FRSEMR 60Y: Great Books of Judaism
W 3:00 – 5:59
What makes a foundational religious book? How do the texts of these books develop, and what functions do they serve as material objects—physical books--in religious communities and traditions beyond conveying the texts they contain? This seminar will explore these questions by examining four “canonical” books of Judaism—the Babylonian Talmud; the Bible commentary of Rashi, the most famous Jewish commentator; the Prayerbook; and the Passover Haggadah—as they have developed from the ancient period until today. In the case of each book, the text will be studied historically-- “excavated” for its sources and roots, and its subsequent development over the centuries—and holistically, as a canonical document in Jewish tradition. Class time will be devoted primarily to learning to read the primary sources in translation; supplementary secondary readings will provide historical and cultural context The seminar will also include regular visits to Houghton Library to look at manuscripts, early printed editions, and facsimiles of these books in order to consider the relationship of materiality to textuality, and to study the changing shapes these books have taken as a key to understanding how they were studied and used. While each book will raise its own set of issues, we will repeatedly deal with three basic questions: What makes a “Jewish” text? How do these texts represent different aspects of Jewish identity? What can these books tell us about the canonical books of other religious traditions?