Syllabus, introduction, sephardic Judaism, hassidism

1. H504 Contemporary Judaism • Week 1
Introduction to Contemporary Judaism

2. Dr. Stan, Jacqui, & Carrie Meyer
Tree of Life Messianic Synagogue
Phoenix, Arizona
Text: 480-535-7826
Email: Stan.Meyer@mjti.org

3. Describe your last
Jewish experience

6. H504 - Contemporary Judaism
Week 1 - Sephardic & Hassidic Judaism (18th Century)
Week 2 - Reform Judaism (19th Century)
Week 3 - Conservative, Modern Orthodox, Zionism (19th Century)
Week 4 - Jewish Socialism, Reconstructionism (Early 20th Century
Week 5 - Secular Humanism, Chabad, Suburban Judaism (Postwar)

7. H504 - Contemporary Judaism
Week 6 - New Age, Renewal, Messianic Movement (late 20th)
Week 7 - Justice Movements, Feminist & Queer Judaism (late 20th)
Week 8 - Jewish Millennials, Emergent Synagogues, Farming
Movement, Future of Messianic Movement.
Week 9 - work on your
fi
nal paper

8. Assignments
• Class Participation (10 pts)
• Five Discussion Posts @ 5pts ea (25 pts)
• Five Class Presentations @ 6pts ea (30 pts)
• Final Paper (35 pts)
• Total (100 pts)

9. How to get an A

10. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS NO YES
Answer EVERY question 0 2
Re
fl
ect from Messianic Jewish Perspective 0 2
Cite each reading 0 1
Total . 5

11. Reading & Discussion Posts
• Read: Material relates ahead to upcoming Sunday
lecture (not previous Sunday lecture)
• Respond: 250 words, answer the question, and cite the
sources in the reading in Chicago format.

12. Respond from a Messianic-Jewish Perspective
1. What can you a
ffi
rm or even adopt (cite Scripture)?
2. What might you disagree with (cite Scripture)?

13. Ex. Tikkun Olam (repairing the world)
1. A
ffi
rm the duty for social justice and social action.
“Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deut. 16:20)
2. Disagree with the Kabbalistic interpretation of it.
Our acts of justice do not regather divine sparks, lead to
repairing God, or speed up the coming of the Messiah.

14. Ten-Minute Presentations
1. Historical Context of a Jewish Movement
2. Jewish thinker related to a J Movement
3. New Belief or interpretation related to J Movement
4. Innovative practice or ritual related to J Movement
5. Lasting institution emerging from a J Movement

15. Example: Reform Judaism
1. Historical Context — The Jewish Enlightenment
2. Jewish Thinker — Isaac Mayer Wise
3. New Belief — Post-Zionism, Reject Return to Israel
4. Innovative Practice — Con
fi
rmation
5. Lasting Institution — National Federation of Temple Youth

16. Class Presentations (10 minutes)
1. Pick di
ff
erent movements, not the same ones
2. Pick di
ff
erent days to present, not the same day
3. Graded for

17. Example: Susan W
1. Historical - Conservative Judaism, The Treifa Banquet
2. Thinker — Modern Orthodoxy, Isaac Abraham Kook
3. New Belief — Jewish Renewal, Gaia’ism
4. New Practice — Farming Movement, Tu B’shvat Seder
5. Lasting Institution — Socialism, the Daily Forward

18. CLASS PRESENTATIONS PTS
Described the Historical context, thinker, belief, practice or institution 2
Described is Contribution to Judaism 1
Respond from Messianic Jewish Perspective 1
Correctly Cited at least two sources according to SBL / Chicago 1
Total : 5

19. Citation Format
SBL / Chicago Manual of Style

20. H504 Contemporary Judaism • Week 1
Judaism in the 18th Century
European Judaism on the eve of the Haskalah

21. Sephardic Jewry

22. History of Sephardic Judaism

23. https://www.sephardicgen.com/maps2.htm
https://www.themaparchive.com/product/jewish-diaspora-587-bce300-ce/
Jews Arrived in Spain 1st Century CE

24. Golden Age
711 - 1492
Jews alongside Muslims & Christians
https://www.sephardicgen.com/maps2.htm

25. Reconquista
801-1492
Spain reconquered Iberia
https://www.sephardicgen.com/maps2.htm
https://www.britannica.com/event/Reconquista

26. Pogroms of 1391
1391 - 1415
• Massacres
• Forced Conversions
• Estimated 50,000 conversions
• These intermarried
Gerber, J. The Jews of Spain. New York: Free Press. 1994.

27. Inquisition
1478 - 1834
• Dominican Monks
• Targeted Jewish Converts
• Charged “Crypto-Judaism”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Spanish-Inquisition

28. Tomas de Torquemada
1420 - 1498
• Jewish Convert
• Grand Inquisitor
• Concerned about Crypto Jews
in
fl
uence on Converted Jews
https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/tomas-de-torquemada

29. Edict of Expulsion
31 March 1492
Pressed Ferdinand & Isabella
“Edict of Alhambra”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Spanish-Inquisition
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spain-announces-it-will-expel-all-jews

30. https://commons.princeton.edu/mg/countries-from-which-jews-were-expelled-15th-17th-centuries/
Estimate 150,000 to 200,000 Jews expelled

31. Importance of Sephardic Judaism
For Contemporary Judaism

32. Importance of Sephardic Judaism
1. Global Jewish diaspora
2. International mercantile network
3. Converted Jews integrated into Christian society
4. British & American Jews
5. Kabbalah

33. Influence of Sephardic Judaism
1. Global Jewish diaspora

35. Jewish communities everywhere
• Portugal
• Amsterdam
• Venice
• Ottoman Empire
• North Africa
• Goa, India
• Brazil & Caribbean

36. Influence of Sephardic Judaism
1. Global Jewish Diaspora
2. International Mercantile network

37. Jewish Ghetto in Venice

38. Sephardic Synagogue in Venice

39. Sephardic Synagogue
German Ashkinazi Levantine (Ottoman)
Roman Synagogue

41. International Mercantile Network
• Collection of 13,670 business letters
• Early 18th Century
• Ergas & Silvera families
• From: Italy
• To: Cities from London to Goa
The Familiarity of Strangers: The Sephardic Diaspora. Francesca Trivellato.
Yale University Press, 2009.

42. Influence of Sephardic Judaism
1. Global Sephardic diaspora
2. International mercantile network
3. Jews integrated into Christian society

43. Amsterdam
• Spanish Colony
• Crypto-Jews Arrived in 16th Century
• maintained contact with other Jews

44. Amsterdam
• 1500s Crypto-Jews arrived
• 1581 Holland independent
• 1606 First Synagogue Established
• 1609 200 Jews

45. Manasseh Ben Israel
• Chief rabbi of Amsterdam
• 1617 Hebrew Printing Press
• University of Leiden Hebrew Studies
Program

46. Manuel Rodrigues de Vega
• Crypto-Jew
• 1604 founded silk mill
• Hired Portuguese Crypto-Jews
• Established Silk Industry

47. Emmigration to America
Portuguese & Spanish Colonies
Martinez Davila, Diaz, & Hart. “Fractured Faith”. New Mexico History Museum.
https://www.academia.edu/28488179/Fractured_Faiths_Spanish_Judaism_the_Inquisition_and_New_World_Identities?auto=download

48. Mikve Israel Emanuel in Curacao Caribbean in 1651

49. Louis de Carvajal y de la Cueva
1537 - 1591
• Jewish Conquistador
• Crypto-Jew
• Colonized Monterrey, Mexico
https://alchetron.com/Luis-de-Carvajal-y-de-la-Cueva

50. Juan de Oñate
• Converted Jew
• Conquistador
• Settled Sante Fe New Mexico
Hart, R. “The Exile Factor”. El Palacio . June 2016. https://www.elpalacio.org/2016/06/the-exile-factor/

51. Dona Teresa de Aguilar
1623 - 1680
• Wife of Governor of New Mexico
• Fully emancipated
• Educated, successful
• Spoke 5 languages
• Wrote Jews around world
Dona Teresa de Aguilar (1623 - 1680)

52. Influence of Sephardic Judaism
1. International Sephardic diaspora
2. International mercantile network
3. Ability of Crypto-Jews to integrate within Christian society
4. British & American Jews

53. Manasseh Ben Israel
• Popular among Baptists in England
• 1655 Petitioned Cromwell to re-admit
the Jews

54. 1657 Bevis Marks Synagogue in London

55. 1654 Twenty-Three Jews Arrived in New Amsterdam

56. Influence of Sephardic Judaism
1. International Sephardic diaspora
2. International mercantile network
3. Ability of Crypto-Jews to integrate within Christian society
4. First Anglo and American Jews
5. Kabbalistic Judaism

57. Isaac Luria (Ha’Ari)
1534 - 1572
Father of Contemporary Kabbalah

58. Isaac Luria (Ha’Ari)
• Born 1534 in Jerusalem
• Sephardic Family
• At 22 studied Zohar

59. Isaac Luria (Ha’Ari)
• 1569 went to Sefad
• 1570 studied with Moses Cordovero
• Gathered a following
• 1572 died
• 1600s followers popularized Kabbalah

60. Kabbalah Spreads
• The Tree of Life (8 volume work)
• 1650 printed editions circulated Europe
• Makes its way to Ukraine

61. Etz Chaim (Tree of Life)
Printed in Ukraine in 1772
By Isaac Satanow

62. Zolkiev
Sefad

63. Hassidic Judaism

64. Influence of Hassidic Judaism
1. Historical Context leading to its birth
2. Major Thinkers
3. New Beliefs or Interpretations
4. New practices or rituals
5. Lasting Institutions or organizations

65. Influence of Hassidic Judaism
1. Historical Context leading to its birth

66. Historical Context
• 1764 Jewish autonomy ended
• Rabbinic institutions collapsed
• Rural isolation of Jewry in E Europe
• Rise of popular folk religion

67. Shabbatai Tzvi
1626 - 1676
• Sephardic Jew
• b. Smyrna, Ottoman Empire
• Learned Kabbalah
• Popularized Kabbalah in Europe
• Proclaimed himself the Messiah

68. Historical Context
• Shabbatai Messianism spread
• Lurianic Kabbalism spread

69. Influence of Hassidic Judaism
1. Historical Context leading to its birth
2. Major Thinkers

70. Baal Shem Tov (Besht)
1698 - 1760
• Yisrael ben Eliezer
• B. in Ukrainę
• Raised an orphan
• Wandered in
fi
elds talking to God
• Led children in songs

71. Baal Shem Tov
• Wandered in forests
• Cry to God, shout & sing
• Ecstatic experiences
• Studied with secret Tzadakim

72. Baal Shem Tov
• 1734 Declared himself a Tzadek
• Gathered followers
• Taught Kabbalah
• 1760 there were 10,000 followers

73. Baal Shem Tov
Writings known as Chassidis
Followers known as Chassidim
(Piety)

74. Toldot Ya'akov Yosef
First Chassidic Work published
R. Yacov Yosef of Polonoye

75. Tanya
R Shneur Zalman

76. Influence of Hassidic Judaism
1. Historical Context leading to its birth
2. Major Thinkers
3. New Beliefs or Interpretations

77. New beliefs
• Kabbalistic Judaism
• Panentheism - the omnipresence of God
• Duty of Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World)
• Mystical Nature of Tikkun Olam
• Sacramental Nature of the Mitzvah
• The intention of the heart in doing Mitzvot (Kavannah)

78. Influence of Hassidic Judaism
1. Historical Context leading to its birth
2. Major Thinkers
3. New Beliefs or Interpretations
4. New Practices

79. New Practices
• Tzadik - the Holy Master
• Dancing & Song
• Niggun “Lai, Lai, Lai”
• Meditation & chanting
• The Shabbat Tisch
• The farbrengen

80. Influence of Hassidic Judaism
1. Historical Context leading to its birth
2. Major Thinkers
3. New Beliefs or Interpretations
4. New practices or rituals
5. Lasting Institutions or organizations

81. Lasting Institutions
• Chassidus - wisdom writings
• The Yeshivas
• Traditional Clothing
• Study of Kabbalah
• Hassidic Melodies sung in synagogues today
• Hassidic Sects still around

82. Hassidic Sects Founder Birth City
Belz Sholom Rokeach Belz, Ukraine
Bobov Shlomo Halberstam Bobowa, Poland
Chabad (Lubavitch) Shneur Zalman Lyubavichi, Russia
Ger Yitzchak Alter Gora, Poland
Satmar Joel Teitelbaum Szatmarnemeti, Romania
Skver Yitzchak Twersky Skvira, Ukraine
Bratslav Nachman Uman, Ukraine

83. Influence of Hassidic Judaism