Jewish Studies 102: Intro to Jewish Literature

This course serves as an introduction to both Jewish Studies and Jewish Literature.  Jewish Literature/Text is the primary essential way to connect with the Jewish Tradition.  Traditionally, much of Jewish Text is considered to be sacred and spiritual.  From an academic perspective, there can be subjective religious bias in the traditional Jewish understanding of Jewish Literature, so, it can also be analyzed and deconstructed in a non-Jewish Academic way.  In this course, you will gain a foundational understanding of BOTH the spiritual AND academic perspectives on Jewish Literature.  You will not only understand the basics of Jewish literature, but you will also learn how to access the literature online, and you will also be able to understand how Jewish literature is utilized as a way of celebrating Jewish holidays and commemorating dates on the Hebrew Calendar.  This information is useful for anybody looking to incorporate Jewish literature as a spiritual practice, OR for anybody who is just interested in learning about a very complex and beautiful literary tradition that can bring meaning to lives of all people.  I highly recommend learning a bit about Jewish History before learning about Jewish Literature, although the two subject completely go hand in hand.