This course is temporarily not being taught

10201 The World of the Sages

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Rabbinics or in Ancient History of the Jewish People

Prerequisites: none

Recommended: Midrash and Aggadah, Introduction to Oral Law.

Authors: M. B. Lerner, Joseph Agur, Gideon Greif, Estée Dvorjetski

The course provides an introduction to the leading Sages, who, between the end of the Second Temple period and the establishment of the academy at Yavneh, shaped the thought and method of rabbinic discourse for generations to come. Students become acquainted with the content of rabbinic sources through critical reading, analysis and comparison (knowledge of Aramaic is not required). Additional discussion is based upon critical studies of the prominent figures of the period, including the book, Rabbi Akiva ben-Yosef, His Life and His Teaching, by S. Safrai (Jerusalem, 1971).

Topics:1 Introduction to the world of the Sages; Honi Ha-Me’agel; Shimon ben Shetach; Hillel the Elder; Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai; Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai – guided reading; Rabban Gamliel; Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus; Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah; Rabbi Akiba – his life and death, his doctrine; The world of the Sages – summary.

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1Parts of the course are available in English translation.