Jewish studies courses in colleges across the country are drawing larger numbers of non-Jewish students, and LSU is no exception.
Rodger Kamanetz, an English and religious studies professor and former director of Jewish studies at LSU, said Jewish students are very much a minority in his classes.
Kamanetz said he teaches an English 4236 class, which doubles as a religion course, called Kabbalah in Literature.
Kabbalah is an aspect of Jewish mysticism which speculates on the nature of divinity, the creation, the origin and fate of the soul and the role of human beings. English 4236 examines the texts of Jewish mysticism.
Kamanetz said there is only one Jewish student of the 35 in his class, and similar numbers apply to all Jewish studies courses.
“When I taught Introduction to Judaism, there were only a handful of Jewish students,” Kamanetz said.
Kamanetz said the growing interest in Jewish studies owes much to the diverse nature of the material.
“Judaism includes history, culture, languages, traditions, symbols, a body of classical literature and a system of religious rituals and practices,” said Charles Isbell, director of Jewish studies.
“There are 5,000 years of Jewish civilization to study,” Kamanetz said. “The Jews are a continuous culture from the ancient world, and this is quite unique.”
Another reason so many students are interested in Jewish culture, Kamanetz said, could be the current conflicts in the Middle East.
Religion is such a large part of those conflicts that most students study it to gain a better understanding, Kamanetz said.
In fact, Judaism’s prominence in all countries of the world tend to increase interest, Isbell said.
Isbell said Judaism’s presence in all cultures has brought it and those who practice it into direct contact with other people and cultures.
Because Judaism has been influenced by so many other cultures, non-Jews can see certain themes that correlate with their own culture and religion, Isbell said.
“Judaism has been affected by these other peoples and their cultures, and has affected them in return,” Kamanetz said.
There is a huge interest in the Holocaust in today’s academic world, which could be another reason for the growing interest, Kamanetz said.
However, professors of Jewish studies try to bring out the positive values of Jewish civilization, Kamanetz said. They try not to focus solely on that destructive period.
“Jewish studies gives a different outlook on western culture in general,” Kamanetz said.
Many Christians take Jewish studies courses because they are interested in the Bible from a Jewish perspective, Kamanetz said. Judaism is a building block of Christianity, and the two have a complex relationship.
Isbell said a background in religious studies, or at least an understanding of religion, is essential in today’s society because it affects every aspect of life.
For example, many people all over the world cite their religious beliefs as motivation for their political actions.
Isbell said an understanding of religious motivations is critical to understanding America’s current conflicts overseas.
“While Islamicists and the president [of the United States] are quite different in almost every way,” Isbell said, “it would be impossible to understand either Islamicist terrorism or President Bush without knowledge of and appreciation for the element of the religious in their public actions.”
Isbell stressed the need to study and understand all religion, not only Judaism.
“Understanding of religion and its influence in the world can enhance one’s appreciation of life, one’s ability to interact with people from diverse backgrounds, one’s appreciation of the complexity of the human mind, and many other things,” Isbell said.