66991 - Jewish Language and Culture (1)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will possess a basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew and elements of Jewish culture and will be able to expose appropriately what he/she has learned in oral and written form.  

Course contents

The course aims at offering an essential survey of the principles of Biblical Hebrew grammar (phonetics, morphology and syntax) and of the basic elements of the history of the Hebrew language with comparative materials concerning Rabbinical and Medieval Hebrew. Beside a basic knowledge of the Language, the course will offer, on the basis of the lexical elements studies in theory and in the exercises, fundamental notions of Jewish culture, highlighting particularly the religious, political and anthropological aspects. Special attention will be devoted to the semantic fields concerning contracts (covenant, promise, trust) and the structure of society (family, tribe, nation) in their horizontal as well as in their vertical, more specifically religious dimension.

Readings/Bibliography

- Grammar: J. Weingreen, Grammatica di ebraico biblico, Glossa, Milano 2011.
- Biblical Text: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia , Editio quinta, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart 1997.
- History of the Hebrew language: A. Sáenz-Badillos, A History of the Hebrew Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002.
- Dictionaries: F. Brown – S. R. Driver – Ch. A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic based on the Lexicon of W. Gesenius, The Riverside Press, Cambridge 1906 (https://archive.org/details/ahebrewandengli00briggoog ); Ph. Reymond, Dizionario di ebraico e aramaico biblici, Società Biblica Britannica e Forestiera, Roma 1995; L. A. Schökel, Dizionario di ebraico biblico, Edizioni San Paolo, Cinisello Balsamo (Mi) 2013.

 

Non-attending students are required to learn the contents of the grammar and to do all the exercises of Wengreen's method. Moreover, they are invited to contact the instructor in order to receive an individual programme.

Teaching methods

The lectures will be composed of two instalments: a traditional lecture on Hebrew grammar and seminarial discussions on the exercises of translation from Biblical Hebrew to Italian.

Assessment methods

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

Oral exam; translation of selected Biblical passages.

The exam candidates will receive a note falling into one of four assessment ranges: 1) excellent (28-30 cum laude); 2) good (24-27); 3) sufficient (18-23); insufficient (fail), according to their capacity to express themselves, to articulate their knowledge and to answer appropriately to the questions of the instructor.  

 

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who require specific services and adaptations to teaching activities due to a disability or specific learning disorders (SLD), must first contact the appropriate office: https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students.

 

Exams sessions

Exam sessions are scheduled for the following months: 

Juanuary

March

May

August

October

December

Teaching tools

Besided the textbook (Weingreen), which comprises theory and exercises, during the lecture supplementary materials aimed at easing  the learning process, will be offered and put at the disposal of the students in the virtual repository, especially Biblical texts with complete masoretic annotations.  

Office hours

See the website of Saverio Campanini