READING ASSIGNMENTS for
Jewish Folkore: Jewish Tales of the Wandering Jew
We strongly encourage participants in the NGFP online course
to prepare for each week's email discussion by downloading the
lesson's article and thinking about the questions the Professor has provided. Responses and further questions will be raised and discussed via email.
Week 1
Ex Oriente Fluxus: The Wandering Jew - Oriental Crossings of the Paths of Europe
Guided Reading Questions
Think about the correlation between "Oriental" and "Jewish" in your own historical and geographical situation. Are the associations between "Oriental" and "Jewish" that you can think of positive, negative or neutral? Could you venture a historical comparison between the terms "Oriental" and "Jewish" and their relationship in the past and in the present? What tales of wandering Jews are told in your own culture? What other cultures do you associate with wandering? Is there a difference between "their" wandering and "our" wandering? What are the cultural values that you associate with wandering? How do they correlate with your perception of Judaism? How do you interpret the term "Wandering Jew" with reference to Israel?
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Week 2
Homo viator et narrans judaicus: Medieval Jewish Voices in the European Narrative of the Wandering Jew
Wikipedia article on Petahya from Regensberg (in Hebrew)
Petahya from Regensberg's Sivuv (in Hebrew)
Petahya from Regensberg's Sivuv (in English - 1856 Translation)
Petahya from Regensberg's Sivuv (in English- 1856 Translation alternative link)
Guided Reading Questions
Petahya of Regensburg is characterized in the article as “a European Jew”, whereas Rabbi Judah the Pious is titled “an Ashkenazi Jew.”
On the basis of what you have read here and elsewhere do you agree with the distinction and what does it mean for you? Please correlate the characterizations in the first question to the signs of Oriental identity in the figure of the Wandering Jew. The two abovementioned Rabbis are said to embody different versions of mobility. Can you think of other examples of representatives for either version of mobility in Jewish culture, in the past or in the present? Or in other cultures? In what sense can each of the two, Petahya of Regensburg and Rabbi Judah the Pious be seen as contributing to the image of Jews in Europe as “Wandering Jews”? What narrative genres are represented in the works of the two and how you would you characterize their managements of adaptation to their environment as well as their ideological ramifications?
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Week 3
The Cobbler of Jerusalem in Finnish Folklore
Guided Reading Questions
The article presents the Wandering Jew tradition in Finland - a country with a relatively new and very small Jewish population. How does it, in your view, reflect on the local tradition of the Wandering Jew? How is the Wandering Jew tradition indicative of the adaptation processes of folk narratives? Do you think that the author is influenced by the fact that she was born in Finland and lived there until the age of twelve? Can you point at aspects of the Finnish Wandering Jew tradition that clearly distinguish it from other European traditions of the Wandering Jew? Are you able to discern pre-Christian elements in the Finnish, basically Protestant (Lutheran) folk tradition of the Wandering Jew? Were any of the folkloristic traditions of the Finnish Wandering Jew tradition known to you before you took this course?
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Week 4
The Wandering Jew — A Jewish Perspective
Guided Reading Questions
Can you point out some principal differences in the Jewish adaptations of the Wandering Jews traditions compared with the Christian traditions, as far as you have made acquaintance with both in this course? Why do you think that Jews adopted the Wandering Jew traditions so late, and why did they adopt them at all? Can you discern different approaches to the Wandering Jew tradition among Jews according to geographical or ideological positions? Do you think that the Wandering Jew tradition is relevant for Jewish art and literature today? Are you aware of some examples? Do you find it personally relevant?
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