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 131-133 The Rabbinic Imagination

Note

Formerly available as 131-448. Students who have completed 131-448 are not eligible to enrol in this subject.

Availability

4th year

Credit Points

12.5

Coordinator

Dr M Baker

Semester

Not Offered (view timetable)

Contact

A 2-hour seminar per week

Subject Description

A study of Jewish literacy and rabbinic culture from post-biblical times to the present. Beyond the cliché about Jews being the People of the Book, why are Jewish texts so central to the rabbinic imagination? This subject will consider the impact of social change on the interpretation of canonical literature and the impact on Jewish society of different types of writing, including law, homilies, philosophy, mysticism, hasidic parables, folk-tales and ethical literature. The genre of midrash - rabbinic hermeneutics - will also be studied in light of post-modernist theories about the text.

Assessment

Written work totalling 5000 words.



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Status:                   Official 1999
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Email Enquiries:          Course_Information@registrar.unimelb.edu.au