Course Details in 2025/26 Session

Module Title	Jewish Religious Responses to the Holocaust
School	Phil, Theology and Religion
Department	Theology and Religion
Module Code	09 25720
Module Lead	Isabel Wollaston
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites	LI Auschwitz in History and Memory - (09 28668)
Co-requisites
Restrictions	Maximum of 40
Contact Hours	Lecture-18 hours Seminar-7 hours Tutorial-1 hours Practical Classes and workshops-5 hours Guided independent study-169 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	The module analyses a range of Jewish responses to the Holocaust, both as events were happening and subsequently. These responses fall into three broad chronological and/or thematic groupings a) Orthodox responses emphasize continuity with what has gone before; b) Holocaust theology emerged in the mid 1960s and emphasizes discontinuity, interpreting the Holocaust as a radical challenge in the face of which traditional categories of meaning (e.g., providence, covenant, election) are deemed inadequate and/or in need of radical reinterpretation; c) post-Holocaust responses (the 1990s ff) are characterized by chronological and geographical distance from events and explore the impact of the Holocaust, and the ways in which it has been interpreted, on Jewish identity and Jewish/non-Jewish relations, particularly attitudes towards the Palestinians. In the module we focus on the contribution of key thinkers (e.g., Ephraim Oshry, Elie Wiesel, Richard Rubenstein, Emil Fackenheim, David Blumenthal, Melissa Raphael) and the evolution of their thought, as well as on recurrent themes or controversies (such as the Holocaust as punishment for sin, the relevance of kidush hashem or ‘martyrdom’ as a response during the Holocaust; Holocaust testimony as sacred text; how to appropriately memorialize the Holocaust within the Jewish calendar and the relationship between Jewish commemoration of these events and national and international Holocaust Memorial Days.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: Analyse the major approaches that characterize Jewish religious responses to the Holocaust, identifying trends, recurring questions and assumptions, and key points of controversy; Compare and evaluate the main scholarly views on the subject and the similarities, differences and points of conflict between them; Work in depth with a variety of texts, both primary and secondary, paying attention to either (a) the interaction between an individual thinker's response to the Holocaust and that individual's own context; or (b) a representative range of positions in relation to a key theme or controversy within JRR. Work with a significant degree of learner independence to explain, analyse and evaluate the material under scrutiny.
Assessment	25720-02 : 1000 word critical reflection : Coursework (25%) 25720-03 : 3000 word essay : Coursework (75%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment 1 x 1000 word critical reflection (25%) 1 x 3000 word essay (75%) Reassessment Resubmit failed component, but only if extenuating circumstances apply
Other
Reading List