These 24 lectures present an overview of Jewish culture and society from its rabbinic foundations in late antiquity until the dawn of modernity in the 17th century. In so doing, they place a special focus on Judaism's creative encounter with Christianity and Islam, giving you a unique perspective from which to examine the three major Western religions as they interact over time. Professor Ruderman lets you experience the evolution of all of Jewish life during a critical period that also featured the emergence of two distinct intellectual threads: the rise of medieval Jewish philosophy and the appearance of Jewish mysticism and piety as the faith's primary expressions of religiosity. The result is an introduction that is both broad and detailed as it examines the leading Jewish communities of the period, their political and economic structures, the social relations between Jews and non-Jews, and Jewish cultural and intellectual achievements in a premodern world dominated by two other faiths. Moving back and forth among history, philosophy, religion, and art, these lectures span an enormous disciplinary range and cover topics including the Jewish community of Islamic Baghdad in the 9th and 10th centuries; the paths of Jewish movement into Europe and the birth of what came to be known as Ashkenazic Jewry; and the resilience of the worldwide Jewish community as it adapts to ever-changing conditions in its efforts not only to survive, but to endure and prosper.
