Greetings From Our Director

It was my privilege to serve as Acting-Director of Judaic Studies this semester while Marc Saperstein was on leave at Harvard as a Starr Fellow. Our program continues to grow and thrive. This past year we had a total of 1059 students taking courses in Judaic Studies, our highest total ever and almost double the enrollment just five years ago. We also had 11 majors who graduated from the program in May, the largest number we have ever had. Meira Weingarten was this year's winner of the Max Ticktin Book Prize, an award given every year to the best student graduating from our program. A write-up of her experiences as a Judaic Studies major appears in this newsletter. Among our graduates was Haifaal-Mubarak, a Muslim student from Saudi Arabia--a first for our program. She too writes about her experiences as a major in this newsletter.

The retirement of Howard Sachar has left a significant gap in modern Jewish history, but we did our best to make up for his absence by providing two courses in this area. Elianna Adler gave a course in Eastern European Jewish History in the fall, and Lauren Strauss offered a course in American Jewish History in the spring. Both courses were well-attended and received positive reviews from students.

The high quality of teaching by Judaic Studies faculty resulted in a number of teaching awards: Eric Cline received the Archeological Institute of America's ninth Annual National "Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching" Award for 2005; Marc Sapersteinreceived a "Master Teaching Award" from Washington D.C.'s Foundation for Jewish Studies in recognition of his contributions to adult Jewish education; I was awarded a Morton A. Bender Teaching Award at GW.

It was a very productive year for Judaic Studies faculty with respect to scholarship. The following publications came out: Marc Saperstein, Exile in Amsterdam: Saul Levi Morteira's Sermons to a Congregation of "New Jews" (Hebrew Union College Press); Eric H. Cline, Jerusalem Besieged (University of Michigan Press) and The Ancient Egyptian World (Oxford, co-authored with Jill Rubalcaba); Bernard Reich, A Brief History of Israel (Facts on File Press); my own book, The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy (Oxford). These publications are described in more detail in this newsletter.

The Judaic Studies Program organized a number of wonderful events. As part of the celebration of the 350^th anniversary of Jewish life in America, we hosted a major academic conference entitled "Are We What We Eat?: American Jewish Foodways, 1654-2004," in the fall. The conference was held at the Marvin Center and the National Museum of American History, and it was a major success. See the write-up inside for more details. The fifth annual I. Edward Kiev Lecture was given in November by Robert Rockaway of Tel Aviv University and was entitled "The United States: The Greatest Diaspora Ever?" The topic was chosen to tie in with the 350^th anniversary of Jewish life in America. In December, we arranged a symposium on Phillip Roth's new novel, The Plot Against America, featuring Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of the New Republic and a Welling Presidential Fellow this past year at GW, with comments by Leo Ribuffo and Faye Moskowitz. This last event is written up in this newsletter.

We hosted two Visiting Scholars during the fall semester: Robert Rockaway, who gave the Kievlecture, and Stefan Reif, a distinguished scholar of Jewish liturgy who was brought to the Washington area by the Foundation for Jewish Studies as a scholar-in-residence for their programming.

Please have us in mind for a donation. With the rapid growth of our program has come a rapid increase in our needs. Contributions can be sent to Judaic Studies at GW, 2142 G St. N.W., Washington D.C. 20052. Or you can call us at 202-994-2190. I or Marc Saperstein would be happy to speak to you about initiatives that you could help support.

Robert Eisen
Acting Director, Program in Judaic Studies
Professor of Religion and Judaic Studies

Conference entitled "Are We What We Eat?: American Jewish Foodways, 1654-2004," October 10-11.

Lecture by Motti Lerner, "Identity in Jewish, Israeli Drama Today," October 14.

The Fifth Annual I. Edward Kiev Lecture: Robert Rockaway, Senior Lecturer at Tel Aviv University, "The United States: The Greatest Diaspora Ever?" November 9.

Symposium entitled "Shalom/Salaam: The Untold Story of a Mystical Entanglement," a dialogue of Muslim and Jewish culture featuring Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies and Marc Saperstein, Professor of Jewish History and Director of the Judaic Studies Program, November 11

Symposium on Phillip Roth's new novel, The Plot Against America, featuring Leon Wieseltier, with comments by Professor Leo Ribuffo and Professor Faye Moskowitz, December 2.

Faculty Updates

Marc Saperstein, Exile in Amsterdam: Saul Levi Morteira's Sermons to a Congregation of "New Jews" (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 2004).

This study is based on a rich, extensive, and previously untapped source of one of the most important and fascinating Jewish communities in early-modern Europe. The leading rabbi of this community Saul Levi Morteira (ca. 1596-1660), a master of Jewish homiletical art, was known to have published one book of fifty sermons in 1645. Recently a collection of 550 manuscript sermons in Morteira's own writing turned up in the Rabbinical Seminary of Budapest. After years of painstaking study from microfilms and three trips to Budapest to consult the actual manuscripts, Saperstein has written the first comprehensive analysis of the historical significance of these texts (some of which were heard as they were delivered in the synagogue, by the young Spinoza).

Saperstein begins by reviewing the broad outlines of Morteira's biography, his treatment by scholars, and his image in literary works. He then reconstructs the process by which the preacher produced and delivered his sermons. Moving on to the community, he presents information—derived from sermons—about individuals and institutions in Morteira's Amsterdam. Focusing on themes Morteira considers crucial, Saperstein goes on to show how the sermons presented an ongoing program of adult education that transmitted the Jewish tradition on a consistently high yet accessible level to a congregation of immigrants who were now assuming a Jewish identity in Amsterdam with minimal prior knowledge. In order to illustrate and concretize, Saperstein presents in English eight previously untranslated sermons in their entirety, with full annotation.

Eric H. Cline, Jerusalem Besieged (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004).

Jerusalem, whose name to some means the 'City of Peace,' has been anything but peaceful during the past four millennia. This study indicates that there have been at least 118 separate conflicts in and for this city since 2000 BCE—conflicts which ranged from local religious struggles to strategic military campaigns and which embraced everything in between. Jerusalem has been destroyed completely at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked an additional 52 times, captured and recaptured 44 times, been the scene of 20 revolts and innumerable riots, had at least five separate periods of violent terrorist attacks during the past century, and has only changed hands completely and peacefully twice in the past 4,000 years. Many of these conflicts left evidence in the archaeological record and recent discoveries have shed new light on many of these successive struggles, including those involving Egyptians, Canaanites, Israelites, Jebusites, Neo-Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Moslems, and Crusaders.

This study of 4,000 years of conflict in a single city also illustrates how archaeology, politics, and nationalism are frequently linked in the troubled environment of the Middle East today, especially when ancient conflicts and their archaeology are used as propaganda by modern military and political leaders.

Robert Eisen, The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004).

Medieval Jewish philosophers have been studied extensively by modern academic scholars, but relatively little attention has been paid to them as biblical interpreters, even though their philosophical thinking was often shaped by their interpretation of the biblical text. In this study, Eisen breaks new ground by analyzing how six medieval Jewish philosophers approached the Book of Job: Saadiah Gaon, Maimonides, Samuel ibn Tibbon, Zerahiah Hen, Gersonides, and Simon ben Tsemah Duran. Each reading is explored on three levels: its relationship to interpretations of Job by previous Jewish philosophers; the way in which it grapples with the major difficulties in the biblical text; and its interaction with the author's systematic philosophical thought. Eisen also devotes a chapter to an examination of the resonance between the readings of Job in medieval Jewish philosophy and those of modern biblical scholars.

What emerges from this analysis is a portrait of a school of Job, an interpretation that was creative, original, and at times surprisingly radical, in its understanding of this provocative biblical book. Eisen thus demonstrates that medieval Jewish philosophers were serious exegetes that scholars in the fields of Jewish philosophy and biblical interpretation cannot afford to ignore.

Bernard Reich, A Brief History of Israel (New York: Facts on File, 2005).

This book seeks to encompass a complex and continuing history by focusing on the main themes of establishing the state of Israeland ensuring its continued existence. Reich begins by tracing its history from biblical times to the Ottoman period and continues with the prehistory of the country from 1880 to 1948. In the remaining chapters, Reich chronicles the nation's development. There are chapters describing the political, economic, and military consolidation (1948-67), the Six Days' War and the Yom Kippur War and its aftermath (1967-75), peace with Egypt and the Begin years (1975-79), the Palestinian Intifada (1979-90), the Persian Gulf War and the Middle East peace (1990-96), the Netanyahu and Barak governments (1996-2000), and the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000 to the present). Reich concludes that today Israel's security and its future are precarious, but it is certain that Israel will continue to exist as the world's only Jewish state.

The following article appeared in GW Magazine in the fall 2004 issue. It describes Professor Eric Cline's archeological work in Israel. For the past several summers, Professor Cline has taken a group of GW students to excavate at Megiddo. We thank GW Magazine for permission to reprint this article.

Laura Ewald

For more than 100 years, archaeologists and scholars have been excavating at Megiddo, a site in Israel perhaps better known as biblical Armageddon. In June, five GW students joined Associate Professor of Classics Eric Cline at the site to help answer questions left by previous expeditions, search for new artifacts and structures, and unravel the mysteries of Megiddo.

Since 1994, Tel Aviv University has partnered with other institutions of higher learning such as GW and Penn State to organize the excavations. Because of unrest in the region this year—and the U.S. government's warnings to travelers and students in the area—Cline and his students were not officially sanctioned by the University but instead enrolled in the Tel Aviv program and joined together at Megiddo. Working with students and instructors from other universities and with professionals from around the world, the GW group split up and worked in different areas on the site, including stables, tombs, and residences.

"We got a lot done and covered a lot of ground," Cline says. "It was fascinating work; 20 cities built on top of one another over the ages. We were trying to answer questions about parts of the mound that cover hundreds of years.

"For example, the area in which I work has one building which has been identified as "Solomon's stables" and another building in the city directly underneath it which has been identified as "Solomon's palace." Which is it? They can't both have been built by Solomon if they are from different cities, one on top of the other.   We were seeking to correctly identify the dates of the various cities, who was in charge, and what life was like back then. The students had a wonderful time and were able to uncover some interesting artifacts and contribute significantly to the efforts."

Stepping into Cline's office, it's easy to see why students are willing to sacrifice three weeks of their summer vacation to work with him. History blends with humor as small busts of ancient rulers are lined up next to a cheap plastic Moses complete with "stone" tablets. A large poster of Indiana Jones, whip sailing in the air, hangs behind his desk. The newly-appointed Chair of the Classical and Semitic Languages and Literatures department seems to celebrate the mystery and romance of archaeology as much as the historical and intellectual weight of the discipline.

"The decision to go to Megiddo was a mixture of the influence of Professor Cline and my family. Professor Cline encourages everyone who takes his archaeology class to go on a dig, and I have an uncle who has been to Megiddo and thought it was amazing," says sophomore Michael Saltzman, who worked in an area just east of a tomb site. "The tomb was completely empty when found in the early 1900s, probably robbed in antiquity. Our mission was to shed some light on what time period the tomb came from and, if possible, for whom it was made."

Saltzman, who cites waking up at 4:30 a.m. and the hard physical labor of working with pick-axes and shovels as the biggest challenges of the excavation, says he gained learning experiences at the site that went beyond archaeology.

"Getting to know people from around the world and knowing that our work might shed some light on questions being asked for years—or which could just create more questions—was amazing," he says. "Everyone enjoys what they are doing there. I left with the knowledge that anything else I could do during the summer probably wouldn't be as fun."

Senior Courtney Prutzman, whose first excavations were digging for bones and artifacts in her mother's garden as a child, is a biological anthropology major who also interns at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and is senior secretary in the Department of History. Her lifelong interest in the Near East—and the desire to go on a dig sparked by Cline—led her to Megiddo.

She worked in the domestic part of the site, and says she was excited with her group's discoveries.

"We found several cooking installations, animal bones, and pottery, and got a feel for what it was like to live and work in an Iron I/Late Bronze Age household. The most rewarding aspect of the dig was the discovery of a burial. The individual we found was about two to three years old and was buried with a flask and a shell bead. We named him 'Evan,' which means 'the rock' in Hebrew," she says. "Megiddo helped to reinforce that archaeology is, indeed, what I want to do with my life."

Cline and his team say they took away a deeper understanding of one of the world's most famous excavation sites as well as memories that will last a lifetime. Of course, they also went away with bragging rights. Cline and the students each have a T-shirt that proudly proclaims, "I survived Armageddon."

On October 10-11, GW hosted a major conference on American Jewish food, entitled, "Are We What We Eat? American Jewish Foodways, 1654-2004," as part of a national effort to celebrate 350 years of Jewish life in America. The conference was held at GW's Marvin Center and the Smithsonian's Museum of American History. Approximately 200 people attended on the first day and 125 on the second.

Four sessions were held in which scholars examined Jewish foodways from historical, sociological, and gender perspectives. They also explored the influence Jewish food has had in America, which Jewish foods have gone mainstream and why, and how Jewish cooking has changed over the years. The first session provided an overview of the major issues. The titles of the remaining sessions dealt with more specific issues such as the history of Jewish cookbooks and the transformations of Jewish diet in interaction with the surrounding culture. The keynote speaker was Joan Nathan, a well-known Jewish cookbook author and television host.

Conference participants had an opportunity to visit an exhibit entitled, "Jewish Cooking in America: Selections from the Cookbook Collection of Joan Nathan," at the Luther W.Brady Art Gallery. The conference also provided an opportunity to feast at a historical kosher dinner featuring Jewish foods that had their origins in America's past three and a half centuries. Grand Hyatt chef, Susan Terry, creatively translated the nineteenth and early twentieth-century recipes to the modern hotel kitchen. Noted food critic and author, Mimi Sheraton, addressed the dinner, as did Steve Trachtenberg, President of GW.

The event was sponsored by the Judaic Studies Program, Lilith Magazine, the American Institute of Wine and Food, Jewish Women International, the Jewish Women's Archive, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington. Major funding for this conference was granted by the Ann L. Bronfman Foundation, Balducci's Food Lover's Market, the Cooper-Wallerstein Fund for Judaic Studies, and the George Wasserman Family Foundation. Overall the event was a major success both in terms of the number of participants and quality of the presentations.

On December 2, the Judaic Studies Program co-hosted with the Departments of History and English a "Conversation with Leon Wieseltier" on Philip Roth's new novel, The Plot Against America.

Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic, known also for his book Kaddish, has been a Welling Presidential Fellow at GWU during the past year.

Although he expressed appreciation for the strengths of Roth's novel, Wieseltier, in a characteristically provocative manner, expressed strong reservations about its central theme, based on the counter-historical premise that Charles Lindbergh received the Republican nomination for President in 1940, ran on an "America First" anti-interventionist platform, and defeated FDR in the election.

The Lindbergh Administration then brokers an understanding with Nazi Germany, and begins gradually to implement domestic policies that appeared increasingly anti-Jewish.

Wieseltier described this as "dystopian fiction," portraying a society in which everything is going wrong. This type of writing is always cautionary, he said, but it was not clear to him what Roth was warning against today. Historically, there was no significant Fascist movement in America, persecution of the Jews did not "happen here;" why then does Roth suggest that it might have happened?

This suggestion, Wieseltier insisted, is a fantasy of Jewish victimization, which simply does not fit the realities of the American Jewish experience. He accused Roth of having abandoned his earlier stance as a fiercely independent critic of American Judaism and having instead taken over a central component of the American Jewish ethos: its vicarious nature—living through the heroic experience of the Israelis and through the imagined victimhood of European Jews.

The opening presentation was followed by brief responses by Prof. Leo Ribuffo of the History Department, who has written extensively on American antisemitism from the 1920s through the 1940s, and by Prof. Faye Moskowitz, chair of the English Department and a member of the Judaic Studies Program, herself a well-known writer on American Jewish themes.

A vigorous discussion followed the presentations. The event was organized and chaired by Prof. Saperstein.

Meira is the winner of this year's Max Ticktin Book Prize an award given annually to the best student among our Judaic Studies graduates.

As I began my time at The George Washington University, I did not intend to become a Judaic Studies major. Prior to GW, I attended Jewish educational institutions. At first, I went to a Jewish preschool, then a Jewish elementary school, and finally a Jewish high school. By the time my college days came around, I was tired of having had my entire education, in addition to my social life, revolve only around Judaism. I wanted to break free from the Jewish bubble in which I was living.

Thus, as I arrived at GW for my first day as a college freshman, I decided to steer clear of the Jewish scene. I wanted to find a new social group, one that was more heterogeneous than the ones I had previously known. I felt a need to leave behind my sheltered Jewish life and open myself up to the rest of the world.

It was difficult for me to find a new path. As a freshman in Columbian College, I was required to take two courses in a language. Having taken Hebrew courses for my entire elementary and high school careers, I figured that continuing with the language I knew best was the smartest idea. Thus, as I began GW, I took Hebrew literature courses.

But Judaic Studies did not interest me. I intended to major in Psychology. My eventual goal was to become a chaplain in a Children's Hospital, a goal that I still wish to fulfill. I felt that I did not need any more background in the study of Judaism having spent years in religious schools. Thus, my program consisted mainly of psychology courses, interspersed with my Columbian College requirements.

However, my feelings about Judaic Studies would soon change. I can still remember my freshmen year Hebrew classes. I didn't realize it at the time, but I actually felt much more comfortable in that class than in all of my other classes. I couldn't have told you why that was, but as my time at GW continued, I realized that the atmosphere in my Judaic Studies courses gave me a relaxed feeling. My freshman Hebrew classes were my first look into the world of Judaic Studies at GW.

As I moved into my sophomore year at GW, having achieved an exceptional GPA as a freshman taking easy introductory courses, I figured I would spice up my time and attempt to take some electives that would stimulate my intellect. For that reason, I took Professor Marc Saperstein's Holocaust class. Although I had never had Professor Saperstein before, I had heard good things about the class, in addition to a variety of stories about the heavy workload. I decided that it would be worth it as long as I came out of the experience having learned something.

Ask and you shall receive… I would say that I did more reading and writing in that one class than in all of my freshman year classes combined. It was hard work, and the readings were not exactly uplifting. In the middle of the semester I had to stop doing my readings before bed since they had begun to give me nightmares. Nonetheless, I got through it and I also did fairly well in the course. Yet, more importantly, I had taken an excellent college course. I learned to analyze the material I was reading and to discuss it intelligently.

Later that year, I ended up in Max Ticktin's Hebrew Prophets class. I say that I ended up there because initially, I did not intend to take the course. However, Professor Ticktin's reputation preceded him. Even my mother in Philadelphia had heard of him and she encouraged me to take the class, even though the topic did not appeal to me as much as some others may have. So, in the second semester of sophomore year, I took the class.

During that specific class I learned the real advantage of taking Judaic Studies courses at GW. To begin with, I recognized a majority of the students in the course from either one of my Hebrew courses, my Holocaust class, or from Hillel. Additionally, there was a lot of discussion in this course. By that point, I had taken over fifteen courses at GW, and none of them had produced so much discussion. There was now a pattern: all of my Judaic Studies courses made me feel at home in the classroom.

This past year as a senior, I declared my Judaic Studies major. In the first semester, I took an Introduction to Judaism. Having come to the Judaic Studies major somewhat late, I had to take more introductory courses than most seniors. Nonetheless, even in my introductory courses, I found myself experiencing the same relaxed and comfortable feeling I had in my other Judaic Studies courses. In Introduction to Judaism with Professor Robert Eisen, a class of over fifty students, there was again much discussion despite its size.

Although it may seem that I was comfortable in Judaic Studies courses just because I was at home within my own community, I think there is more to it than that. I felt that my Judaic Studies classes could appeal to everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, because of their small size and stimulating teachers. Actually, I had a good friend who joined me in two of the classes, and although she was not Jewish, nor was she a Judaic Studies major, she said that she enjoyed taking the Judaic Studies classes because of the atmosphere.

The truth is that my Judaic Studies courses reminded me of high school days. I was with a small group of students, all knowledgeable in the topic, and able to discuss the material on a high level.  My Judaic Studies classes were what I expected college courses to be. They made me think, they made me study, they made me work hard. In the end, ask me what I learned at GW, and the answer will inevitably be about Judaic Studies.

Congratualations to our 2005 graduates,
our largest group to date!

Haifa, one of this year's graduating seniors in our Judaic Studies Program, is from Saudia Arabia. Below she describes her experiences in our program.

Since I am a Saudi citizen, people often express disbelief when I tell them that my undergraduate major is Judaic Studies. When they ask why someone from my background would choose such a major, my answer is simple: because it's interesting! I have enjoyed studying the Hebrew language and developing an understanding of the Jewish religion, culture, and history.

When I began my studies at GW, I made up my mind to go to medical school and I therefore planned a curriculum in science. I did not realize that my love for learning the language and culture of a different people would take me in a somewhat different direction. After hearing the Hebrew language for the first time while I lived in Jordan, I was attracted to it since it sounded very similar to Arabic. I therefore began studying Hebrew in the fall semester of 2002. I initially felt at a disadvantage because many of my fellow students had some previous knowledge Hebrew, but with the help of my professors and my own determination, I quickly caught up. I now read, write, and speak Hebrew with near fluency. My experience with Hebrew in turn sparked my interest in Jewish religion, culture, and history. I therefore decided to major in Judaic Studies.

I am very happy with my decision to have majored in this subject for two reasons. First of all, I was able to develop a foundation for understanding a culture that in recent history has clashed with my own Muslim and Arab culture. Second, I serve as a representative of the majority of Muslims and Arabs in the Middle East who are respectful and tolerant of others with different religious values and beliefs.

This program proved to be intellectually challenging yet rewarding. I urge other students to step outside their own culture in order to appreciate other cultures. Becoming aware of different cultures through study and travel is key to eliminating ignorance which fosters prejudice and injustice. I never realized that my major would help in shaping my character in the way that it has. I am truly honored and thankful to have had the privilege to pursue a major in Judaic Studies.