Hellenistic Judaism

RELIGION 1214 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

The ancient Jewish encounter with Hellenism has been a major nexus for Jewish reflection on identity, assimilation, education, and cultural resistance. This seminar surveys our ancient literary evidence for what modern scholars study as “Hellenistic Judaism”—including Jewish literature from the Hellenistic period and Jewish literature written in Greek then and thereafter. How did ancient Jews respond to the challenges of Greek paideia, on the one hand, and Ptolemaic, Seleucid, and Roman imperialism, on the other? We read a broad range of sources--from Greek translations of Hebrew scriptures to Hellenistic-era apocalypses composed in Aramaic to Greek Jewish historical and philosophical literature. We will also explore why so much of this literature later dropped out of the Jewish traditions and how was it later reclaimed for modern Jewish thought and Jewish Studies. Methodologically, the primary focus of this class will be on the challenge of correlating literature and history, engaging in close readings of primary sources with ample attention to social, historical, and cultural shifts. Sources will be read in English translation, with possible additional options for those interested in reading Greek.