Email: Course@jewishbible.org www.jewishbible.org

(This is a tentative course outline, subject to change)

COURSE TITLE: Introduction to the Pentateuch: A Classical Jewish Perspective

COURSE OBJECTIVE AND DESCRIPTION: This six-credit two-semester course will familiarize the student with texts in the Bible relating to basic Jewish concepts. These texts will be analyzed through the prism of the Jewish exegetical tradition

ADMINISTRATION

NAME OF ORGANIZATION: Jewish Bible Association

ADDRESS: POB 29002, Jerusalem, Israel

Fax: +972-2-6759219 (attn: JBQ)

MISSION: The Jewish Bible Association is an affiliate of the Dept. of Jewish Zionist Education of the Jewish Agency. The JBA publishes the JEWISH BIBLE QUARTERLY, the only Jewish-sponsored English-language journal devoted exclusively to the Bible. It participates in planning the annual International Bible Contest for Youth held every year in Jerusalem. It disseminates a weekly Bible quiz on the Internet. It organizes public lectures on biblical themes in Jerusalem.

OBJECTIVE: to offer a college level introductory course on the Bible from a traditional viewpoint

COST: $300 per semester (3 credits per semester)

RECORDS

RECORDS FOR COURSE COMPLETION: on computer system with secure access

INSTRUCTION

TEACHING STAFF: PhD's in Bible and/or Judaica

LOCATION: correspondence over the Internet computer network

COURSE HOURS: 90 hours over 26 weeks

METHODS USED: extensive readings, computer interaction

STUDENT EVALUATION: quiz on each week's readings as well as a final exam. Minimum passing grade is 75; those who fail to achieve this grade do not get credit.

QUALIFICATION FOR ADMISSION TO THE PROGRAM: current enrollment in a college for credit option (or advanced placement in high school)

HOURS PER WEEK OF OUTSIDE PREPARATION: extensive readings in lieu of classroom attendance

TEXTBOOKS: (list enclosed)

INSTRUCTIONAL HOURS: 3.5 hours per week (readings and answering questions). Total formal instructional hours: 90 hours over an 26 week period (3.5 hours/week).

COLLEGE CREDIT: contact us how to obtain college credit for the course at over 180 US colleges

COURSE OUTLINE AND BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Week One and Two: Structure of the Bible, relationship of Bible to the oral law, translations of the Bible (Targum Onkelos, Targum Yonatan ben Uzziel, Septuagint), the 613 commandments, synopsis of each book of the Bible with historical and geographical background.

Readings:

Jerome Hahn (ed.) Bible Basics. Boca Raton: IT Publishing, 1996, pp. 24-33, 35-59, 80-90; 102-139.

Graphic History of the Jewish People

Week Three: Canonization, Order of the Books of the Bible, Masoretes and Dikdukei Sofrim,

Readings: (the primary Talmudic sources e.g. Bava Batra on the above)

Week Four: Jewish Approach to Biblical Criticism

Readings:

Kapustin M. Biblical criticism: A traditionalist view. Tradition

Gottlieb I.B. Scientific method and biblical study. Tradition

Yehuda Z.A. Hazon Ish on textual criticism and halakhah. Tradition 1980;18(2):172-180

Leeman S.Z. Hason Ish on textual criticism and halakhah: A rejoinder. Tradition 1981;19(4):301-310

Weeks Five and Six: Talmudic and Rabbinic Jewish Approaches to the Text: hermeneutical rules; halacha vs. Aggada; PARDES: peshat, remez, drash, and sod; Saadiah Gaon; Rambam; Rabbenu Bachya; Ibn Saruq; Ibn Ezra; Rashi; Radak; Ramban; Abarbanel; Zohar.

Readings:

Printouts of typical page in Mikraot Gedolot with background on commentators;

Maori Y. The approaches of classical Jewish exegetes to peshat and derash and its implications for the teaching of Bible today. Tradition 1983;21(3):40-53

Shmuel ha-Nagid (hermaneutical rules)

E.L. Greenstein, "Medieval Bible Commentators, in B.W. Holtz (ed.), Back to the Sources: Reading the Classical Jewish Texts. New York: Summit Books, 1984. pp. 213-259.

Weeks Seven - Ten: Genesis (narrative)

Readings:

Levy Y. Fiat and forming: Genesis 1 & 2 revisited. Tradition

Kaplan A. The age of the universe. In: Immortality, Resurrection and the Age of the Universe: A Kabbalistic View. (Hoboken: Ktav Publishing, 1993).