I am looking forward to meeting all of you on September 20, at the first session of Medieval Jewish History.  

In the meantime, here is the list of materials that we will be using in class, and a few notes about how to obtain them.

1. Course pack.  This provides a small collection of articles that I've selected for the course. You can order it through University Readers at the following site:  (url appears below)
https://students.universityreaders.com/store

2. Books suggested by Hebrew College:  Hebrew College sends out an email to all Me'ah students inviting them to read the following two books prior the beginning of the Medieval semester:  

• Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln
  
• Journey to the End of the Millennium (A.B. Yehoshua).  
  

To clarify how this suggestion relates to our class in particular:  I have put Gluckel's memoirs on the syllabus, and in class we will be referring to a number of selections in the work, so I do recommend you purchase it (or borrow it from the library).  Regarding Yehoshua's novel:  I love this book, and if you have a "TO READ" list, I recommend you add this to it.  That said, I will NOT be using this book in class, and do not recommend you prioritize it for the purposes our our upcoming semester.

3.  Books we will be using during the semester.  You do not have to purchase all of the books on this list.  I've put a note next to each one, so you can decide which you would like to add to your personal library.

• Zakhor: Jewish History and Memory by Yosef Yerushalmi.  We will discuss this on Sept 27 (the second session of the semester).  Click here to read the background information on the book that I've posted, as well as questions to think about as your read it.  I suggest you purchase this book or borrow it from the library.  Here is the link to purchase it through Amazon. 
• The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela -  This book is available for free on-line.  Here is the link: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14981.  I still prefer the old-fashioned way of holding a book in my hands.  If you are interested in doing so as well, you can purchase the book through amazon here.
• Sacred Trash:  The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza, by Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole.  This is a wonderful book!  But for this class, we will read only two chapters from it.  Feel free to purchase it if you would like to add it to your personal library. Otherwise, I will distribute copies of the two chapters we'll use in class.
  
• Yehuda Halevi, by Hillel Halkin.  I recommend reading all (or most) of this book for our course.  Please purchase or borrow from the library.
  
• The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln, Marvin Lowenthal (trans).  Please purchase or borrow from the library.
  
• A Maimonides Reader, Isadore Twersky (ed.) Please purchase or borrow from the library
• Satan in Goray, see blog-post below ("Preparing to Teach" 8/16/12)

As the days of summer wane, I am working on finalizing the structure of our Medieval Jewish History course, which will begin in just a few short weeks.  Although I have taught this course for Hebrew College eight or nine times now, I always enjoy changing things around a bit for each new class.  Reading new texts in preparation for teaching is a great learning opportunity for me.  And I also like to use the feedback I get from students in previous years, to tinker with the readings.  

Among other changes, I am putting "Satan in Goray" on the syllabus for the first time.  This historical novel, written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, is set in 17th century Poland.  It depicts the devastation that the Chmielnicki massacres wrought upon one particular Jewish hamlet, and describes the fervor of messianic hope in the wake of this destruction.

We will not get to this book until the very end of the semester, but wanted to tell you about this far in advance.  I have listed the novel as *optional* because it is very strange (some may find it disturbing) and my use of it in class is also quite experimental.  That said, I think it will provide an interesting angle for our session on Messianism.