S501-Tanakh: The Beginnings of Judaism and the Jewish People

Instructor: Rabbi Joshua Brumbach
Dates:  October 27th – December 15th, 2024​
Location: Populi (https://mjti.populiweb.com)

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course examines the Tanakh as the story of the Jewish people and as the foundation of Jewish thought, life and traditions. The course covers early Jewish history focusing on the role of the Jewish people in the canonical narrative. The function of key writings and events in the formation of religion and culture in ancient Israel, as well as in the ongoing life of the Jewish people, will be addressed. Special emphasis is given to the historical, social and cultural setting of the Tanakh in the Ancient Near East.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After completing this course successfully, the student will be able to:

1. Explain the theological importance of the Jewish people and their covenant with ADONAI in the canonical narrative;
2. Grasp more deeply the characteristics of HaShem and His role in history;
3. Properly appropriate historical, social and cultural information from the Ancient Near East to deepen one’s understanding and interpretation of the Tanakh;
4. Describe the lines of social, historical, and theological continuity and discontinuity between biblical Israel and the Jewish people today;
5. Read, analyze, and interpret biblical texts.

RELATIONSHIP TO THE CURRICULUM
This is a first-year foundational class, as such it introduces key theological points and ethos of MJTI. It is a core course required for all graduate programs and certificate tracks.

RELEVANCE
The Tanakh contains the foundational narratives of the Jewish people and is central to the development of Jewish thought, life and traditions. It also serves as the theological foundation for Christianity. Therefore, understanding its development and interpretation is essential for any student of the Bible. Equally important is Israel’s covenantal role and responsibility within the Canonical Narrative. This course responds to the need for individual and communal understanding of the Tanakh, especially as the foundational witness to the relationship between God and Israel. In order to address this need, we study core Tanakh texts from the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings concerning this tumultuous relationship in dialog with Jewish interpretative tradition and reflect on them in light of the Apostolic Writings in order to know and respond to God more deeply in the present moment.

PREREQUISITES
Students enrolled in the 2024-2025 catalog must have taken GR101 or be taking it concurrently with this course.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
The student must have a computer, headset, and high-speed internet access. For assistance with Populi, please contact Rabbi Michael Hillel admin@mjti.org.

COURSE FORMAT
Online webinar and occasional asynchronous online discussion.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• Full participation in video conferences, online discussion threads, a midterm exam, and a final paper.
• Each week I may also assign each student the responsibility of presenting some of the day’s assigned reading to the class.
• Please have your JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh available for each class.

REQUIRED TEXTS

• JPS Hebrew-English Tanakh. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1999.
• Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative, Revised Ed. New York: Basic Books, 2011.
• Brettler, Marc Zvi. How to Read the Bible. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2005.
• Shanks, Hershel, ed. Ancient Israel: From Abraham to the Roman Destruction of the Temple, 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1999.
• Tullock, John H. and Mark McEntire. The Old Testament Story, 9th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2012. [Please get the 9th edition. Used is okay.]

STRONGLY SUGGESTED

• The Student Bible Dictionary, Eds. Karen Dockrey, Johnnie Godwin, and Phyllis Godwin. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 2000.
• The Jewish Study Bible, 2nd ed. Eds. Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

RECOMMENDED READING

• Robert Alter, The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010.
• Dever, W.G. What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2001.
• Dunstan, William E. The Ancient Near East. Belmont: Thomson/Wadsworth, 1998.
• Frank, H.T., ed. Hammond’s Atlas of the Bible Lands. Union, NJ: Hammond World Atlas, 2007.
• Friedman, Richard E. Who Wrote the Bible? New York: Harper San Francisco, 1997.
• Heschel, Abraham J. The Prophets. New York: Perennial/HarperCollins, 2001.
• Kugel, James L. How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now. New York: Free Press, 2008.
• Miller, J. Maxwell and John H. Hayes. History of Ancient Israel, 2nd edition. Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox, 2006.
• Newsome, James D. Jr., ed. A Synoptic Harmony of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles: With Related Passages from Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezra. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, reprint, 2006.
• Pritchard, J.B. The Ancient Near East: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures, vol. 1. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973.
• Schniedewind, William M. How the Bible Became a Book. Cambridge: Cambridge Press, 2004.
• Soulen, R. Kendall. The God of Israel and Christian Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996.
• Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006.

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS AND DEADLINES

Classes will be held once a week on Sunday mornings at 10:30 ET. We will meet via Zoom for a live two and a half (2.5) hour interactive webinar.

Full participation in video conferences, online discussion threads, a midterm exam, and a final paper. I may also occasionally assign each student the responsibility of preparing and presenting some of the day’s assigned reading to the class.

The midterm exam will consist of a selection of short essay questions. It will be posted on Populi by Thursday, November 21st and must be submitted on Populi no later than Sunday, November 24th by 11:59pm. It is worth 20% of your course grade.

A final paper of around 3,000 words will respond to a selection of essay questions. Students may also choose (optional) to do a research paper instead of responding to the essay questions. If you choose to do a research paper, the topic needs to be approved in advance by the professor. The assignment will be posted on Populi by Thursday, December 12th and must be submitted on Populi no later than Sunday, December 29th by 11:59pm.

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at rebyosh@simchatyisrael.org.