Credits: 2

This course provides a conceptual overview of the relationship between religion and state in Jewish thought from the Bible to the contemporary period.  We will begin with the Hebrew Bible’s description of the division of labor in the Israelite polity and trace how the authority of king, prophet, priest, and judge was interpreted and re-interpreted in classical and medieval rabbinic sources in light of differing views about the purpose and legitimacy of government.  We then turn to nineteenth and twentieth century debates about the relationship of Judaism to the state as a prelude to focusing on the relationship between religion and state in Israel.  Throughout, comparisons will be drawn with other traditions such as those of ancient Greece, Christianity, Islam, and modern liberalism.