Getting Oriented
January 27: Course Introductions, Expectations
January 29: Reading Religion & Food
⇒ READINGS: “Food and Religious Rituals” (Brumberg-Kraus)
“Jewish Food 101” (MJL);
“Why Keep Kosher?” (Artson)
Covenants
February 3: The Texts
⇒ READINGS: Exodus 20:1-11
Deuteronomy 6:4-25
Deuteronomy 26:5-9
February 5: The Foundations
⇒ READINGS: “Law, the Sacred, and a Nosh” (Mazur)
“Is Belief a Jewish Notion?” (Gutting)
Approaching Judaism/s
February 10-12: Pre-“Judaism”
⇒ READINGS: Genesis 8:19 through Genesis 9:1
Genesis 12:1-9
Genesis 13:3-4
Genesis 13:14-18
Genesis 15:7-15
Genesis 17:1-19
Genesis 18:16-19
Genesis 22:1-13
Genesis 26:24-25
Genesis 28:10-19
Genesis 35:1-13
February 17: Temple Judaism
⇒ READINGS: Exodus 6:28 through Exodus 7:2
Exodus 32:1-35
Exodus 40:16-38
Joshua 3:2-6
II Kings 22:8 through II Kings 23:4
February 19: Temple Judaism – The Book of the Law
⇒ READINGS: Exodus 20:1-14
Deuteronomy 12:1 through Deuteronomy 26:19
February 24: Temple Judaism – Food!
⇒ READINGS: Genesis 2:16-17
Genesis 7:1-5
Genesis 32:25-33
Exodus 22:30
Exodus 23:19
Leviticus 11:2-47
Deuteronomy 14:3-22
Jewish Dietary Practices (downloadable chart)
February 26: Temple Judaism – The Calendar (Shabbat)
⇒ READINGS: “Sabbath” (Sacks)
Genesis 1:1 through Genesis 2:3
Exodus 23:12
March 3: Temple Judaism – The Calendar (Months)
⇒ READINGS: “Rosh Chodesh 101” (MJL)
Exodus 12:1-2
Leviticus 23:24
Numbers 10:10
DUE: Writing Project paper #1
PROMPT: What is your food’s status: kosher, treyf, or “sometimes one and sometimes the other”? Based on what we have read so far, what text from Torah dictates the status you have assigned to your food?
March 5: Temple Judaism – The Calendar (Pilgrimages)
⇒ READINGS: “What Are the Pilgrimage Festivals?” (Kohn)
Exodus 23: 17
Exodus 34:18-26
Leviticus 16:29-34
Leviticus 23:4-43
[Genesis 33:16-17]
March 10: Second Temple Judaism
⇒ READINGS: Psalm 137
Deuteronomy 7:3-4
Ezra 1:1-7
Ezra 3:2-8
II Chronicles 36:1-23
March 12: MID-TERM exam
March 17-19: NO CLASS (Spring Break)
March 24: Second Temple Judaism – The Calendar (Non-Pilgrimage 1)
⇒ READINGS: II Kings 25:1-21
“Months of the Jewish Year” (MJL)
“The Hebrew Bible” (MJL)
Book of Esther
“The Story of Purim” (Goodman)
March 26: (Second) Temple Judaism – The Calendar (Non-Pilgrimage 2)
⇒ READING: “What You Need to Know About the Hanukkah Story” (Ross)
“Hanukkah 101” (MJL)
“Why Some Holidays Last Longer Outside Israel” (Kohn)
March 31: Second Temple Judaism – Two Life-Cycle Events
⇒ READINGS: Genesis 17:1-14
Genesis 21:1-4
Genesis 34:1-26
Ezra 9:1-15
April 2: NO CLASS (Pesah)
April 7-9: Rabbinic Judaism
⇒ READINGS: “The Torah” (MJL)
“What is Midrash?”
“What is the Mishnah?” (MJL)
“What is the Talmud?” (MJL)
“Talmud 101” (Schwartz)
“The Six Orders” (Chabad.org)
April 14: Rabbinic Judaism – Sacred Space (The Home & Family)
⇒ READINGS: “Jewish Weddings 101” (MJL)
Exodus 22:15
“The Brit Milah (Bris): What You Need to Know” (MJL)
“Jewish Divorce 101” (MJL)
“Jewish Death and Mourning 101” (MJL)
Genesis 3:19
“Timeline of Jewish Mourning” (MJL)
“Is There a Jewish Afterlife?” (MJL)
“What is a Mezuzah?” (MJL)
Deuteronomy 6:5-9
“Kashrut 101” (MJL)
“Keeping Kosher” (MJL)
“Shopping for Kosher Food” (Greenberg)
April 16: FIELD TRIP – “Kosher Shopping” (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 with you.]
April 21: Rabbinic Judaism – Sacred Space (The Synagogue)
⇒ READINGS: “What to Expect at Synagogue Services on Saturday Morning” (Kohn)
“Guide to the Synagogue Sancturary, From Ark to Yad” (Strassfeld and Strassfeld)
“Bar and Bat Mitzvah 101” (MJL)
Genesis 22:3
Genesis 24:63
Genesis 28:11
Numbers 15:37-41
Psalms 55:18
Daniel 6:11
April 23: Rabbinic Judaism – Sacred Time (Shabbat)
⇒ READINGS: The Sabbath (Heschel) [entire]
“Havdalah” (Silverman)
Exodus 23: 12
Exodus 34: 21
April 28-30: Rabbinic Judaism – Sacred Time (Holy Days)
⇒ READINGS: “Rosh Hashanah 101” (MJL)
“The Benefits of Fasting on Yom Kippur” (Michaelson)
Micah 7:19
“Sukkot Theology and Themes” (MJL)
“What is Shemini Atzeret?” (Steinberg)
“What Happens in Synagogue on Simhat Torah?” (Steinberg)
“Passover (Pesah) 101” (MJL)
“What It Means to Keep Kosher for Passover” (MJL)
“Shavu’ot 101” (MJL)
May 5: Post-Rabbinic Judaism
⇒ READINGS: “Israel in Jewish Thought 101” (MJL)
“Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Mizrahi, and Ethiopian Jews” (Solomin)
“The 22 Best Yiddish Words to Know” (MJL)
“List of English Words of Yiddish Origin” (Wikipedia)
“The Jewish Denominations” (MJL)
“All the Holocaust Memorial Days Explained” (Harouse)
May 7: NO CLASS (Instructor out of town)
DUE: Writing Project paper #2
PROMPT: What controversy / notoriety some time in the past century involved your brand’s status as kosher / not kosher? What were the arguments involved in that controversy? What were the specific scriptural / Torah foundations involved? How was it resolved?
May 11 (Monday, 8:00 am – 10:30 am): FINAL EXAM
May 13: FINAL PAPER due (8:00 pm [sent by email: emazur@vwu.edu])
PROMPT: Using the notions of kashrut as examined in your Paper #1 and your Paper #2, how can we trace the shifts in Judaism from the pre-Temple / Temple period into the Rabbinic period (particularly as it has developed in the modern world of packaged-food)?
[Suggested format: 1) Combine your two papers into one document; 2) streamline your sources – make sure that they’re correct, in proper format, and not duplicated; 3) write a conclusion based on the prompt; 4) write an introduction based on your conclusions; 5) streamline the entire text – make sure it now flows smoothly, like 1 final paper (rather than 2 shorter papers pasted together).]
