Eastern European Jewish History through the Prism of Drashot

Catalog description

This course will explore the history of early modern and modern East European Jewry through the medium of drashot (sermons). In their sermons, magidim (tradition preacher) both reflected larger historical trends and spread them to their audiences. Deeply rooted in both the textual and oral traditions of Ashkenazic rabbinic culture, the magidim also interacted with and helped to shape the historical context of their communities. This course begins with a methodological consideration of drashot as a source of studying Jewish history. We then will analyze representative drashot of leading magidim and rabbis in an attempt to understand how these figures interacted with and impacted the major social, cultural, and religious trends of East European Jewry from the pre-Chmienicki Golden Age through the Holocaust. More specifically, we will explore how these magidim and rabbis responded to the following trends and movements: economic success and materialism, poverty, Hasidism, Haskalah, the Mussar Movement, Zionism, secularization, and the Holocaust. Selected drashot of the following rabbis and magidim will be studied in depth: R. Efrayim Shelomoh of Lunshitz (Kli Yakar), the Dubner Magid, the Magid of Mezritsh, the Kozhnetser Magid, R. Yehezkel Feivl, Magid of Vilna, R. Tzvi Hirsh Dainow, the Bes Ha-Levi, the Kelemer Magid, R. Yitshak Nissenbaum, R. Zvi Hirsh Masliansky, R. Meir Shaprio, and R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapiro (Esh Kodesh). Proficiency in rabbinic Hebrew is a prerequisite for this class.