Jewish Intellectual History: 16th to 20th Century

Observe the time-honored intellectual tradition through which Judaism analyzes, rethinks, and reformulates itself.

Overview

Course No. 4647

This 24-lecture course examines how Jewish thinkers from Spinoza to modern feminists grappled with fundamental questions of faith and identity. You’ll explore:

• The challenges of modernity to traditional Jewish thought
• Major movements including Reform, Orthodox, and Conservative Judaism
• Zionist visions from Ahad Ha-Am to Louis Brandeis
• Responses to the Holocaust and feminist theology

From Italian ghettos to American reconstructionism, these lectures reveal how Jewish intellectuals preserved meaning through centuries of transformation.

Video Lectures

Part 1: Early Modern Foundations

1-2. Defining Jewish History (30-35 min)
Methodologies from Graetz to Scholem.

3-5. Ghetto Life to Spinoza (30-31 min)
Italian Jewish culture and radical philosophy.

Part 2: 19th Century Movements

6-12. Reform to Zionism (30-31 min)
Mendelssohn’s Enlightenment, Geiger’s reforms, Luzzatto’s “Atticism”.

13-15. Political Solutions (30-31 min)
Zionist visions and socialist experiments.

Part 3: 20th Century Thinkers

16-21. Philosophical Responses (30-31 min)
Cohen’s rationalism, Buber’s existentialism, Heschel’s mysticism.

22-24. Modern Challenges (30-31 min)
Holocaust theology, feminist perspectives, contemporary trends.