: Final Exam (11:30 am – 2:00 pm)
