III. THE JUDAIC TRADITION

• 1. The literature of Judaism
  • 1) SOURCES AND SCOPE OF THE TORAH
    • i) Prophecy and religious experience.
    • ii) Modern views of Torah.
    • iii) Opposition to the Talmud.
    • iv) Content, style, and form.
    • v) Modes of interpretation and thought.
  • 2) EARLY COMPILATIONS
    • i) The making of the Mishna: 2nd-3rd centuries.
    • ii) The making of the Talmuds: 3rd-6th century.
  • 3) TALMUDIC AND MIDRASHIC LITERATURE
    • i) Mishna.
    • ii) Tosefta.
    • iii) Talmud (Gemara).
    • iv) Midrashim.
      • 1. Halakhic.
      • 2. Haggadic.
    • v) Codes.
    • vi) Commentaries.
    • vii) Writing and printing of the Talmuds.
  • 4) NONLEGAL SUBJECT MATTER
    • i) Main religious doctrines.
      • 1. God.
      • 2. Torah.
      • 3. Israel.
      • 4. Worship.
      • 5. Messianic kingdom.
    • ii) Doctrine of man.
    • iii) Medicine and science.
    • iv) Legend and folklore.
    • v) Astrology, magic, and divination.
  • 5) TALMUDIC LAW AND JURISPRUDENCE
    • i) Methods of arriving at legal principle and decisions.
    • ii) Administration of justice.
      • 1. Courts.
      • 2. Rules of evidence.
      • 3. Trial procedure.
    • iii) Criminal law.
    • iv) Civil and social law.
  • 6) THE TALMUD TODAY
    • i) Role in the Jewish community.
    • ii) Talmudic scholarship.
• 2. Basic beliefs and doctrines
  • 1) GOD
    • i) Unity and uniqueness.
    • ii) Creativity.
    • iii) Activity in the world.
    • iv) Otherness and nearness.
    • v) Modern views of God.
  • 2) ISRAEL (THE JEWISH PEOPLE)
    • i) Choice and covenant.
    • ii) Israel and the nations.
    • iii) The people and the land.
    • iv) Modern views of the people Israel.
  • 3) MAN
    • i) The image of God.
    • ii) The earthly-spiritual creature.
    • iii) The ethically bound creature.
    • iv) Medieval and modern views of man.
  • 4) ETHICS AND SOCIETY
    • i) The ethical emphasis of Judaism.
    • ii) Interpenetration of communal and individual ethics.
    • iii) The key moral virtues.
    • iv) The relation to non-Jewish communities and cultures.
    • v) The formulation of Jewish ethical doctrines.
  • 5) THE UNIVERSE
    • i) Creation and Providence: God's world.
    • ii) Man's place in the universe.
    • iii) Intermediary beings: angels and demons.
  • 6) ESCHATOLOGY
    • i) The future age of mankind and the world.
    • ii) The king-messiah and his reign.
    • iii) Secularization of messianism.
• 3. Basic practices and institutions
  • 1) THE HALLOWING OF EVERYDAY EXISTENCE
  • 2) THE TRADITIONAL PATTERN OF INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILIAL PRACTICES
  • 3) THE TRADITIONAL PATTERN OF SYNAGOGUE PRACTICES
  • 4) CEREMONIES MARKING THE INDIVIDUAL LIFE CYCLES
  • 5) THE CYCLE OF THE RELIGIOUS YEAR
    • i) The Jewish calendar.
      • 1. Lunisolar structure.
      • 2. Months and notable days.
      • 3. Origin and development.
    • ii) The Sabbath.
      • 1. Importance.
      • 2. Observances.
    • iii) The Jewish holidays.
      • 1. Pilgrim festivals.
      • 2. Ten Days of Penitence.
      • 3. Minor festivals: Hanukka and Purim.
      • 4. The five fasts.
      • 5. The lesser holidays.
    • iv) The situation today.
  • 6) HOLY PLACES: THE LAND OF ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM
  • 7) THE SACRED LANGUAGE: HEBREW AND THE VERNACULAR TONGUES
  • 8) THE RABBINATE
    • i) Legal, judicial, and congregational roles.
    • ii) Chief rabbinates.
  • 9) GENERAL COUNCILS OR CONFERENCES
  • 10) MODERN VARIATIONS
• 4. Art and iconography
  • 1) The anti-iconic principle and its modifications.
  • 2) Ceremonial objects and symbols.
  • 3) Architecture.
  • 4) Paintings and illustrations.
  • 5) Music.
  • 6) Literature.
• 5. Jewish philosophy
  • 1) PRE-HELLENISTIC AND HELLENISTIC THOUGHT
    • i) Bible and Apocrypha.
    • ii) Philo Judaeus.
    • iii) Other ancient sources.
  • 2) MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY
    • i) Jewish kalam.
      • 1. Sa'adia ben Joseph.
      • 2. The Karaites.
    • ii) Jewish Neoplatonism.
      • 1. Isaac Israeli.
      • 2. Solomon ibn Gabirol.
      • 3. Judah ha-Levi.
      • 4. Other Jewish thinkers c. 1050-c. 1150.
    • iii) Jewish Aristotelianism.
      • 1. Abraham ibn Daud.
      • 2. Maimonides.
      • 3. Averroists.
      • 4. Gersonides.
      • 5. Hasdai Crescas.
      • 6. Joseph Albo.
  • 3) MODERN PHILOSOPHY
    • i) The Iberian-Dutch philosophers.
      • 1. Uriel Acosta.
      • 2. Benedict de Spinoza.
    • ii) German philosophers.
      • 1. Moses Mendelssohn.
      • 2. Solomon Formstecher.
      • 3. Samuel Hirsch.
      • 4. Nachman Krochmal.
      • 5. Solomon Steinheim.
      • 6. Hermann Cohen.
      • 7. Franz Rosenzweig.
      • 8. Martin Buber.
• 6. Jewish mysticism
  • 1) NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS
    • i) The Judaic context.
    • ii) Three types of Jewish mysticism.
  • 2) MAIN LINES OF DEVELOPMENT
    • i) Early stages to the 6th century CE.
      • 1. Sefer Yetzira.
    • ii) The Arabic-Islamic influence (7th-13th century).
    • iii) The making of the Kabbala (c. 1150-1250).
      • 1. Sefer ha-bahir.
      • 2. School of Isaac the Blind.
    • iv) The 10 sefirot.
      • 1. The School of Gerona (Catalonia).
      • 2. Sefer ha-temuna.
    • v) Medieval German (Ashkenazic) Hasidism.
    • vi) The making of the Zohar (c. 1260-1492).
    • vii) The Lurianic Kabbala.
    • viii) Shabbetaianism.
    • ix) Modern Hasidism.
  • 3) MODERN JEWISH MYSTICISM
• 7. Jewish myth and legend
  • 1) SIGNIFICANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS
  • 2) SOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT
    • i) Myth and legend in the Old Testament.
      • 1. Myths.
      • 2. Legends and other tales.
      • 3. Contemporary interpretations.
    • ii) Myth and legend in the Persian period.
    • iii) Myth and legend in the Hellenistic period.
      • 1. Historiated Bibles and legendary histories.
      • 2. Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha.
    • iv) Myth and legend in Talmud and Midrash.
      • 1. Midrash and Haggada.
      • 2. Fables and animal stories.
      • 3. Contribution of Haggada to Christian and Islamic legends.
    • v) Myth and legend in the medieval period.
      • 1. Jewish contribution to diffusion of folktales.
      • 2. Hebrew versions of medieval romances.
      • 3. Jewish contributions to Christian and Islamic tales.
      • 4. Major medieval Hebrew collections.
      • 5. Medieval historiated Bibles and legendary histories.
      • 6. Medieval Haggadic compendiums.
    • vi) Myth and legend in the modern period.
      • 1. Kabbalistic tales.
      • 2. Judeo-German (Yiddish) tales.
      • 3. Judeo-Persian and Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) tales.
      • 4. Hasidic tales.
      • 5. Droll stories.
      • 6. Modern Israeli folktales.
• 8. Judaism in world perspective
  • 1) RELATION WITH NON-JUDAIC RELIGIONS
    • i) Exclusivist and universalist emphases.
    • ii) Relation to Christianity.
    • iii) Relation to Islam.
    • iv) Relations with other religions.
  • 2) THE ROLE OF JUDAISM IN WESTERN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION
    • i) Its historic role.
    • ii) Its present role.
    • iii) Future prospects.