Ithaca College
Fall Semester 2002


Jews in the Modern World
Jewish Studies 340-20200
MW 4:00-5:15 p.m.
CNS 118

Professor Rebecca Lesses
Office: Gannett G-122
Office Hours: Mon., 2-3, Tues., 10:30-12, Wed., 2-3, and by appointment.
Telephone: 274-3556
E-mail: rlesses@ithaca.edu

"Jews in the Modern World" explores ways in which one cultural group which transcends national boundaries has been affected by the great currents of intellectual and cultural change, nationalism, wars, migrations, colonialism, etc. which have swept through the world since 1492. This course provides a focused introduction to modern Jewish history, from the expulsion of the Sephardic Jews from Spain in 1492 to contemporary Jewish life in the United States, Europe, and Israel. The course covers Jewish communities in diverse culture areas: the Ashkenazi Jewish culture of northern and eastern Europe, the diaspora Sephardic Jewish culture in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire, Jewish culture in the Islamic cultural sphere of North Africa and the Middle East, the emergence of Jewish communities in the Americas, and the founding of the state of Israel. We will discuss Jewish reactions to modernity in a variety of communities, the impact of European colonialism in North Africa and the Middle East, the effects of anti-semitism and the Holocaust, and the emergence of Jewish centers in the Americas and the state of Israel. We will pay particular attention to the history of Jewish women in the various culture areas.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

Class attendance and participation (10%): 2 unexcused absences permitted; if class is missed because of illness, student must present a doctor’s excuse; more absences will lead to a lower grade. Class participation includes asking questions and speaking up during class discussions, participating in small group discussions, and active listening to lectures and to classmates.

Map exercise--due September 11 (5%)

Several short quizzes--every two to three weeks in class (10% total; lowest quiz grade will be dropped)

Midterm exam--October 14, in class (20%)

Research Project (25%) on a significant figure in Jewish history—a list of figures and bibliography will be handed out in class. The project includes:
Class presentation (5%) – 10-15 minutes
Short paper (2 pages) (5%) in the form of a handout – due at the time of the class presentation
Longer paper (6-8 pages) (15%) – more extensive research on the life and times of the significant figure—due December 4, in class

Proper citation and paper format tells you how to format your paper correctly.

Final exam--date and time to be determined by the Registrar’s Office (30%).

CLASS POLICIES

1. ALL WRITTEN WORK MUST BE YOUR OWN. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please consult pages 116-118 of the Student Handbook for a complete statement of the Ithaca College policy on plagiarism, including definitions of plagiarism and proper citation of sources.

2. ALL WRITTEN WORK MUST DONE IN ORDER TO PASS THE COURSE. This includes all exams (midterm, final, and quizzes), map exercise, and papers.

3. IF YOU NEED HELP WITH YOUR WRITING: Please come speak to me. I also recommend the Writing Center, 228 Park, which is open 9-5 Mon.-Fri. and 7-10 p.m. Sun.-Thurs. To schedule an appointment, call 274-3315.

4. ATTENDANCE POLICY. 3 unexcused absences are permitted; if class is missed because of illness, student must present a doctor’s excuse. More than three unexcused absences will lead to reduction of the course attendance and participation grade.

5. STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES: please approach me early in the semester and let me know your needs in terms of papers or exams. Also, please have the Office for Support Services send me a letter with your specific needs.

BOOKS FOR PURCHASE

IN BOOKSTORE (also on reserve in library)

Raymond P. Scheindlin, A Short History of the Jewish People, Oxford University Press, 1998.

Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz, eds., The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History (2d ed., Oxford University Press, 1995).

Shlomo Deshen and Walter P. Zenner, editors, Jews Among Muslims: Communities in the Precolonial Middle East (New York: New York University Press, 1996).

Judith R. Baskin, Jewish Women in Historical Perspective, Wayne State University Press, 1995 (second edition).

Lucy S. Dawidowicz, editor, The Golden Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in Eastern Europe, Syracuse University Press, 1996.

COURSE READER (available for sale in class and in Jewish Studies office, Gannett 122) – all readings in the course reader are marked in the syllabus with the words "Course Reader."

PACKET OF MAPS (available for sale in class and in Jewish Studies office, Gannett 122).


CLASS SCHEDULE

1. Introduction – 8/28/02
map handout: The Middle East and Europe

LABOR DAY – 9/2/02 – NO CLASS

2. Jewish life under Christians and Muslims – 9/4/02
Readings
Jacob Katz, "Traditional Jewish Society and Modern Society," and Mark Cohen, "Islam and the Jews: Myth, Counter-Myth, History," in Jews Among Muslims, pp. 25-34, 50-63.
Recommended Reading:
Allan R. Meyers, "Patronage and Protection: The Status of Jews in Precolonial Morocco," in Jews Among Muslims, pp. 83-97.

3. The expulsion from Spain & settlement in Ottoman Empire and Western Europe – 9/9/02
Readings
Scheindlin, pp. 123-131, 159-161
Course Reader: Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands, pp. 87-94, 290-292; Marcus, Jew in the Medieval World, pp. 363-365.
MAPS 1 & 2
Recommended Reading:
Solomon Schechter, Studies in Judaism, pp. 231-297, "Safed in the Sixteenth Century" (on reserve)

4. Mystics and Messiahs: Isaac Luria and Shabbetai Zevi – 9/11/02:
MAP EXERCISE DUE
CLASS PRESENTATION: Shabbetai Zevi or Isaac Luria
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 132-136.
Course Reader: Lawrence Fine, Safed Spirituality, Introduction, pp. 1-24; "David Reubeni and Solomon Molko, 1524-1532," "Shabbethai Zebi, False Messiah, 1666," "The Frankists, 1755-1817," in Marcus, Jew in the Medieval World, pp. 283-294, 314-319; "The Early Messianic Career of Shabbetai Zvi," by Matt Goldish, in Judaism in Practice, pp. 470-482.
MAPS 3 & 4
Recommended Reading (on reserve in the library)
Gershom Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, "Isaac Luria and His School," pp. 244-286; "Sabbatianism and Mystical Heresy," pp. 287-324; R. J. Zwi Werblowsky, "The Safed Revival and its Aftermath," in Arthur Green, ed., Jewish Spirituality II (New York: Crossroad, 1989), pp. 7-33.

YOM KIPPUR – 9/16/02 – NO CLASS

5. The Ottoman Empire and European colonialism – 9/18/02
Readings
Scheindlin, pp. 134-141.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 313-315 (Damascus Affair).
Course Reader: Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands, pp. 95-110, Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times, pp. 3-46.
Recommended Reading: Walter Zenner, "Syrian Jews and their Non-Jewish Neighbors in Late Ottoman Times," in Jews Among Muslims, pp. 161-172.

6. Modernization in Middle Eastern Jewish communities – 9/23/02
Readings
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 316-321.
Zvi Zohar, "Sephardic Rabbinic Responses to Modernity: Some Central Characteristics," in Jews Among Muslims, pp. 64-80.
Frances Malino, "The Women Teachers of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, 1872-1940," in Jewish Women in Historical Perspective, pp. 248-269.
MAPS 5-8
Further Reading
Harvey Goldberg, ed., Sephardi and Middle Eastern Jewries: History and Culture in the Modern Era (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1996).
Aron Rodrigue, French Jews, Turkish Jews (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990).

7. Jews in Poland and Lithuania – 9/25/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Elijah of Vilna, the Vilna Gaon
Readings
Scheindlin, pp. 149-153, 173-75, 178-80.
Lucy Dawidowicz, The Golden Tradition, pp. 5-13.
Course Reader: Marcus, Jew in the Medieval World, pp. 233-239 ("The Council of Four Lands and the Lithuanian Council").
MAPS 9-12.

8. Hasidism – 9/30/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Ba’al Shem Tov
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 177, 180, 182-83
Dawidowicz, The Golden Tradition, pp. 93-110.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 387-393.
Course Reader: Jacob Ariel, The Mystic Quest, pp. 163-165, 173-183.

9. Western European Jewry: Italy, England, Germany, France – 10/2/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Glikl of Hameln
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 153-163, 170-171
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 18-20
Course Reader: Jacob Marcus, The Jew in the Medieval World, "Martin Luther and the Jews (1523-1543)," pp. 185-190; Paula Hyman, "The Life of Glikl of Hameln," in Judaism in Practice, pp. 483-497.
MAPS 13-15

10. Enlightenment and the Jews– 10/7/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Moses Mendelssohn or Benedict Spinoza
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 164-65.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 10-17, 28-60, 87-99.

MIDTERM STUDY SESSION – 10/9/02

MIDTERM EXAMINATION – 10/14/02

MOVIE – 10/16/02

FALL BREAK – 10/17-20

11. Political Emancipation in Europe – 10/21/02
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 165-67.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 49-53, 112-118, 123-136, 139-143.
MAP 16
Recommended Reading:
Jacob Katz, Out of the Ghetto: The Social Background of Jewish Emancipation (New York: Schocken, 1978), pp. 1-103.
Michael Meyer, The origins of the modern Jew (Detroit, Wayne State University Press, 1967).

12. Assimilation in 19th century Western Europe – 10/23/02
Slide presentation on Jews in European art
Readings:
Paul Mendes-Flohr, The Jew in the Modern World, pp. 105-111.
Deborah Hertz, "Emancipation Through Intermarriage in Old Berlin," in Jewish Women in Historical Perspective, pp. 182-201.
Marion A. Kaplan, "Tradition and Transition: Jewish Women in Imperial Germany," in Jewish Women in Historical Perspective, pp. 202-221.

13. Religious reform in Europe --10/28/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Abraham Geiger or Bertha Pappenheim
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 168-71.
Mendes-Flohr, 155-210
Recommended Reading:
Jacob Katz, Out of the Ghetto, pp. 105-160.

14. The Jews of Russia I: Pogroms, Socialism & Zionism – 10/30/02
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 176-184.
Dawidowicz, Golden Tradition, pp. 405-422, 426-434
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 372-386, 394-405, 408-428.
MAPS 17-20.

15. Jews of Russia II: Haskalah, Musar, Yiddish and Hebrew literature – 11/4/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Mendele Mokher Sforim (Sholem Jacob Abramovich)
Readings:
Dawidowicz, Golden Tradition, pp. 14-49, 58-75, 113-119,161-168, 171-192, 207-209, 233-242, 273-317.

16. American Jewry from 1654-1881 (Sephardi and Ashkenazi (German) immigration) – 11/6/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Isaac Mayer Wise
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 187-190.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 449-465
MAPS 21 & 22

17. American Jewry after 1881: Eastern European immigration & Yiddish culture – 11/11/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Solomon Schechter
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 190-193.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 468-476, 478-480, 483-484, 486-488, 493-497, 499-502, 504-507, 517-518.
MAP 23

18. Zionist movement – 11/13/02
CLASS PRESENTATION: Henrietta Szold
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 217-225, 143-145.
Dawidowicz, pp. 49-58, 367-375, 388-393.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 529-549, 558-565, 571-577.
Course Reader: Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times, pp. 65-91.
MAPS 24-27

19. World War I in Europe and its aftermath– 11/18/02
Movie: Image Before My Eyes.
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 184-87, 193-97, 199-201.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 432-446.
Dawidowicz, pp. 75-81.
MAP 28
Recommended Readings
Joseph Roth, The Wandering Jews, trans. Michael Hofmann (New York/London: Norton, 2001).

20. World War I, Zionism, and Arab nationalism – 11/20/02
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 141-43, 225-230
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 509-512, 523-524, 582-584, 589-597, 603-617.
Course Reader: Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times, pp. 47-64, 93-112.
MAPS 29-30

THANKSGIVING BREAK – 11/25-29

21. Religious and Racial Antisemitism – 12/2/02
Readings:
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 302-303, 309-311, 321-324, 327-331, 331-334, 340-359, 465-468, 512-514, 636-639.
MAPS 31 & 32

22. The Nazi Party and the Taking of Power in Germany, 1921-1938 – 12/4/02
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 199-205.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 640-656.
MAPS 33-35.

23. The Shoah – 12/9/02
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 205-215, 145-146.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 656-658, 660-696.
Course Reader: Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times, pp. 113-139.
MAPS 36-38

24. Establishment of the State of Israel and mass immigration– 12/11/02
Readings:
Scheindlin, pp. 230-237.
Mendes-Flohr, Jew in the Modern World, pp. 622-633.
Course Reader: Stillman, Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times, pp. 141-176.
MAPS 39-42

EXAM WEEK – 12/16-20

This page maintained by: Rebecca Lesses
Last revised August 25, 2004