Paper Instructions
In this course we explore the sphere of happiness in Jewish and relevant World literature, through scripture, philosophy, mysticism and poetry. In Weeks 1 and 2 we discussed ancient happiness in the Bible and Septuagint, through comparison with Classical Greek philosophy – Plato and Aristotle (Plato’s contemporary, Xenophon, was discussed in week 4). Weeks 3 and 4 concentrated on the history of Jewish literature (written and oral traditions), the development of Hellenism (Stoic thought and Philo of Alexandria) and Neoplatonism. Weeks 5, 6 and 7 explored the development of Jewish mysticism (early Kabbala, the Golden Age of Spain and 16th Century Lurianic Kabbalah), with a glimpse into modern Jewish thought with Rabbi Artson’s “Process Theology”. Week 8 saw the emergence of enlightenment with Spinoza, and the unique development of East European Hassidic movements. Weeks 9 and 10 will follow from Hassidism into 19th century Jewish enlightenment and existentialism, 20th century Zionism and modern Israeli poetry on happiness and hope.
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So what is happiness in Jewish imagination? In your final papers, you are asked to explore this question through comparison of two texts that we studied (at least one of them by a Jewish author), discuss connections and possible influences between the two texts, their cultural and literary backgrounds, and arrive at a conclusion about the texts’ messages on happiness and their relevance to life today. Your chosen texts could be passages from the Jewish Bible, Mishnah or Talmud, Greek philosophical pieces by Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, Philo of Alexandria or Marcus Aurelius, early or late medieval mysticism (Sefer Yetzira, the Zohar, Abulafia, Sufi poets), late medieval philosophers (Maimonides, Averroes or Avicenna), renaissance mysticism (Lurianic Kabbala), Spinoza, Hassidic tales, German enlightenment (Mendelssohn, Buber and Rosenzweig), Existentialism and Absurdism (Kierkegaard and Kafka), Existential Psychology (Victor Frankl), pre-state of Israel Zionists (A. D. Gordon and Rachel the Poetess), contemporary American Jewish authors (Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson), contemporary Israeli psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar and modern and contemporary Israeli poets (Levin Kipnis, Leah Goldberg, Shimrit Orr).
Each text can be as short as a paragraph or as long as a few pages.
In order to do that, you will:
(1) Write a short introduction, explaining why you chose these two texts and in what ways do you find them relevant (or irrelevant) to life today.
(2) Explain each text in depth, and exemplify their theories on happiness by relevant short quotes.
(3) Describe possible connections between the two texts: what is similar or different between them? How does the later text reflect or develop ideas of the earlier one? Please pay attention to the cultural and historical background of each text. [*the texts do not necessarily have to be directly influenced by each other.]
(4) Refer to academic research: How do your arguments on the connection between the two texts come into play with scholarly discussion? Refer to two pieces of academic research that discuss your chosen texts (good online academic sources are: Jstor https://www.jstor.org/ and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/.) *] I’d be happy to help you with finding relevant research[.
(5) Conclusion: What is happiness according to your two chosen texts and what message do they convey to the world?
Papers should be 6-12 pages long, font and spacing free, submission as Word document by email), should be well written and explained, including: introduction, conclusion, bibliographical list. *** All materials used in your paper must be acknowledged by bibliographical reference.
Excellent papers are those that address the topics above in a well thought-out manner, show understanding of and correspondence with the explored texts, and express your personal and critical points of view.
Please feel free to correspond with me during the writing of your paper for additional ideas and materials.
Sources you may use:
* The Hebrew Bible
1. Ahad Ha’am, Simon, L., transl. (1912; 2005). Selected Essays by Ahad Ha’am. Montana: Kessinger Publishing.
2. Alon Amit, N. (2014). Diogenes of Babylon on the Soul. Doctoral Thesis, Haifa University, Israel.
3. Anderson, T. (ed. 2017). The Writings of Philo of Alexandria. Literary Collections 2017. 2
4. Armstrong, K. (1999). A History of God: From Abraham to the Present – the 4000-year Quest for God. London: Vintage Books.
5. Armstrong, K. (2007). The Bible – A Biography. NY: Grove Press.
6. Bluwstein Rachel Sela, R. (1995). Flowers of Perhaps: Selected Poems of Rachel. London: Menard.
7. Brenner, Y. H. (1942; 1900). Out of the Depths. Colorado: Westview Press.
8. Buber, M. (1951; 2003). Two Types of Faith. Syracuse University Press.
9. Damrosch, D. (2008). Toward a History of World Literature. New Literary History (39) 3, Literary History in the Global Age, 481-495.
10. Elwes, R. H. M. intro. & trans. (1900). The Chief works of Benedict de Spinoza. London: G. Bell and Sons.
11. Epictetus. (2nd century AD). The Manual.
12. Friedlander, M. (trans., 1904). The Guide for the Perplexed by Moses Maimonides – Translated from the Original Arablic Text. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
13. Goodman, M. (2015). Maimonides and the Book That Changed Judaism – Secrets of The Guide for the Perplexed. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
14. Gordon, A. D. (1938). Selected Essays. League for Labor Palestine.
15. Gurevitch, Z. and Aran, G. (1994). The Land of Israel: Myth and Phenomenon. In Studies in Contemporary Jewry (10) 195-210.
16. Halkin, H. (2010). Yehudah Halevi. NY: Schocken.
17. Kornberg, J., ed. (1984). At the Crossroads: Essays on Ahad Ha’am. NY: SUNY.
18. Morrison, C. (ed. and transl., 2018). The Kuzari – Arguments in Defense of Judaism by Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi. San Bernadino, CA.
19. Neumann, B. (2011). Land and Desire in Early Zionism. Brandeis UP.
20. Oz, A. (2016). Judas. NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
21. Plato (4th century BC). Republic, Phaedo, Symposium.
22. Reshef, Y. (2012). From Hebrew Folksong to Israeli Song: Language and Style in Naomi Shemer’s Lyrics. Israel Studies 17 (1), pp. 157-179.
23. Rumi, J. (13th century). Selected poems.
24. Shemer, N. (1967). Selected poems.
25. Spinoza, B. (1677). Ethics.
26. Toren, S. I. (2003). Imagining Zion: Dreams, Designs and Realities in a Century of Jewish Settlement. New Haven CT: Yale University Press. 3
27. Yovel, Y. (1989). Spinoza and other Heretics. Princeton UP.
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