Heresy, Dissent, and Jewish Law

Catalog description

This two-credit course examines the tolerance or intolerance of dissent both in the pages of Jewish tradition and on the stage of Jewish history. The course is organized along chronological lines, beginning with sectarianism in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the development of a pluralistic tradition in rabbinic literature and culminating with the denominational turn in modern Jewish life. We will pay attention to tensions between ideological purity and social pragmatism, how individuals and communities navigated these boundaries, and the extent to which Jewish society could sustain, and even argue for, diversity and dissent within its ranks.