THE JEWISH DIASPORA

The Jewish Diaspora started early in the first millennium of this era and was arduous in Europe where the Jews lived in a predominately Christian society that held them in low esteem.  The basis for this prejudice was the writings of the church founders, primarily Paul whose letters are among the earliest surviving books of the New Testament.  The Gospel of John built upon the theology of Paul as did the works of a number of early Christian theologians.  We will study the writings of these men, the Jewish response, and the impact they had on Judaism and on Jewish life in both the European Diaspora and the Arab Diaspora.  We will conclude with the rising hope of the European Enlightenment Period beginning about 1800.

Class is limited to 12 members.

ROBERT STRAUSS was educated as an Aeronautical Engineer at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.  He worked on rocket engines with the German engineers under Van Braun for two decades, including a year at Cape Canaveral, and as a partner in a technology company.  He spent the next thirty years working with his wife in public schools across the nation on the development of policies and regulations.  Since moving to the Upper Valley in 1992, he has offered nine ILEAD courses on the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament):  Adam and Beginnings, Abraham and the Patriarchs, Moses and the Exodus, Joshua and the Promised Land, Samuel and the Judges, David and the Monarchy, Elijah and the Prophets, Prophets of the Exile, and most recently the development of Judaism from Moses to the rabbis.  He is presently Chair of the Hanover Affordable Housing Commission.