DRAFT

Jews in the Islamic World

Jewish Studies 563:308

Fall 2011

Location, Days Time

Professor Jonathan Gribetz

Email address

Office phone number

Fall Office Hours:

Day: Time, or by appointment

Learning Goals:

  • Students will become acquainted with the diversity of Jewish life in the Islamic world since the days of Muhammad.
  • Students will develop their skills of communicating orally through classroom discussion.
  • Students will learn to read primary sources critically.
  • Students will produce book reviews of memoirs, informed by their historical studies in the class.

Course Description:

This course offers students an introduction to the cultural, religious, and political history of Jews in the lands of Islam. Jews have lived among Muslims since the days of Muhammad in the seventh century; indeed, the Jews and their traditions are central in the Qur’an itself. Because the course covers more than thirteen centuries of interaction, cohabitation, and (at times) conflict, it necessarily paints in broad strokes, but it pauses along the way to consider a number of important case studies. The end of the course explores the impact of Zionism and the Arab-Israeli conflict on the Jews of the Middle East.

Course Requirements:

  1. Participation (15%)

Students are required to attend every class and to participate actively and thoughtfully in our discussions. In order to participate actively and thoughtfully, students will need to read the weekly assignments carefully and critically and to engage with the instructor and their fellow students as we analyze the material. There may be unannounced quizzes during the semester; the grades received will be incorporated into the overall mark for participation.

  1. Midterm Examination (25%)

There will be an in-class midterm examination during our fourteenth meeting. This exam will cover all course material through (and including) our thirteenth meeting.

  1. Book Review (25%)

During the past few years, several memoirs have been published by Jews about their experiences in the Islamic world prior to the mass emigrations of the mid-20th century. At the beginning of the semester, students will receive a list of a number of these memoirs and they will choose one to read on their own. Students will then write a 4-5page book review of the memoir in light of what they have learned in this course. The book review is due in class in our twenty-fourth meeting.

  1. Final Exam (35%)

There will be a final exam that covers the entire course’s material, with a focus on the second half of the semester.

Required Materials:

The following book is available for purchase at the Barnes & Noble/Rutgers University Bookstore (Ferren Mall, One Penn Plaza, New Brunswick, 732-246-8448):

Norman A. Stillman, ed., The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1979)

All students must purchase a required course packet from Pequod Copy Center, 119 Somerset Street.

  1. Introduction and Geographical Orientation
  2. Mark R. Cohen, “Myth and Counter-Myth,” in Under Crescent and Cross: The Jews in the Middle Ages (1994), pp. 3-16.
  3. The Pre-Islamic Origins of Middle Eastern Jewry
  4. Avigdor Levy, The Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire, 1-12.
  5. Muhammad and his Jewish Neighbors
  6. Stillman, 3-21; 113-148.
  7. “The People of the Book” in the Qur’an
  8. Stillman, 149-151.
  9. The Islamic Conquest and Jewish Salvation (from Christianity)
  10. Stillman, 22-39; 152-156.
  11. The Pact of Umar
  12. Mark R. Cohen, “The Legal Position of Jews in Islam,” in Under Crescent and Cross, pp. 52-76.
  13. Stillman, 157-158.
  14. The Babylonian Geonim and Rabbi Sa’adya
  15. Stillman, 30-32; 171-182.
  16. Daniel Lasker, “Saadya Gaon on Christianity and Islam,” in The Jews of Medieval Islam (1995), pp. 165-177.
  17. The Karaites
  18. Stillman, 32-33; 198-199.
  19. Marina Rustow, “Karaites Real and Imagined: Three Cases of Jewish Heresy,” Past and Present 197 (2007), 35-74.
  20. The “Golden Age” in Spain
  21. Menahem Ben-Sasson, “Al-Andalus: The So-Called ‘Golden Age’ of Spanish Jewry – A Critical View,” in The Jews of Europe in the Middle Ages(10th-15th Centuries) (2004), pp. 123-137.
  22. Stillman, 210-225.
  23. The Crusades
  24. Benjamin Z. Kedar, “The Subjected Muslims of the Frankish Levant,” in Thomas Madden, The Crusades: The Essential Readings (2002), pp. 233-264.
  25. Judah Ha-Levi and Maimonides
  26. Eliezer Schweid, “Halevi and Maimonides as Representatives of Romantic versus Rationalistic Conceptions of Judaism,” Kabbala und Romantik (1994), pp. 279-292.
  27. Stillman, 233-246.
  28. Medieval Islamic Polemics against Judaism
  29. Hava Lazarus-Yafeh, “Muslim Arguments against the Bible,” in Intertwined Worlds: Medieval Islam and Bible Criticism (1992), pp. 19-49.
  30. Stillman, 229-232.
  31. Midterm
  32. 1492 and the Sephardim of the Ottoman Empire
  33. Avigdor Levy, The Sephardim in the Ottoman Empire, 1-12.
  34. Kabbalah and Halakha: Mysticism and Law in 16th Century Safed
  35. Morris M. Faierstein, “Safed Kabbalah and the Sephardic Heritage,” in Zion Zohar, ed., Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewry, pp. 196-215.
  36. Stillman, 290-292.
  37. Sabbetai Zvi and the Dönme
  38. Marc David Baer, “Messiah King or Rebel? Jewish and Ottoman Reactions to Sabbatai Sevi’s Arrival in Istanbul,” Kabbalah 9 (2003), pp. 153-174.
  39. Jacob M. Landau, “The Dönmes: Crypto-Jews under Turkish Rule,” Jewish Political Studies Review 19, 1-2 (2007), pp. 109-118.
  40. The ‘Millet System’ and the Ottoman Tanzimat (Reforms)
  41. Benjamin Braude, “Foundation Myths of the Millet System,” in Braude and Lewis, eds., Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Empire Volume One, pp. 69-88.
  42. Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire 1700-1922, pp. 54-74.
  43. Stillman, pp. 357-360.
  44. The Damascus Affair and the Birth of the Alliance
  45. Jonathan Frankel, “‘Ritual Murder’ in the Modern Era: The Damascus Affair of 1840,” Jewish Social Studies 3, 2 (1997), pp. 1-16.
  46. Stillman, 393-402.
  47. Syria and Lebanon
  48. Michael Menahem Laskier, “Syria and Lebanon,” in Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times, pp. 316-335.
  49. Egypt and North Africa
  50. Jean-Marc Ran Oppenheim, “Egypt and the Sudan,” in Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times, pp. 409-430.
  51. Daniel Schroeter, “The Shifting Boundaries of Moroccan Jewish Identities,” Jewish Social Studies 15, 1 (Fall 2008), pp. 145-164.
  52. Iraq and Iran
  53. Reeva Simon, “Iraq,” in Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times, pp. 347-366.
  54. Haideh Sahim, “Iran and Afghanistan,” in Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times, pp. 367-388.
  55. Palestine
  56. Ruth Kark and Joseph B. Glass, “Eretz Israel/Palestine, 1800-1948“ Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times, pp. 335-346.
  57. ‘Arab Jews’: The Place of Jews in Arab Nationalism
  58. Lital Levy, “Historicizing the Concept of Arab Jews in the ‘Mashriq,’” Jewish Quarterly Review (2008), pp. 452-469.
  59. Zionism
  60. No reading assignment - Book reviews due in class
  61. The 1948 War
  62. Moshe Naor, “Israel’s 1948 War of Independence as a Total War,” Journal of Contemporary History 43, 2 (2008), pp. 241-257.
  63. The Exodus of Jews from the Islamic World
  64. Maurice Roumani, “The Silent Refugees: Jews from Arab Countries,” Mediterranean Quarterly 14, 3 (2003), pp. 41-77.
  65. Esther Meir- Glitzenstein, “The Baghdad Pogrom and Zionist Policy,” in Shmuel Moreh and Zvi Yehuda, eds., “Al-Farhud”: The 1941 Pogrom in Iraq (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2010), 186-206.
  66. Jewish-Muslim Relations in the 21st Century
  67. Selectionsfrom the debate about Park 51 (a proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero)
  68. Conclusions

Additional Policies

  1. Deadlines

If there are legitimate, extenuating circumstances that prohibit a student from submitting the book review on-time, he or she should contact the instructor in advance to request a limited extension (a doctor’s note must be provided for medical issues). Extensions are granted at the discretion of the instructor. Unexcused lateness will be penalized by a third of a letter grade (e.g., B to B-) for each day of lateness.

  1. Academic Integrity

The assignments that students submit in this class must be the students’ own work prepared exclusively for this course. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with and observe Rutgers University’s rules of academic integrity. Any and all cases of suspected plagiarism will be referred forthwith to the appropriate university officials. Requesting an extension, even if it comes with a penalty for lateness, is always a better idea (ethically and pragmatically) than violating the rules of academic integrity.

  1. Laptops

Students are permitted to take notes on laptop computers during class. However, internet connections must be disabled for the length of our meetings.

  1. Office Hours and Email

Students are welcome and encouraged to meet with the professor during office hours to discuss concerns and questions about course material, assignments, or broader interests. Students may also email the instructor (email address); please note that the instructor’s response time to email will vary but every effort will be made to reply within 26 hours. Students are required to check their Rutgers email regularly as course announcements will be delivered through this system.