Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education
EDUC 593: Teaching Tanakh (Bible)
Rabbi Jethro Berkman
Summer 2013
Contact Information:
(617) 875 9597
Course Description:
The Tanakh is the story of our people, the source of our traditions, and perhaps the most influential book ever written. In this course we will explore the content, context, structure and genres of the Tanakh, in order to bring the text to life for ourselves, and to help us to bring the text to life for our students. The course will provide students with the content knowledge, philosophical orientations and pedagogical tools they need to become sophisticated and compelling teachers of Tanakh.
Learning Objectives:
You will be able to:
· Draw upon a knowledge of and teach the narrative of Israelite history as recounted in the Tanakh
· Draw upon a knowledge of and teach about the structure of the Tanakh, and the different genres it contains
· Draw upon a knowledge of and teach several important texts, spanning the genres and the sections (Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim) of the Tanakh
· Understand at least 5 different orientations toward reading and teaching Tanakh
· Articulate for yourselves and for your students which orientation, or approach, to reading or teaching the Tanakh you are adopting in a given educational setting, and why
· Apply 5 key teaching skills to your teaching of Tanakh
· Create Tanakh lessons that engage, challenge and inspire your students
Required Texts:
How to Read the Bible by James Kugel (not to be confused with a book of the same name by Marc Brettler)
Assignments:
There will be regular postings to discussion boards, and at least 3 responses to postings expected in each unit (45 points), as well as 5 short assignments (1 page) during the semester (5x5=25 points). A final project is described at the end of the syllabus (30 points).
Course Accommodations for Disabilities:
Hebrew College is committed to ensuring the full participation of all students in programs. Accordingly, if a student has a documented disability, and as a result, needs a reasonable accommodation to attend, participate or complete course requirements, then he or she should inform the instructor at the beginning of the course. For further information, see the Student Handbook at http://hebrewcollege.edu/sites/default/files/student_handbook.pdf.
If you require course accommodations because of a documented disability or an emergency medical condition, please email your instructor as soon as possible. We are happy to work with you on any issues you have to ensure that you can participate fully in the class and complete the course requirements. Please do not wait until the assignments are due for a retroactive accommodation, but discuss the situation with your instructor before you experience difficulty.
Course Schedule:
UNIT 1: Introduction to Tanakh
Session 1:
· Introductions: post a little bit about yourself and your role as an educator. Tell us what your favorite story from the Hebrew Bible is, and why.
· Structure and Contents of the Tanakh
Background reading/viewing:
· How to Read the Bible pp 5-7
· Christine Hayes Lecture 1, chapters 2 and 3: http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145/lecture-1#ch1
· Posted notes
Key questions:
· What is your reaction to Professor Hayes’ claims about “myths about the Bible?”
· Would your students be open to this “myth demolishing?” Why or why not?
Session 2: The Historical Scope of Tanakh
Background reading:
A Short History of the Jewish People, Raymond P. Scheindlin, pp 1-33
Tanakh reading:
· Deuteronomy 26:5-10
· Joshua 24:1-14
· Nehemia chapter 9
Pedagogy reading:
Research for Better Teaching on Learning Objectives
Assignment:
Write a set of learning objectives for a lesson intended to provide your students with an overview of the structure and contents of Tanakh.
UNIT 2: Parshanut: the Jewish Interpretive Orientation
Session 3: The Ancient Interpreters, and the Traditional Orientation toward Tanakh.
Genre: Narrative
Tanakh reading: Genesis 22:1-19 (read first this week)
Background reading:
· How to Read the Bible pp 7-17
· Benjamin Edidin Scolnic “Traditional Methods of Bible Study”
· http://books.google.com/books?id=6taHOn5Xk_QC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=Scolnic+%22Traditional+Methods+of+Bible+Study%22&source=bl&ots=8gUXLw47_R&sig=y5Gm1ck7-aHIezc36wgCvMgpWlE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Ou-OUevyIpKz4APim4DABQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA
· Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Genesis
Key question:
Which of the Ancient Interpreters’ four assumptions (as presented by Kugel) do you see in the sources the Leibowitz brings in her commentary?
Session 4: The Medieval Interpreters (Parshanim)
Genre: Law
Background readings:
· How to Read the Bible pp 260-269
· Rashi: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/Torah/Commentaries/Rashi.shtml
· Rashbam: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/Torah/Commentaries/Rashbam.shtml
· Ibn Ezra: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/Torah/Commentaries/Ibn_Ezra.shtml
· Ramban: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/Torah/Commentaries/Ramban.shtml
Tanakh readings:
Exodus 20:1-14, with commentary, from JPS Commentators’ Bible
Pedagogy readings:
RBT on students doing intellectual work
UNIT 3: The Contextual or Historical Critical Orientation
Session 5: Ancient Near Eastern Context
Tanakh reading: Genesis 6-8
Background reading:
· How to Read the Bible pp 29 – 46, 70-80
· Christine Hayes Lecture 4 chpts. 4 and 5
· http://oyc.yale.edu/religious-studies/rlst-145/lecture-4
Key question:
Kugel presents us with the flood narrative as it is understood by both the ancient interpreters (Jewish tradition), and by historical-critical scholarship. Which understanding would you be inclined to teach your students? Why?
Session 6: The Sources
Genre: Varied
Background reading:
· How to Read the Bible pp 297-316
· Christine Hayes Lecture 5 chpts. 1 and 2
Tanakh reading:
· Genesis 22 from Richard Elliot Friedman’s The Bible with Sources Revealed
· Leviticus 9:1-9
· Deuteronomy 12:1-18
· Genesis 3:8-13
Key question:
Which hypothetical source do you think is most likely to have written texts 2, 3 and 4 above? Why?
Pedagogy reading:
RBT on collaboration
Assignment:
Write a lesson plan teaching your students about the documentary hypothesis. Include clear learning objectives, and make sure that the lesson includes elements of the students collaborating in their learning, and doing the intellectual work themselves.
UNIT 4: The Literary Criticism Orientation
Session 7: Origins and Assumptions of the Literary Criticism Orientation; Leitwort, Chiasmus and Intertextuality
Genre: Narrative
Background reading:
· Mara H. Benjamin, “The Tacit Agenda of a Literary Approach to the Bible”
· Gordon J. Wenham “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” pp 36-42
· Judy Klitsner, Subversive Sequels in the Bible pp
·
Tanakh reading:
Book of Jonah xvii – xxiii
Pedagogic reading:
RBT on checking for understanding
Session 8: The Literary Criticism Orientation and Biblical Poetry
Genre: Poetry
Background reading:
· How to Read the Bible pp 392-396
· Robert Alter, The Book of Psalms xx – xxviii
Tanakh reading
· Judges 4-5
· Psalm 23 with Alter’s commentary
Assignment:
Write a short unit of 2 or 3 lessons engaging your students in a literary reading of chapter 1 of the book Jonah, or Psalm 23. Be sure that you include your learning objectives, and a method for checking your students understanding of these objectives part-way through the unit.
Resources for further inquiry:
1) James Kugel, Great Poems of the Bible
2) Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry
UNIT 5: The Personalization, Ideational and Character Development Orientations
Session 9: The Personalization, Ideational and Character Development Approach
Genre: Prophecy
Background reading:
· Barry Holtz, Textual Knowledge pp 87 - 92
· How to Read the Bible pp 439-442, 574-576
Tanakh reading and images:
· Jeremiah 1
· Jeremiah 20:7-17
· Rembrandt’s “Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of the Temple”
· http://www.cord.edu/faculty/andersod/rembrandt_jeremiah.jpg
Pedagogical reading:
RBT on differentiation
Key question:
Letting the text’s “rays strike [you] where they will…” What strikes you or moves you about these verses? Have you ever felt like Jeremiah?
Session 10: The Ideational and Character Development Approach
Genre: Narrative and Wisdom Literature
Background reading:
· Jonathan Sacks, “Exorcizing Plato’s Ghost” from The Dignity of Difference (pp 45-66)
· How to Read the Bible pp 506-511
· Chanoch LaNa’ar Lesson on “Menuchat HaNefesh (Equanimity)
Tanakh reading:
· Genesis 11:1-9
· Proverbs 20:17-29
Final Assignment:
Construct a unit plan on a biblical text of your choice. The unit must engage at least two of the orientations covered in the course. The unit must begin with a preface articulating why you have chosen these particular orientations, and why they are a good match for your students. Your unit plan must help the students locate the text you’ve chosen within the historical scope and structure of the Tanakh. Your unit plan must include learning objectives for the unit as a whole, and must employ methodologies that allow the students to do the intellectual work. It must include a mechanism for checking understanding along the way, and conclude with an assessment that assesses the learning objectives set out at the beginning.