Jewish Piety

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

In this course students will survey aspects of Jewish piety from late antiquity to the present. Special attention will be paid to the medieval period. Among other topics, students will explore ancient rabbinic asceticism, contemplative and penitential practices in Rhineland communities, Kabbalah, Sufi-influenced spirituality, sacred fellowships, and Hasidism. Students will distinguish basic patterns of Jewish piety, such as contemplative worship, the approximation of divine attributes, exertion in Torah study, night vigils, examination of conscience, subduing anger, subjugation of the evil inclination, seclusion, silence, and more. The survey will also aid students researching Jewish theology and practice, Jewish-Christian acculturation, forms of medieval piety, and Judaism in the medieval Mediterranean.