LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide the most significant linguistic and literary concepts for understanding the complexity of Jewish history, even in its cultural manifestation, making particular reference to the elements that more than others allow us to reconstruct the long path of national identity formation

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• use the elementary grammar of biblical Hebrew to be able to read simple narrative passages from the Pentateuch (Torah) or from historical books (earlier prophets);

• evaluate the importance of the history of the Jewish people in the context of the history of the Ancient Near East and, more recently, of the history of the Jewish people in Europe;

• understand the peculiarity of the Hebrew language compared to other Semitic languages;

• distinguish in the biblical narrative a historical source or a theological rereading of the history of Israel.

PREREQUISITES

No prerequisites are required

TEACHING METHODS

Frontal lesson; practice of writing and reading texts, distribution of material and slide projection.

Lessons will be held in presence. Attendance, although not compulsory, is recommended. Only those who attend lessons in  

presence will be deemed attending students.

The teacher, upon specific request by single students, could allow them to attend lessons remotely and to access the recordings of the lessons via Teams.

Any non-attending students are requested to contact the teacher.

All students are required to register on Aulaweb.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

For 9 credits:

Prehistory: Geographical framework; the ancient sources up to the "slavery" of Egypt

The Semitic languages

From the Exodus to the Exile: Highlights of Ancient Jewish History from the Judges to the Fall of Jerusalem

Fundamentals of Biblical Hebrew Grammar

From Exile to the Diaspora: Highlights of the History of the People of Israel from Exile to 70 AD

Aramaisms and Targumic literature

Diaspora: Judaism in Western culture

Yiddish and Ladino

The return: Zionism and the birth of the State of Israel

Modern and contemporary Hebrew; Eliezer Ben Yehuda

For 6 credits: priority will be given to the linguistic part, with a reduction of the part of the program relating to history, in particular as regards the first two topics (prehistory and from exodus to exile); this reduction can in any case be agreed with the teacher on the basis of personal interests.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

F. Serafini, Corso di Ebraico biblico, San Paolo, 2006 (2 voll).

L. Mazzinghi, Storia d’Israele dalle origini al periodo romano, EDB, 2007

L. e D. Cohn-Sherbok, Breve storia dell'ebraismo, il Mulino, 2001