HSY2560

Modern Jewish history

Claudia Prestel and Bernard Rechter

8 points
* Two lectures and one tutorial per week
* First semester
* Clayton
* Prohibition: HSY2550 (1993)
* Students wishing to take this subject without having taken a first-year history sequence may do so by enrolling under JWC or RLT subject codes (see entries under `Jewish civilisation' or `Religion and theology') or with permission from the head of the History department.

Objectives Upon successful completion of the subject students should be able to understand the variety and complexity of Jewish existence in a modern society and be capable of analysing sources critically.

Synopsis This subject traces the history of Jews and the development of Judaism in the modern period, from the second half of the eighteenth century to the present time. The subject will deal with topics such as facing modernity; emancipation and acculturation, especially in Central and Western Europe; different development of Eastern European Jewry; the question of Jewish identity in a modern world; modern Jewish nationalism; religious developments of Reformjudaism, Neo-orthodoxy and Ultra-orthodoxy; Jewry in the `New World'; Jews in Arab countries in the 20th century. Special consideration will be given to gender issues as well as to the lower classes, Jewish outcasts and deviants.

Assessment Class paper (1000 words): 15%
* Long essay (3000 words): 40%
* Take-home examination (2000 words): 40%
* Tutorial participation: 5%

Recommended texts

Mendes-Flohr P and Reinharz J (eds) The Jew in the modern world: A documentary history OUP, 1980
Sachar H M The course of modern Jewish history Delta, 1977