Exile, Diaspora, and Trauma in the Jewish Imagination

HDS 1642 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

In this course we will examine the various iterations and motifs of exile, Diaspora, and trauma in the Jewish tradition from the Hebrew Bible and its reception to the advent of Zionism. The concept of exile (galut) is not only a description of the Jewish "state-of-being" but may be the very cornerstone upon which Judaism as we know is founded and continues to exist. While exile stands at the center of Jewish self-fashioning and ritual as a theological category, Diaspora (golah) is a more value-free historical term describing the dispersion of the Jews throughout the world. Tension between exile and Diaspora emerged with the advent of Zionism when questions of messianism problematized the concept of exile as an operational category. In addition, trauma filters through the entirety of the Jewish theological and historical experience as both a real and imagined category of identity and posture toward the world. All readings will be in translation.