Undergraduate Information

HEBR 1001 Elementary Hebrew I (40600)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:40–4:55 p.m.
Professor Hanni Garti-Bar
In person (LOTE)

Come learn Hebrew in an open and supportive environment! This is an elementary-level Hebrew-language class open to beginners. We will learn the Hebrew alphabet and all the speaking, reading, and writing basics. Class will include small-group work, listening to songs, and watching Israeli TV and films. This course is eligible for LOTE credit. Students are encouraged to email the instructor with any questions. This course is not open to students who have taken the Regents Exam.

HEBR 1002 Intermediate Hebrew II (40599)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:15–3:30 p.m.
Professor Hanni Garti-Bar
In person (LOTE)

Continue learning Hebrew in an open and supportive environment! This is the next level of elementary-level Hebrew-language, open to beginners who have taken HEBR 1001 or equivalent background. We will continue speaking, reading, and writing basics. Class will include small-group work, listening to songs, and watching Israeli TV and films. This course is eligible for LOTE credit. Students are encouraged to email the instructor with any questions. This course is not open to students who have taken the Regents Exam.

HEBR 4027 Mishnah (40598)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
Professor David Brodsky
In person (LOTE)

Reading and analysis of select passages from the Mishnah, the first code of Rabbinic Jewish law, dating to the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE, out of which all subsequent Rabbinic law developed. The Mishnah reflects major concerns of Judaism in antiquity including agricultural, marital, and business law, rules regarding the sabbath and holidays, sacrifices, purity, and impurity. Training in Rabbinic dialects of Hebrew. Texts will be read in the original Hebrew. Students may take this class for credit multiple times but may not repeat topics. Qualifies as a LOTE (Language Other Than English) course for Pathways College Option purposes. This course is the same as JUST 4027. Prerequisite: None, but the student should speak with the instructor or chairperson to assess that the course is at the right level for the student.

JUST 1025 The Jewish Diaspora (College Option: Intercultural Competency Course) (42380)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:40–4:55 p.m.
Professor TBA
Online, Synchronous (Inter-Cultural Competence)

Jewish Diaspora is an introduction to the worldwide mosaic of Jewish communities spread around the globe for over 2,000 years, but maintaining a shared Jewish identity as well as uniquely diverse Jewish individual communal cultural identities. How did those communities incorporate both ancient Jewish aspects and local characteristics of shared cultural diversity. This course is for people who are new to Jewish culture and ideas and for people familiar with their own cultural identities in a city of broad diversity.

JUST 1095 Anti-Semitism: Longest Hatred (40597)

Mondays and Wednesdays, 11–12:15 p.m.
Professor: TBA
In person (Pathways: World Cultures & Global Issues)

This course examines the nature of the persistent and varied forms of anti-Jewish prejudice from antiquity through the middle ages and into the modern era. Some peoples claimed that Jews hated every other nation or religion, while others spread rumors and outrageous myths about Jews being bloodthirsty predators. In more recent centuries, Jews were characterized by Shakespeare and others as greedy merchants peddling substandard goods. With the rise of secular movements of socialism and revolution, Jews were labeled “Reds” who could not be loyal. The dilemma for Jews was how to survive and overcome hatred that reached its peak during the Nazi Holocaust and continues to be powerful among those dissatisfied with democratic norms and those opposed to the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. Our readings and discussions will delve into all these matters at a time when anti-Jewish language and violence is now flaring up ever more violently. Synchronous ONLINE (Starting Spring 2025: this course fulfills Pathways World Cultures Global Issues. No ENGL pre-requisite required. Contact department for permission if you have not already taken ENGL 1012)

JUST 1145 Classical Jewish Texts  (40596)

Mondays and Wednesdays, 2:15–3:30 p.m.
Professor Sharon Flatto
In person (Pathways: World Cultures & Global Issues)

Have you ever wished you had more familiarity with the classical Jewish canon? A deeper knowledge of its key works, their historical context, and their role in traditional Judaism? This course will address these issues by exploring the masterpieces of Jewish literature that have profoundly influenced world religions, culture, and philosophy. It will begin by analyzing a range of genres of early Jewish sources, from the Bible to Maimonides. Subsequently, students will disentangle the layers and intertextuality of modern Jewish texts and films, which often riff on earlier classics, including thought-provoking works from Shalom Aleichem to the Coen brothers.

JUST 2085 Jews of New York (40595)

Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:30–7:45 p.m.
Professor TBA
Online, Synchronous (Pathways: US Experience)

From a handful of Jewish refugees who arrived to New Amsterdam in 1654 to a robust population of roughly two million by the mid-twentieth century, Jewish New Yorkers made New York City one of the largest and most important Jewish centers in the nation and the world. They also played key roles in areas that elevated New York into America’s premier urban center like labor organizing, tenants’ rights, retail, fashion, theater, and popular song. Jewish immigrants and their children saw great promise in New York City while also playing a consistent role shaping the city’s very potential. How did that relationship come to be and how did it inform the position of New York’s Jewish residents—in the city, the nation, and the wider Jewish world.

JUST 2510 Introduction to the Bible [Old Testament/Tanakh] (40611)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:15–3:30 p.m.
David Brodsky
In Person (Pathways: World Cultures Global Issues)

Broad survey of the Bible from Genesis through Chronicles, from creation through the Persian period. Introduces students to the Patriarchal narratives, historical kingdoms of Israel and Judah, laws of ancient Israel, poetry, and wisdom literature that have had an outsized impact on culture the world over. Starting Fall 2024 Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core World Cultures and Global Issues requirement.

JUST 3036 (42101) / HIST 3102 (32145) Mystics, Pietists, and Heretics: Topics in Early Modern Jewish History

Mondays and Wednesdays, 3:40–4:55 p.m.
Prof. Sharon Flatto
In Person (Capstone)

Explores aspects of the intellectual and cultural history of the Jews from the expulsion of Spanish Jewry in 1492 to the French Revolution in 1789. This course particularly emphasizes Jewish-Christian interaction, the Marrano Diaspora, Messianism, and the influence of such larger cultural trends as the Renaissance, Reformation, and absolutism upon the development of Jewish culture. This course is the same as History 3102.

JUST 3038 Messianic Ideas and Movements in Jewish History (40607)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30–7:45 p.m.
Prof. Sharon Flatto
Online (Capstone)

Major Jewish messianic trends and movements emerging from Bible up until present. Miracle worker? Apocalyptic warrior? Revealer of secrets? Or savvy politician? Explore the colorful careers of numerous messianic figures and pretenders, such as Jesus, Shabbtai Zevi, Ramhal and the Lubavitcher rebbe; intellectual and historical roots of these movements, ranging from mystical yearnings to Christian and Muslim influences; its popularization among various contemporary Hasidic and political groups.

JUST 4027 Mishnah (40602)

Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11–12:15 p.m.
Professor David Brodsky
In person (Capstone)

Reading and analysis of select passages from the Mishnah, the first code of Rabbinic Jewish law, dating to the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE, out of which all subsequent Rabbinic law developed. The Mishnah reflects major concerns of Judaism in antiquity including agricultural, marital, and business law, rules regarding the sabbath and holidays, sacrifices, purity, and impurity. Training in Rabbinic dialects of Hebrew. Texts will be read in the original Hebrew. Students may take this class for credit multiple times but may not repeat topics. Qualifies as a LOTE (Language Other Than English) course for Pathways College Option purposes. This course is the same as JUST 4027.Prerequisite: None, but the student should speak with the instructor or chairperson to assess that the course is at the right level for the student.