“Answer both of the two questions below with essays of 3-4 pages each, double-spaced. Be sure to spend the bulk of your essays analyzing and evaluating rather than merely reporting what is written.”
Here are the the questions:
A question that pertains to the second part of the course.
Choose one or both of the essays by Arthur Green’s — “How I Pray” and “Rethinking Theology in Judaism.” Do a close reading of the essay(s) you selected, explaining the challenges to American Jews that they address and the strategies they employ to address them. Are they successful in addressing these challenges, in your view? Why or why not?
2. A question that requires you to think about the entire semester.
The New York Times on Monday April 22 featured a story entitled, “Manischewitz Rebrands to Court a New Generation.” Announcing a strategy of “going back to go forward,” the company is changing its image in order to “provide the next generation of consumers food they are proud to serve.” It hopes its newly-rebranded matza will instill “a new sense of pride in Jewish food.” You might say that Jewish thinkers in America in recent decades have been working to update Judaism to provide new generations with a God, a tradition and a people that they are proud to serve — to give them “a new sense of pride in” Judaism.
Logistics: As always, the work on the exam must be your own. If you consult secondary sources, cite them and do not assume they are correct or perceptive. No AI or CHAT GPT.
