Study of the framework and basic concerns of medieval Jewish thought as expressed in the works of R. Saadiah Gaon, R. Bahya ibn Pakuda, R. Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and R. Joseph Albo. Themes include: faith and reason, prophecy, miracles, free will, dogma, reasons for the commandments, ethics, and prayer. Differing attitudes toward the value of philosophy will be analyzed, and attention paid to relevant writings of Islamic and Christian thinkers. 

Study of the framework and basic concerns of modern Jewish philosophy as developed in the works of such thinkers as Franz Rosenzweig, Emil Fackenheim, A.J. Heschel and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Themes include: the human-divine relationship, philosophy of halakhah and mitzvot, covenant, faith, post-holocaust theology and Jewish peoplehood.\n 

This course will survey the variety of approaches to ta’amei ha-mitzvot by Jewish thinkers from the 9th through the 16th centuries. Among the rabbinic positions discussed will be those of: R. Saadya Gaon, R. Bahya ibn Pakuda, Maimonides, R. Judah Halevi, R. Hasdai Crescas, Nahmanides, and the Maharal of Prague.

Text-based study of the thought of Maharal of Prague and the influence of his work.

A survey of major themes in the treatment of ethical issues as found in Jewish sources. Topics include the autonomy of ethics, the relationship of halakhah to ethics, supererogatory behavior, imitatio Dei, Jewish models of moral perfection, and applied moral problems such as lifeboat ethics, capital punishment and war. Emphasis is placed on the methodology of Jewish ethics as a discipline, and on close reading of sources, which include selections from biblical, talmudic, midrashic, halakhic, philosophic and ethical works.

Analysis of a selected topic in medieval or modern Jewish philosophy through readings of primary sources. Sample topics include: Nature and Miracle in Medieval Jewish Philosophy; Simple Faith and Sophisticated Faith: Rabbi Saadiah Gaon and Rabbi Moses Taku; The Writings of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.

This course focuses on depictions of the divine will in Jewish texts throughout the generations. It considers the nature of the divine will, its role in creation, how the divine will both complicate and simplifies the problem of evil, its relationship to Halakhah, and the question of how much room it leaves for human free will. Primary texts to be studied include biblical and Second Temple texts (Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo) and sources from Hazal; a variety of medieval philosophical texts; kabbalistic works and Hasidic texts; and various other modern and contemporary perspectives.

Study of the framework and basic concerns of medieval Jewish thought as expressed in the works of R. Saadiah Gaon, R. Bahya ibn Pakuda, R. Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and R. Joseph Albo. Themes include: faith and reason, prophecy, miracles, free will, dogma, reasons for the commandments, ethics, and prayer. Differing attitudes toward the value of philosophy will be analyzed, and attention paid to relevant writings of Islamic and Christian thinkers. 

This course will survey the variety of approaches to ta’amei ha-mitzvot by Jewish thinkers from the 9th through the 16th centuries. Among the rabbinic positions discussed will be those of: R. Saadya Gaon, R. Bahya ibn Pakuda, Maimonides, R. Judah Halevi, R. Hasdai Crescas, Nahmanides, and the Maharal of Prague.