History and Literature of Rabbinic Judaism - A. Y. Reed, McMaster University 2003/2004

Studies in Post-Biblical Judaism: History and Literature of Rabbinic Judaism RS-709; McMaster University, Term I, 2003/2004 – Tuesdays, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, UH 122 Annette Y. Reed (Dept. of Religious Studies; UH 110; 905-525-9140 ext. 24597)
RS-709; McMaster University, Term I, 2003/2004 – Tuesdays, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, UH 122 Annette Y. Reed (Dept. of Religious Studies; UH 110; 905-525-9140 ext. 24597)
SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS
Note that primary source assignments will be chosen to fit the interests of the students in the seminar and, hence, have yet to be filled in completely or finalized. Please check back for updates!
9th September - Organizational Meeting
16th September – Class cancelled due to McGill conference on “The Changing Face of Judaism, Christianity and Other Greco-Roman Religions in Antiquity”; note, however, the double dose of reading assignments for the next meeting!
23rd September – Overview of basic historical background, sources, & themes
b. Baba Metzia 59a-b; b. Shabbat 31a: H. L. Strack and G. Stemberger, “The Historical Framework,” Introduction, 1-7. (Students who are less familiar with early Jewish history may wish to consult the more detailed account in Schäfer, History of the Jews, as cited below.)
A. Goldenberg, “The Mishna: A Study Book of Halakha,” in Literature of the Sages, 211-51.
R. Goldenberg, “Talmud,” and Barry Holtz, "Midrash," in Back to the Sources, 129-212.
S. Safrai, “Halakha” in Literature of the Sages, 121-209 (skim).
J. Heinemann, “The Nature of the Aggadah,” in Midrash and Literature, 41-55.

Further readings:
P. Schäfer, The History of the Jews in Antiquity: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest, trans. D. Chowchat, Luxemborg, 1995, 131-97 (chs. 7-9).
Strack and Stemberger, “The Rabbinic School System,” “The Rabbis,” and “The Languages of Rabbinic Literature,” Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, 8-14, 56-107.

30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95)
Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; A. Goldenberg, “The Mishna: A Study Book of Halakha,” in Literature of the Sages, 211-51.
R. Goldenberg, “Talmud,” and Barry Holtz, "Midrash," in Back to the Sources, 129-212.
S. Safrai, “Halakha” in Literature of the Sages, 121-209 (skim).
J. Heinemann, “The Nature of the Aggadah,” in Midrash and Literature, 41-55.

Further readings:
P. Schäfer, The History of the Jews in Antiquity: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest, trans. D. Chowchat, Luxemborg, 1995, 131-97 (chs. 7-9).
Strack and Stemberger, “The Rabbinic School System,” “The Rabbis,” and “The Languages of Rabbinic Literature,” Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, 8-14, 56-107.

30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95)
Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; R. Goldenberg, “Talmud,” and Barry Holtz, "Midrash," in Back to the Sources, 129-212.
S. Safrai, “Halakha” in Literature of the Sages, 121-209 (skim).
J. Heinemann, “The Nature of the Aggadah,” in Midrash and Literature, 41-55.

Further readings:
P. Schäfer, The History of the Jews in Antiquity: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest, trans. D. Chowchat, Luxemborg, 1995, 131-97 (chs. 7-9).
Strack and Stemberger, “The Rabbinic School System,” “The Rabbis,” and “The Languages of Rabbinic Literature,” Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, 8-14, 56-107.

30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95)
Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; S. Safrai, “Halakha” in Literature of the Sages, 121-209 (skim).
J. Heinemann, “The Nature of the Aggadah,” in Midrash and Literature, 41-55.

Further readings:
P. Schäfer, The History of the Jews in Antiquity: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest, trans. D. Chowchat, Luxemborg, 1995, 131-97 (chs. 7-9).
Strack and Stemberger, “The Rabbinic School System,” “The Rabbis,” and “The Languages of Rabbinic Literature,” Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, 8-14, 56-107.

30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95)
Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; J. Heinemann, “The Nature of the Aggadah,” in Midrash and Literature, 41-55.

Further readings:
P. Schäfer, The History of the Jews in Antiquity: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest, trans. D. Chowchat, Luxemborg, 1995, 131-97 (chs. 7-9).
Strack and Stemberger, “The Rabbinic School System,” “The Rabbis,” and “The Languages of Rabbinic Literature,” Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, 8-14, 56-107.

30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95)
Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: P. Schäfer, The History of the Jews in Antiquity: The Jews of Palestine from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest, trans. D. Chowchat, Luxemborg, 1995, 131-97 (chs. 7-9).
Strack and Stemberger, “The Rabbinic School System,” “The Rabbis,” and “The Languages of Rabbinic Literature,” Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, 8-14, 56-107.

30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95)
Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Strack and Stemberger, “The Rabbinic School System,” “The Rabbis,” and “The Languages of Rabbinic Literature,” Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, 8-14, 56-107.

30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95)
Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
30th September - The character of our sources & the challenges involved in reconstructing the early history of Rabbinic Judaism
y. Ta'anit 4:6/68d-69; b. Yoma 69a; b. Gittin 56a-b; 57a; b. Qiddushin 66a (see L. Schiffman, Texts and Traditions: A Sources Reader for the Study of Second Temple Judaism, New York: Ktav, 1998, pp.133-35, 274-75, 452-57, 492-95): Strack and Stemberger, “Handling Rabbinic Texts: The Problem of Method,” Introduction, 45-55.
J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; J. Neusner, “Form and Meaning in Mishnah,” JAAR 45 (1977): 27-54.
Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Shaye Cohen, “Jacob Neusner, Mishnah, and Counter-Rabbinics: A Review Essay,” Conservative Judaism 37 (1983): 48-63.
E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977, pp. 33-75.

Further readings:
A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: A. Saldarini, “Form Criticism of Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 96 (1977), 257-74.
Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Strack and Stemberger, “The Mishnah,” Introduction to Talmud and Midrash, 108-48.
J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; J. Neusner, “The Formation of Rabbinic Judaism: Yavneh (Jamnia) from A.D. 70 to 100,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 3-42.
R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; R. Kalmin, “Jewish Sources of the Second Temple Period in Rabbinic Compilations of Late Antiquity,” in Talmud Yerushalmi III, 17-54.
George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; George Foot Moore, "Christian authors on Judaism," HTR 14 (1921):197-254.
M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; M. Bregman, "Pseudepigraphy in Rabbinic Literature" in Pseudepigraphic perspectives: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in light of the Dead Sea scrolls, Leiden, 1999, 27-42.

7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b
Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
7th October - Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 1, Written Torah
Selections from Sifre Deuteronomy in Fraade, From Tradition, 75-123 (see below)
MekhY 12.1 (see J. Z. Lauterback, Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Philadelphia, 1933)
m. Sanhedrin 10.1; t. Sanhedrin 12.10; y. Sanhedrin 10.1; b. Sanhedrin 100b
m. Yadaim 4.6; t. Yadaim 2.13; b. Baba Batra 14b-15b: Strack and Stemberger, “Halakhic Midrashim,” Introduction, 247-75.
S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; S. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy, Albany, N.Y., 1991, 1-24, 69-123.
D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; D. Kraemer, “The Formation of Rabbinic Canon: Authority and Boundaries,” JBL 110 (1991): 613-30.
Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Alexander Samely, “Between Scripture and its Rewording: Towards a Classification of Rabbinic Exegesis,” JJS 42, pp. 39-67.
D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; D. Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies, Evanston, Ill., 1996, pp. 15-38.

Further readings:
Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: Strack and Stemberger, “Midrashim: Introduction,” Introduction, 233-46.
Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Gary Porton, “Midrash: Palestinian Jews and the Hebrew Bible in the Greco-Roman Period,” ANRW 19.2, pp. 103-38.
A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; A. Y. Reed, "Apocrypha, ‘Outside Books,’ and Pseudepigrapha: Ancient Categories and Modern Perceptions of Parabiblical Literature," 40th Philadelphia Seminar on Christian Origins, October 10, 2002

14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a
M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
14th October – Continuities and discontinuities with Second Temple Judaism(s): Part 2, Oral Torah
m. Avot, esp. 1-3; y. Peah 17a; b. Eruvin 54b; m. AZ 58b; b. RH 5a, 15a; b. Men. 65a: M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth, pp. 65-99, with special attention to primary sources quoted and discussed therein.
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp.232-52.
Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Yaakov Elman, “Some Remarks on 4QMMT and the Rabbinic tradition: or, When is a parallel not a parallel?,” in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and History, Atlanta, 1996, pp. 99-128.
Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Christine Hayes, “Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai in Rabbinic Sources,” in Synoptic Problem, 61-118.

Further readings:
S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: S. Talmon, “Oral Tradition and Written Transmission, or the Heard and the Seen Word in Judaism of the Second Temple Period,” in Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition, ed. H. Wansbrough, Sheffield, 1991, 121-58.
Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Strack and Stemberger, “Oral and Written Tradition,” Introduction, 31-44.
M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; M. Jaffee, “The Oral-Cultural Context of the Talmud Yerushalmi: Greco-Roman Rhetorical Paideia, Discipleship, and the Concept of Oral Torah,” in Transmitting Jewish Traditions: Orality, Textuality, and Cultural Diffusion, ed. Y. Elman and I. Gershoni, New Haven, 2000, 27-57 (notes, 58-73).

21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA
Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
21st October - The Tannaim and other Jews: Locating the Rabbinic movement in late antique Roman Palestine
t. Eduyot 1:1 and other sources TBA: Shaye Cohen, “The Significance of Yavneh: Pharisees, Rabbis, and the End of Jewish Sectarianism,” Hebrew Union College Annual 55 (1984): 27-53.
Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Daniel Boyarin, “A Tale of Two Synods: Nicaea, Yavneh, and Rabbinic Ecclesiology,” Exemplaria 12 (2000): 21-62.
Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Catherine Hezser, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halacha: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993-94): 234-51.
Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Shaye Cohen, “The Rabbi in Second-Century Jewish Society,” The Cambridge History of Judaism, volume 3: The Early Roman Period, ed. William Horbury, W. D. Davies, and John Sturdy, Cambridge, 1999, 922-90 (skim).
Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Seth Schwartz, "Historiography on the Jews in the 'Talmudic Period': 70-640 CE," in Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 79-114.

28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units
Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
28th October – The nature of Rabbinic literary production, the “synoptic problem,” and issues of textual identity
m. Berakhot 1; t. Berakhot 1; y. Hagigah 2.1 (77c); BerR 1-12; with special attention to parallel units: Strack and Stemberger, “The Tosefta” and “The Palestinian Talmud,” Introduction, 149-89.
David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; David Weiss-Halivni, “The Amoraic and Stammaitic Periods,” in Essential Papers on the Talmud, ed. M. Chernick, 1994, pp. 127-60 (reprinted from Midrash, Mishnah, and Gemara)
Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Jacob Neusner, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature,” JBL 105 (1986): 499-507 and response by Morton Smith, “The Synoptic Problem in Rabbinic Literature, A Correction,” JBL 107 (1988): 111-12.
Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Hans-Jürgen Becker, "Texts and History: The Dynamic Relationship between Talmud Yerushalmi and Genesis Rabbah," in Synoptic Problem, 145-60.
Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Peter Schäfer, "Research into Rabbinic Literature: An Attempt to Define the Status Quaestionis," JJS(1986): 139-52, and response by Chaim Milikowsky, "The Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature," Journal of Jewish Studies 39 (1988): 201-11. See also Schäfer’s response to Milikowsky’s article: Peter Schäfer, "Once Again the Status Quaestionis of Research in Rabbinic Literature: An Answer to Chaim Milikowsky," JJS 40 (1989): 89-94.
Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Catherine Hezser, "Classical Rabbinic Literature," in The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, pp. 115-140.

Further readings:
Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: Hans-Jürgen Becker, Die großen rabbinischen Sammelwerke Paldstinas, 1999. See also the lengthy review article on this book (in English) by Chaim Milikowsky in the most recent issue of JQR.

4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA
Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
4th November – Rabbinic Judaism and Graeco-Roman Culture
m. AZ (all) and other sources TBA: Moshe Halbertal, “Coexisting with the Enemy: Jews and Pagans in the Mishnah” in Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge, 1998), pp. 159-72.
Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Seth Schwartz, “Gamliel in Aphrodite’s Bath: Palestinian Judaism and Urban Culture in the Third and Fourth Centuries” in Talmud Yerushalmi I, 203-17.
Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Peter Schäfer, “Jews and Gentiles in Yerushalmi Avodah Zarah,” Talmud Yerushalmi III, 335-54.

Further readings:
Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: Catherine Heszer, “Interfaces between Rabbinic Literature and Graeco-Roman Philosophy,” in Talmud Yerushalmi II, pp. 161-88.

11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians)
Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
11th November - Rabbinic Jewish and early Christian self-definition: Parallels, comparisons, and competing models of authority
TBA (Assorted rabbinic traditions about minim [“heretics”], gospels, and Christians): Stephen Katz, “Issues in the Separation of Judaism and Christianity after 70 CE: A Reconsideration,” JBL 103 (1984): 43-76.
Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Shaye Cohen, “A Virgin Defiled: Some Rabbinic and Christian Views on the Origin of Heresy,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 36 (1980): 1-11.
Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Naomi Janowitz, “Rabbis and their Opponents: The Construction of the ‘Min’ in Rabbinic Anecdotes,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 6 (1998): 449-62.
R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; R. Kalmin, “Christians and Heretics in Rabbinic Literature of Late Antiquity" HTR 87 (1994), 155-69.

Further readings:
Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: Phillip Alexander, “‘The Parting of the Ways’ from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism,” in Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70 to 135, ed. J. Dunn; Cambridge, 1992, 1-26.
Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Reuven Kimelman, “Birkat ha-minim and the Lack of Evidence for an anti-Christian Prayer in Late Antiquity” in Jewish and Christian Self-Definition, ed. E. P. Sanders, A. Baumgarten, and A. Mendelson, New York, 1981, 1:226-244. See also “Identifying Jews and Christians in Roman Syrio-Palestine,” http://www2.bc.edu/~cunninph/kimelman_identifying.htm
Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Daniel Boyarin, “Justin Martyr Invents Judaism,” Church History 70 (2001): 427-61; see also his “Semantic Differences; or, ‘Judaism’/‘Christianity’” in Ways that Never Parted, 65-86.
Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Amram Tropper, “Tractate Avot and Early Christian Succession Lists,” in Ways that Never Parted, 159-88.
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies” and “Anti-Christian Polemic in Leviticus Rabbah,” Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literature, Tübingen, 1995, pp. 61-74, 93-105.

18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA
R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
18th November - Talmud Yerushalmi, Talmud Bavli, and the differences between Rabbinic culture and Jewish society in Roman Palestine and Sassanian Babylonia
TBA: R. Kalmin, Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia:, introduction & chapter one
Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Robert Goldenberg, "Is 'The Talmud' a Document?" in Synoptic Problem, 3-12.
Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Eliezer Segal, “Anthological Dimensions of the Babylonian Talmud,” Prooftexts 17 (1997): 33-61.

25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3
Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
25th November – Midrashic collections, targumim, and the methodological issues involved in dating and tracing exegetical and aggadic traditions
Bereshit Rabbah on Genesis 2-3 (skim); Targums Neophyti and Ps-Jonathan on Genesis 2-3 (see Bowker below); Pirqe Rabbi Eliezer on Genesis 2-3: Strack and Stemberger, “The Oldest Exegetical Midrashim” and “Homiletical Midrashim,” Introduction, 276-314.
M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; M. Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” JJS 42 (1991), 108-14.
Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; Phillip S. Alexander, "Pre-Emptive Exegesis: Genesis Rabba's Reading of the Story of Creation," JJS 43 (1992): 230-45.
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.; John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature, Cambridge, 1969, 121-31.

Further readings:
A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.
Further readings:: A. Y. Reed, “The Order of the Cosmos and the Structure of Midrashic Polysemy: Approaches to Ma’aseh Bereshit in Bereshit Rabbah and Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer,” unpublished paper available on request.

Studies in Post-Biblical Judaism: History and Literature of Rabbinic Judaism RS-709; McMaster University, Term I, 2003/2004 – Tuesdays, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, UH 122 Annette Y. Reed (Dept. of Religious Studies; UH 110; 905-525-9140 ext. 24597)

SCHEDULE OF ASSIGNMENTS

Home | Schedule of Readings | Schedule of Presentations | On-line Resources Annette Yoshiko Reed - Email | Homepage

Studies in Post-Biblical Judaism: History and Literature of Rabbinic Judaism

RS-709; McMaster University, Term I, 2003/2004 – Tuesdays, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, UH 122
Annette Y. Reed (Dept. of Religious Studies; UH 110; 905-525-9140 ext. 24597)

Home | Schedule of Readings | Schedule of Presentations | On-line Resources
Annette Yoshiko Reed - Email | Homepage