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Herstory and Heritage
Melton Graduate Course
Lady Judith Montefiore - portrait from volume 2 of Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore (1890)
Temple Judea Jan 6-Mar. 2, 2004, 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Instructor: Marsha B. Cohen
Overview
of the Course:
This course will examine the evolution of Judaism from the vantage point of "the
other half" of the Jewish people.
New research is bringing to light more insight into the involvement of
Jewish women in diverse societies, over the centuries and around the world, as
scholars and scribes, politicians and poets, traders and teachers, authors and
activists. In Part II, our texts will
begin with documents from the Cairo Geniza, and include letters, diaries,
poetry, journalism and scholarship written by Jewish women describing the eras
and environments during which they've lived.
The course is not intended to be a comprehensive
survey of either Jewish history or the history of the status of women in
Judaism. Rather, it seeks to add to a
missing dimension to the way Jewish historical narrative is constructed and
discussed and provide examples of what might be done with this approach. It presumes a basic knowledge of Jewish
history such as that provided by the Melton Dilemmas course.
Overview
of the Course:
The
course will consist of 9 sessions:
The Cairo Genizais a
treasure trove of discarded documents and letters which give glimpses into the daily lives of Jewish women in the Mediterranean world during the 11-14th
centuries.
2. Gluckl
of Hameln (1646-1724)
3. Judith
Montefiore (1784-1862); Rachel
Morpurgo (1790-1860)
4. Rebecca
Gratz (1781-1869); Ray
Frank (1861-1948)
5. Rosa
Luxemburg (1871-1919); Emma
Goldman (1869-1940)
6. Lillian Wald (1867-1940); Gertrude Weil (1879-1971)
7. Etty Hillesum - 1914-1943
8. Henrietta Szold
1860-1945); Golda Meir
(1898-1978)
9. Hannah Arendt
(1906-1975)