History and Religion of Second Temple Judaism -- The Jewish Child, from the Bible to the Holocaust (2020 Boccaccini), course

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History and Religion of Second Temple Judaism: The Jewish Child, from the Bible to the Holocaust (MIDEAST 335) is a course offered by Gabriele Boccaccini in the Winter 2020.

Description

What is the role of children, boys and girls, in Judaism? Although the religious education of children in the family has always been a major concern in Judaism, children are rarely presented as role models in the Hebrew Bible. Since Hellenistic-Roman times (in Second Temple Judaism and the New Testament) we can see more attention being paid to children, which led Jews (and Christians) to stress the importance of schooling and formal education even outside the family. Children however were not recognized as autonomous until the nineteenth century, when Jews and Christians in Europe and the United States got involved in the general cultural debate on children's rights, which also led to the establishment of the first youth organizations. The course will focus in particular on the "ideal" role that Jews attributed to children based on their reading and rereading of ancient scriptures, and on the Holocaust as a very special chapter in the experience of the Jewish child, when thousands of children in total abandonment found themselves forced to take their destiny in their own hands, in the struggle to survive, in hiding, in ghettoes or concentration camps.

Syllabus

(1) Jan 8, 2020

Children in the Ancient Near East: General Introduction

(2-3) Jan 13 & 15, 2020

Children in Second Temple Judaism

Children in the Hebrew Bible

Young Josephus, the ideal childhood of a noble Jew.

Children in the Early Jesus Movement

Children in the Diaspora

The Book of Daniel

A dangerous world for children

The Child martyr (the Maccabean Martyrs)

(4) Jan 22, 2020 (no class on Jan 20)

The Jewish Child in the Middle Ages

  • Rituals of Initiation
  • Education

The Blood Libel

The convert (Abduction of Children)

(5-6) Jan 27-29, 2020

After the Emancipation

Jewish Orphanages (late 19th-cent - early 20th cent. until WW2)

Jewish Schools

Children' literature

Children of the Holocaust: General Introduction

(7-8) Feb 3 & 5, 2020

Kindertransport

  • Film: All My Loved Ones (Vsichni moji blízcí), directed by Matej Minac (Rep. ceca 1997)

(9-10) Feb 10 & 12, 2020

Jews in the Ghettoes

  • Film: Border Street (Ulica Graniczna), directed by Aleksander Ford (Poland 1948) <Polish>

(11-12) Feb 17 & 19, 2020

The Literature of the Holocaust

I'm Still Here: Real Diaries of Young People Who Lived during the Holocaust (2005 Zapruder, Lazin), documentary

(13-14) Feb 24 & 26, 2020

Holocaust Children's Movies

FebMid-Term Exam

< Spring Break >

(15-16) March 9 & 11, 2020

Children in Hiding

  • [ Villa Nonantola]]
  • [ Jewish Children's Home in Oslo]
  • Christian Orphanages and Schools

Film: A Bag of Marbles (Un sac de billes), directed by Christian Duguay (France 2017) [110m]

(17-18) March 16 & 18, 2020

Children in concentration Camps

(a) Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen

Film: Jonah Who Lived in the Whale / Look to the Sky / (Jona che visse nella balena, directed by Roberto Faenza (Italy 1993)

(19-20) March 23 & 25, 2020

(b) The Buchenwald Children

Film: Fateless (Sorstalanság), directed by Lajos Koltai (Hungary 2005)


(21-22) : March 30 & April 1, 2020

  • After the Holocaust (the Displaced Children)

Film: The Search, directed by Fred Zinnemann (USA 1948) [105m]

(23) April 6, 2020

The first witnesses:

  • One Child's Story at Chelmno: Szymon Srebrnik
  • One Child's Story at Auschwitz: Luigi Ferri (lecture)

24-25 : April 13 & 15, 2020

Students' Presentations

26 : April 20, 2020 & Final Exam

Students' Presentations:

Final Exam: Students' Presentations

Exams

There will be a mid term exam and a final exam.

The mid term exam will be based on the reading of a Holocaust diary and the watching of a Holocaust movie. The result will be discussed in class and in a short written paper.

The final term will be based on the reading of two memoirs by Holocaust survivors (one boy and one girl). The result will be presented orally in class and in a written short paper.

Note

Attendance is mandatory. Students who have missed more than 5 classes without justification will not be graded and will be given a NR (no report).

The usage of electronic devises (computers, i-phones, etc.) is not allowed in class except under specific authorization by the instructor.

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