The objective of this course is to introduce students to the Jewish literary tradition across centuries and continents, from the Hebrew Bible to Medieval Jewish poetry to contemporary Hebrew and Jewish-American fiction. Students will acquire a better knowledge of the social, historical, political, and cultural contexts within which such texts were created, gaining a better understanding of the way they reflect Jewish history and Jewish thought. In addition, through oral presentations and expository assignments, the course will help students develop their critical thinking and communication skills.

The course is organized around readings from works of fiction, poetry, drama dealing with Jewish themes. Specific works under analysis will vary with the individual instructor. Topics covered include:

Literature and Jewish theology;
Literature and the exilic experience;
The interaction between Jewish literature and the non-Jewish cultures;
The Jewish experience and the challenges of modernity;
Immigration and assimilation;
Modern Jewish nationalism;
The Holocaust

The following is a sample syllabus of readings for a single semester:

The Book of Job
Selected poems by Yehuda Halevi, Shlomo Ibn Gabirol, Moshe Ibn Ezra, etc.
Sholem Aleichem, Tevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor's Son
Isaac Bashevis Singer, Enemies: A Love Story
S.Y. Agnon, A Simple Story
Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint
Bernard Malamud, The Magic Barrel
Romain Gary, The Life Before Us
A.B. Yehoshua, The Lover
Savyon Liebrecht, Apples from the Desert: Selected Stories
Orly Kastel Blum, Orly Castel-Bloom, Dolly City