Philosophy 335
Philosophies of Judaism
Le Moyne College
Take-home exam #1
Spring
2007
These are to be emailed
before class and a printed copy turned in during class on Friday,
February 23; students who both email (to kagan@lemoyne.edu) and
turn in
the exam early or on time will have 5% added to their exam's
grade. Late
exams are to be emailed (if you have no access to email over break you
can fax
the exam to 315-445-4540 or mail them to me at Le Moyne College (1419
Salt
Springs Road, Syracuse, NY 13214 ) as soon as it is completed.
Exams
received by the 25th will be accepted with no penalty, after that, 5%
will be
subtracted each day with a maximum deduction of 100%. For
example, an
exam that would have received a 98 if turned in on time, would have its
score
reduced to a 93% if I received it on February 26th and a 43% if I
received it on March 6.
Answer three of the
following questions, using 1-2 double spaced pages (or less) for each
answer.
1.
According to Rivkin, why does the Aaronide
revolution succeed where the Deuteronomic revolution failed? What does this suggest about the requirements
for a successful change in a Jewish
paradigm?
OR
According to
Rivkin, what is
the Pharisaic revolution? Why did it and
its spin-offs succeed?
2.
What does higher criticism of the
bible suggest about the legitimacy of
Aaronide, Deuteronomic, or Pharisaic teachings about
God, Torah and Israel? What does
this imply with respect to
Christianity or Islam?
3. Compare
and contrast Plaskow's method and
epistemology in ""Beyond Egalitarianism" God: Some Feminist Questions" and "'It is Not in
Heaven' Feminism and Religious Authority" with that found in the Book
of
Ecclesiastes.
4.
Give an example of how one could apply the
insights express in "Persecution and the Art of Writing "(Strauss,
Ch. 2, pp. 22-38) to the books of Esther or Ecclesiastes, or to the
first four
chapters of Genesis or the first four chapters of Exodus.
5. Compare/contrast the problems bothering the
author of Ecclesiastes with the challenges addressed by Plaskow in
"Beyond
Egalitarianism." How do their responses address issues of legitimate
authority, revelation, and epistemology?