Courses

All Fall 2026 courses can be found by searching 'Judaic' 'Yiddish' 'Ladino' or 'Hebrew' in the LSA Course Guide.

Check out our Fall 2026 Mini-courses!

Judaic 318:010: Hot Topics in the Talmud (2 credits, second half of term, online)
Judaic 318.011: Hot Topics in Jewish Studies (1 credit, first half of term, online, asynchronous)
Judaic 218.002: Russian Jews un the Tsars and Soviets (2 credits, online)
Judaic 617.002: Advanced Yiddish Minicourse (1 credit, first half of term)

Core Courses

Judaic 205 – What is Judaism? — Andrea Gondos

What has it meant to eat as a Jew, dress as a Jew, or pray as a Jew in different time periods and locales? How do the Sabbath laws inscribed in the Hebrew Bible relate to Jewish practices of rest and celebration in the modern period? This course familiarizes students with the central sacred texts and practices of Jewish traditions as they have been interpreted by different communities over the past 2000 years. We study the development of Jewish thought and practice through a series of different lens--theology, history, ethnography, and feminism among others. By exploring the diverse history of Jewish practice, students gain insight into contemporary debates in the Jewish world: questions such as who is a Jew, which practices define Judaism as a religion in the modern world, and what does a flourishing Jewish community look like. HU requirement.

Judaic 281 -- Jews of the Modern World -- Shachar Pinsker

Using literature, film, visual arts, and other cultural documents, students will examine the multiple ways in which Jews in Europe, America, Israel, and the Middle East have responded to the cultural, political, economic, and social forces of modernity. By focusing on a variety of textual and visual material from the late 18th century to the present, students will have an opportunity to explore the processes by which Jewish culture has been shaped and re-shaped in the face of unprecedented new freedoms and persecutions. The development of Jewish life from the late 18th century to the present offers a microcosm for the study of race, ethnicity, and racism in the modern world and the course will illustrate how deeply embedded racial, ethnic, and religious discourses are in any discussion of Jews.

Jewish Languages

Judaic 101/Yiddish 101/German 128 – First Year Yiddish II — Elena Luchina

Judaic 201/Yiddish 201/German 228 – Second Year Yiddish II — Elena Luchina

Judaic 280/Ladino 280 – Ladino Language and Culture — Gabriel Mordoch

Judaic 120 – Elementary Classical Hebrew — Chris Mezger

Judaic 617.002 – Advanced Yiddish Minicourse — Elena Luchina

Ladino: Language and Culture of Sefardi Jews

Judaic 280/Ladino 280/Ladino 580/RomLang250 — Gabriel Mordoch

*HU distribution, counts as additional cognate course in Spanish minor

Ladino is a Romance language written and spoken by Sephardic Jews (Jews of Spanish and Portuguese background). Originating in the Iberian Peninsula, Ladino was carried abroad after Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 1490s. Ladino is based in an archaic form of Castilian Spanish, but also contains elements of Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, Turkish, Greek, French, Portuguese, Bulgarian, and Italian. Written and spoken in areas such as Israel, the Balkans, North Africa, Greece, Turkey (and sparsely in the Americas), today the language is in danger of extinction, although it is experiencing some kind of revival. Take part in this revival by learning it here at Michigan!

First-Year Seminars

Judaic 125 – Jewish Women and the Body of Tradition — Cara Rock-Singer

Judaic 150 — Creation Myths — Chris Mezger

Sacred Texts and Practices

Judaic 260 – Intro to Talmud — Joel Goldstein

Judaic 318.010 – Hot Topics in the Talmud — Rafe Neis

Judaic 362 – The Bible and Quran — Mostafa Hussein

Judaic 377 – Biblical Masculinities — Rebecca Wollenberg

Culture and Social History

Judaic 218.002 – Russian Jews (2 credits) – Mikhail Krutikov

Judaic 234 – Jewish Storytelling – Julian Levinson

Judaic 318.001 – French Fascism – Bryan Roby

Judaic 318.003 – Partners in Learning – Rebecca Wollenberg

Judaic 318.004 – Hasidism – Andrea Gondos

Judaic 318.005 – The Nazis and Art – Shelley Perlove

Judaic 318.011 – Hot Topics in Jewish Studies (1 credit) – Rafe Neis

Judaic 340 – Colonial N Africa – Bryan Roby

Judaic 326 – Living Among Others: Jews in Medieval & Early Modern Worlds — Yanay Israeli

Judaic 325 – Jews and Fashion – Devi Mays

Judaic 352 – Undead Encounters — Maya Barzilai

Judaic 351 – Anne Frank in Context – Annemarie Toebosch

Judaic 379 – Jewish Photographers – Deborah Dash Moore

Learn Critical Dialogue Skills

Judaic 318.003 – Partners in Learning — Rebecca Wollenberg (HU)

This skills- and practice-based course prepares students to lead and facilitate effective conversations in collaborative settings. Develop practical communication and leadership skills for running meetings, guiding group processes, and organizing dialogue to achieve goals such as creative exploration, problem-solving, decision-making, and team building. This class is based on a relational learning framework that emphasizes shared responsibility, attentive listening, and collaborative meaning-making. This course treats communication not only as presentation but as facilitation: the ability to structure conversations, engage participants, and move groups productively through disagreement, uncertainty, and complexity.

Israel/Palestine

Judaic 353 – Arab-Israeli Conflict — Mark Tessler

Judaic 341 – Palestine/Israel: A History — Mostafa Hussein