Table of Contents
Course Overview
When studying the Jewish Bible and other historical works, the physical attributes—the form of the writing, whether it be scroll, codex, or simply a printed page layout, in addition to the size and shape—determine how we read the book and understand its meaning. Whether you are interested in literature or history, ancient or religious art and texts, or looking to deepen your understanding of religion and its impact on the world, this course will delve deeper into the Jewish Book as a physical object and spark desire to learn more about the materials as both artifact and religious content — enriching your understanding of the Jewish Bible, how it came to be, and its place today in a digital age.
In The Jewish Bible: Its History as a Physical Artifact, you will focus largely on the Torah Scroll—elaborate, handwritten scrolls that share the first five books of Moses, the first books of the Jewish Bible. The physical Torah has been a revered part of the Jewish community for centuries; there is even a tradition of touching the Torah as it is brought around the congregation as a sign of respect and paying homage to its history. In this course you will learn about the birth of the scrolls; their evolution from scrolls to codex; and the Jewish Bible through culture, history, and religion.
By exploring the ancient Hebrew Bibles that Jews have held in their hands, chanted in the synagogue, and studied in school and at home, you will be immersed in the history of the book as an artifact of other religions, and how Jews transformed the Bible over centuries using cultural and religious context. As you study the Bible as a physical book, you will learn how the materiality of the Jewish Book serves as an interface between the Hebrew text, history, and the modern world.
This course is based on David Stern's book The Jewish Bible: A Material History (code WBJC30 will provide a 30% discount) and course sections are as follows:
- Welcome
- Section 1: The Birth of the Torah Scroll
- Section 2: The Torah Scroll Flourishes
- Section 3: The First Jewish Bibles
- Section 4: The Jewish Bible Across Regions
- Section 5: New Technologies and the Jewish Bible
- Section 6: The Jewish Bible as Cultural Object
- Farewell
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites. This course is for anyone who wants to learn more about the Jewish Bible.
Grading & Certification
This course has two types of assignments: short answers and ORAs.
Open Response Assignments (ORAs) [50% of final grade]: These assignments ask you to answer a question in depth. A rubric will help you self-assess your answer, then assign yourself a grade of 0–3 points.
Short Answer [50% of final grade]: These assignments invite you to reflect briefly on a question; they are graded only on participation.
Passing the course, and certification
The passing grade for this course is 60% (using the weights above).
If you register for a Verified Certificate, and your score is 60% or above, you will receive a certificate in electronic form. They are not mailed to you. Instead, you can generate them on your Progress page.
You can find your grades and check your progress by going to the Progress page.
Guidelines For Collaboration
We encourage class participants to collaborate on assignments! But be sure you learn how to do the assignments yourself, and please do not post solutions to discussion forums until after the due date. Staff will proactively remove solutions posted before due dates.
- It is OK to discuss or work jointly to develop a general approach to an assignment.
- It is OK to get a hint from peers or course staff if you get stuck on an assignment.
- You should work out the details of assignments yourself.
- It is not OK to copy someone else's answer.
Discussion Forums
We encourage you to use the course Discussion Forum! It has many uses, and we'll prompt you to participate throughout the course.
Some good uses of the Discussion Forum:
- Asking questions about course content and assignments.
- Collaborating appropriately on assignments.
- Contacting course staff.
- Starting discussions related to course content.
- Commenting on course content, including giving the instructors feedback, disagreeing with us, or suggesting improvements.
Our discussion forum guidelines
- Be polite and encouraging.
- Work together and work independently.
- Post hints rather than answers. If you're not sure where to draw the line, follow the collaboration guidelines.
- You can and should discuss questions, consider possibilities, and ask for hints.
- You should not request or give out answers, even answers that you know are wrong.
- Use your vote. If you agree with what someone says, don't write a post. Just click the plus button!
- Tag your posts. If there is an issue that absolutely needs staff attention, put the word [STAFF] in brackets in your subject line. Course staff will be in the forums every day, but it may take up to two days to get a response sometimes, especially around holidays.
Acknowledgements
David Stern, Faculty
Esther Brownsmith, Content Developer
Sarah Grafman, Instructional Design
Ananda Moore, Video Editor
Ellen Popko, Instructional Technologist
Liz Carre, Instructional Technologist
Nicholas Redler, Copyright Administrator
Lauren Feinberg, Copyright Asset Tracker
Alex Auriema, Videographer
Kevin Belli, Videographer
Shane Butler, Videographer
JoAnne Sweeney, Project Manager
Thanks to
William L. Gross, Judaica Collector
Jonah Stern, Videographer
HarvardX
Colin Fredericks, Manager of Instructional Technology
Jared Voss, Editor
Laura McLam, Multimedia Specialist
Mary Godfrey, Director of Multimedia
Mitchel Lockwood, VPAL Financial Associate
Molly Gallagher, Department Coordinator
Patti Grip, Director of Finance and Administration
Vicky Shen, Director of Operations
Jascha Smilack, Director of HarvardX Courses
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