Last Offered: March 1-4 2003

Course Description

In this course we will explore the B'sorah (Gospel) According to Matthew. Our reading of Matthew will be carried out against an informed study of the historical circumstances related to Matthew's Gospel. Our primary focus will be the Jewish background of Israel's post-destruction situation. This situation will depict the fierce polemic that Matthew and his community were embroiled in with the leaders (rabbis) of Formative Judaism at Yavneh. Selected portions of Matthew's Gospel will be read in class with this background in mind.

The following topics will give the student a general idea of our lessons in this preliminary syllabus. Subjects to be covered include:

• Matthew's literary sources, authorship, date, language, place, and literary structure of Matthew.
• The historical background before and after the destruction of the Temple: The Pharisees, and their successor's at Yavneh; Judaism without a Temple; the codification of the Oral Law.
• Matthew's Congregation: Struggles, Hopes and Community formation.
• The Relationship of Matthew's Community to the Torah of Moses, to emerging Rabbinic Judaism, and the "tradition of the Fathers" (Oral Law), and to the non-Jews.
• Plus much more.

Audio and Video tapes of the 1 - 4 March 2003 presentation of this course are available.

Go to the general information page for Yeshivat Baruch HaShem .