Major works, literary movements, and cultural background of the modern and contemporary periods examined within their specific historical contexts. Texts will include examples of poetry, prose, and drama. Given in Hebrew.

Offered every even-numbered year.

The interaction of Jewish history and Western civilization, with emphasis upon the development of Jewish religion in the biblical, rabbinic, and modern periods.

Offered every even-numbered year.

Apocalyptic literature from its origins in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE down to its flourishing in Hellenistic and Roman times. Texts to be studied include Isaiah 24-27, 40-66, Zechariah 9-14, Joel, Malachi, Daniel, I Enoch, IV Ezra, Baruch, Qumran material, Mark 13 and the Book of Revelation. Questions bearing on contemporary theological significance will also be discussed.

Offered every even-numbered year.

The background and legacy of the destruction of European Jewry from 1933 to 1945. Topics include: the historical context, Holocaust art, literature, and film, the reactions of rescuers and bystanders, and theological issues raised by the Holocaust.

Offered every even-numbered year.

An examination of what it means, and has meant, to be a Jew in the United States, with emphasis upon the historical experience and religious expressions of American Jews.

Offered every odd-numbered year.

The background and legacy of the destruction of European Jewry from 1933 to 1945. Topics include: the historical context; Holocaust art, literature, and film; the reactions of rescuers and bystanders; and theological issues raised by the Holocaust.

This course treats issues in which law and religion meet, overlap, and conflict within Israel. Topics include medical issues (end-of-life, abortion, surrogacy), religious control disputes, the restriction of non-Orthodox movements, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Readings include primary sources; texts of actual legal cases.

Religion in the mass media. Topics may include the coverage of religious issues or events by the news media and the presentation of religious themes or concepts in the entertainment media.

Offered every odd-numbered year.

African concepts of God in names, attributes, status, monotheism, human origin, function of soul, human destiny, rites of passage, and predestination.

Offered every year.

The significant developments in American religious history and thought from Puritanism to the present with attention to the social and cultural contexts in which various religious movements arose.

Not offered on a regular basis.