Courses

A cultural and political history of one of the Western world’s most enduringly important cities, from the perspectives of comparative religion, literature, history, and contemporary Middle Eastern politics. Topics include the centrality of Jerusalem in the holy texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; urban development and transformation of Jerusalem under successive empires and rulers; representations of Jerusalem through the ages in maps, art, poetry, travelogues, and memoir; the symbolic value of the city as sacred space in the contemporary conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. How is the relationship between faith, myth, and nationalism intertwined with the struggle over “who owns Jerusalem”? {L/H} 4 credits Justin Cammy

A year-long introduction to modern Hebrew, with a focus on equal development of the four language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. Study of Israeli song, film and short texts amplifies acquisition of vocabulary and grammar. By the end of the year, students will be able to comprehend short and adapted literary and journalistic texts, describe themselves and their environment, express their thoughts and opinions, and participate in classroom discussions. No previous knowledge of Hebrew language is necessary. Enrollment limited to 18. {F} 10 credits Completion of this course (or its equivalent) is REQUIRED by Smith College for any student planning to study abroad in Israel.
Itsik Pariente
Full-year course M W F 9:00-10:20

Continuation of JUD 100y. Emphasizes skills necessary for proficiency in reading, writing and conversational Hebrew. Transitions from simple Hebrew to more colloquial and literary forms of language. Elaborates and presents new grammatical concepts and vocabulary, through texts about Israeli popular culture and everyday life, newspapers, films, music and readings from Hebrew short stories and poetry. Prerequisite: one year of college Hebrew or equivalent, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 18. Offered at Smith in alternate years. In Fall 2012 Intermediate Modern Hebrew is offered at Mount Holyoke College. {F} 4 credits. Itsik Pariente

Explores the development of Israeli society over a period of 120 years, from transformations under Ottoman and British rule, through the emergence of the Zionist movement and social cleavages in contemporary Israel. Students will study different communities that compose Israel’s ethnically and religiously diverse society: Jews of Ashkenazi (Euro-American) and Mizrahi (Middle Eastern-North African) origin; Arab citizens of Israel and the negotiation of a Palestinian-Israeli identity; religious groups, including various Ultra-Orthodox denominations; challenges posed by recent waves of immigration from Ethiopia, the former Soviet Union, and migrant workers; societal change prompted by secularization, feminism and globalization. What are the conflicts both within and between these groups, and what are the institutions that hold this society together? {S} 4 credits
Michal Frenkel, Schusterman Visiting Israel Scholar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

The history of the Final Solution, from the role of European anti-Semitism and the origins of Nazi ideology to the implementation of a systematic program to annihilate European Jewry. How did Hitler establish a genocidal regime in a seat of European culture? How did Jews physically, culturally, and theologically respond to this persecution? {H} 4 credits
Justin Cammy (Jewish Studies) and Ernest Benz (History)
M W 2:40-4:00

The Hebrew Scriptures (Tanakh/Old Testament). A survey of the Hebrew Bible and its historical and cultural context. Critical reading and discussion of its narrative and legal components as well as an introduction to the prophetic corpus and selections from the wisdom literature. {H/L} 4 credits

Joel Kaminsky

Intensive study of selected plays and film from the U.S., Israel and the Jewish diaspora, examining the ways in which Jewish identity is rendered on stage. Particular focus is given to texts by Jewish authors, and their treatment of issues of authenticity and identity. We draw on texts that challenge or interrogate prevailing intragroup definitions, as well as those which offer positive and reinforcing viewpoints. We look at religious and communal life in Yiddish plays from Eastern Europe; plays of the Holocaust, with emphasis on the ways rendering catastrophe has evolved; assimilation and modernization in the U.S. Black-Jewish relationships explored on stage; and selected texts on the Israeli experience, as depicted from within Judaism. {L/H/A} 4 credits
Ellen Kaplan (Theatre)

Continued from fall semester. Completion of this course (or its equivalent) is REQUIRED by Smith College for any student planning to study abroad in Israel.
Itsik Pariente
M W F 9:00-10:20

An introduction to Jewish civilization from a variety of perspectives (religion, history, politics, philosophy, literature, and culture) organized around different themes. The theme for Spring 2013 is Environmentalism.
Justin Cammy
MW 2:40-4:00

Explores the ways in which gender (both, masculinities and femininities, and gender ideologies) have shaped Israeli society, and how masculinity, femininity and gender relations are constantly reinterpreted and reconstructed. Like most other industrialized countries, one can identify instances of gender discrimination and complex gender relations in Israel. Some of the unique features of Israel, such as the centrality of military service, the dominance of religious institutions, pro-natalism (high fertility rates), and the importance of traditional family structures often find themselves in friction with the emergence of another Israel that sees itself as secular, post-Zionist, and globalized. The course takes a feminist and sociological approach to exploring how sensitivity to gender enhances our understanding of this complex society. {S} 4 credits
Michal Frenkel

How can we tell whether a literary work is anti-Semitically coded? What are the religious, social, cultural factors that shape imaginings of Jewishness? How does the Holocaust affect the way we look at constructions of the Jew today? A selection of seminal theoretical texts; examples mostly from literature but also from opera and cinema. Shakespeare, Marlow, Cervantes, G.E. Lessing, Grimm Brothers, Balzac, Dickens, Wagner, T. Mann, V. Harlan; S. Friedlander; M. Gelber, S. Gilman, G. Langmuir, Y.H. Yerushalmi. {L/H} 4 credits
Jocelyn Kolb

Explores the significant contribution of Jewish writers and critics to the development of American literature, broadly defined. Topics include narratives of immigration; the American dream and its alternatives; ethnic satire and humor; literary multilingualism; crises of the left involving Communism, Black-Jewish relations, and ’60s radicalism; after-effects of the Holocaust; and the aesthetic engagement with folklore.  Authors may include Yiddish and Hebrew modernist poets, Mary Antin, Henry Roth, I.B. Singer, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, E.L. Doctorow, Cynthia Ozick. We also consider how Canadian novelists such as Mordecai Richler or Regine Robin and Latin-American writers such as Clarice Lispector or Mocyr Scliar provide transnational perspective. Must Jewish writing in the Americas remain on the margins, "too Jewish" for the mainstream yet "too white" to qualify as multicultural? {4 credits}
Justin Cammy 

Critical reading and discussion of Wisdom texts in the Hebrew Bible and Apocrypha (Job, selected Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon, etc.) as well as some of the shorter narrative and poetic texts in the Writings such as Ruth, Esther and Song of Songs. {L} 4 credits
Joel Kaminsky

Topic: Sibling Rivalries: Israel and The Other. Advanced readings, critical discussion and directed research into specific biblical books or larger themes within the Hebrew Bible. Prerequisite: REL 210, 215, any other college-level Bible course, or permission of the instructor. {H/L} 4 credits
Joel Kaminsky

This course will study 20th-century poetry, short stories, essays, and novels by Jewish writers of Spanish America. Beginning with early immigrant writers, we will explore how recent authors portray issues of identity and belonging. Special attention will be given to the social context of works and to literary movements as ideological constructs. Prerequisites: SPN 220. Enrollment limited to 19. {L/F} 4 credits
Silvia Berger