So Jews are only important because Christians appropriate their sacred texts

[lunabee34]

I am teaching a Humanities class. This is a very cool class that starts in antiquity with the ancient Mesopotamians and ends in the early Renaissance. We examine art, music, literature, history and religion/philosophy from these time periods and a variety of cultures. The goal of the class is to expose students to ancient cultures and also to help them chart the progression of Western culture from its ancient roots to the present. When I was an undergrad in the Honor's College, I took a version of this course that lasted for four semesters that was one of the best experiences I ever had in college. I'm supposed to teach this class in a semester which seriously limits what I can do. The class demographic also includes learning support students (students that must enroll in remedial classes because they cannot pass the reading or writing entrance exams) which means that I cannot require the students to read or write nearly as much as I would like and as befits the mission of the course. Ideally, this class would be team taught as the class I took as an undergrad was because while I am qualified to discuss literature, I am not a historian. Next semester this course will be linked with Western Civ 1 in a learning community, which while not quite team teaching, will be a vastly superior experience for the students, I think.

However, this is where I run into a problem. Because I am not a historian (I'm not a historical dummy; I have pretty good general historical knowledge), I rely very heavily on the textbook. I do a fair amount of supplemental research but at the end of the day, I have to trust that the historical information in the textbook is accurate because I'm teaching six classes and trying to write my dissertation at the same time.

At my college, everyone has to use the same textbook. The book we are using, CULTURE AND VALUES: A SURVEY OF THE HUMANITIES VOLUME ONE SIXTH EDITION ed. Lawrence Cunningham and John J. Reich, was adopted before they hired me and apparently the professors that teach this course have been trying to get the text changed ever since. [There was a lot of red tape involving a former college president that I won't go into unless asked in comments.]

Now I see why.

I just taught "Chapter 6: Jerusalem and Early Christianity." Look long and hard at that title and notice which religious tradition is notably absent. That ought to tell you right there what's to come.

Let me excerpt for you the first two paragraphs of this chapter:

One of the interesting ironies of history is the fact that, more than three thousand years ago in the Middle East, a small tribe-turned-nation became one of the central sources for the development of Western civilization. The fact is incontestable: The marriage of the biblical tradition and Graeco-Roman culture has produced, for better or worse, the West as we know it today. The irony is all the more telling because these ancient biblical people did not give the world great art, significant mustic, philosophy, or science. Their language did not have a word for science. Their religion discouraged the plastic arts. We have the texts of their hymns, canticles, and psyalms, but we can only speculate how they were sung and how they were accompanied instrumentally. What these people did give us was a book; more precisely, a collection of many different books we now call the Bible.

This is what I am supposed to teach my students? What they are supposed to read and believe? That Judaism contributes nothing to global culture until another religious tradition co-opts it? That Judaism is only valuable as a source [commodity] for Western consumption? That the Jewish tradition only deserves 6 pages in this entire textbook?

I am, frankly, speechless with disgust. Thankfully we finally pushed hard enough and will be using a new text for the fall. I have not yet examined it but it has to be better than this.

So here's where I want y'all to help me out. If you are a teacher, don't use this text. It's problematic in other ways as well--like the fact that Africa and Japan apparently don't exist and neither do the Americas.

Secondly, do you know of any good resources online about Judaism that I can use to supplement my teaching if the text we've adopted is as fail worthy in this regard? I can find tons of information, of course, but I have a hard time determining if the information I've found is accurate.

I'm not lj cutting this because I want you all to see it.

Comments

[havocthecat]

Oh, fuck me, that's as bad as the book that I put down that had an attitude about those quaint little Jews and their silly little religious traditions that we just can't prove are based on real history. MY GOD. APPALLING. (The book went into the Goodwill bin. I nearly threw it against the wall. I don't throw books. But I was tempted.)

For Judaism info online, you can check out: Torah 101 and Judaism 101, though those are both primarily on the Conservative to Orthodox spectrum, as well as from a very Ashkenazic perspective, though they mention other traditions as well, especially Reform Judaism. I'm sure other people have better online resources than I do, though.

ETA: I think I just gave you info that's probably not what you're looking for. Er. Sorry.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

No, thank you! Even if it turns out to be not exactly what I'm looking for in terms of the course, Judaism is something I'd like to know more about personally and these look like good places to start.

I really appreciate the info!

[executrix.livejournal.com]

In terms of learning stuff for yourself, I think Shaw's preface to Androcles and the Lion has a lot to say about comparative religion, and Karen Anderson's God: A Biography places God-ideas of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in comparative context.
(...apologies to prehistoric_sea if you think these are the two most pernicious documents in a long and contentious history of people saying stupid things about religion...)

[executrix.livejournal.com]

That's why people who know stuff (like you) are a much better resource than people like me (who don't!) and why "Do the research" is not that helpful--because reading something that sold a lot of copies doesn't mean that you're going to learn anything helpful.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

No, not rude! This is Good to Know. Thank you.

[schemingreader.livejournal.com]

prehistoric_sea, what do you think of Herschel Shanks Ancient Israel? I picked it as a textbook right before it got revised, back when I taught an intro course in 1996. I think it's probably a little too apologetic (okay a lot, especially after the revision with the way they treat the Exodus) but it does outline the basic issues. I'm not a specialist in the field (ha ha yeah) so I might be less sensitive, especially to claims that archeological finds "prove" the historicity of various things in the Hebrew bible.

lunabee34, what's the period you want to cover? What are the main ideas you want to be sure to hit? Some kind of discussion of development of Judaism from ancient Israelite religion (with both monotheism and text becoming central ideas)?

You could have a lot of fun with this, you know. It seems grim in the face of the overt anti-Semitism of your original textbook, but it's not.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Welcome!!

I want to cover monotheism and the exodus. I'm also interested in the role of women among the ancient Jews and how ancient Jews conceived of the afterlife and how they governed themselves, along with a very general history of the culture up until about the first century CE. (These are general themes that we're touching on with each culture.)

I'm also interested in the visual art, architecture, and music of the ancient Jewish culture.

I am really excited about making this lesson so much more than what the textbook has to offer! :)

Any help is greatly, greatly appreciated.