JWC1130

Discovering Judaism: Belief, Practice and Social Structure

(ART)

Paul Forgasz

6 points + 3 hours per week + First semester + Clayton

Synopsis: This course investigates Judaism as an ideological system of ideas and beliefs about God, the world, the Jewish people and the wider human community. Emphasis will be placed on the way in which these ideas and beliefs are articulated in various biblical and early rabbinic sources. This course proceeds from the assumption that the various dimensions that constitute Judaism as a religious system have not remained fixed throughout Jewish religious history. Furthermore, as Jewish belief and practice have not always coalesced into a single cultural configuration, attention will also focus on their expression through the varieties of Judaism that make up the contemporary Jewish religious world.

Assessment: Tutorial attendance, participation and exercise (500 words): 10% + Research essay (2000 words): 45% + Examination (2 hours): 45%