A proselyte once asked both Rabbi Shammai and Rabbi Hillel to explain Judaism while standing on one foot. Shammai drove the person off with a stick while Hillel gently reduced Judaism to one principle. The difficulty of defining such a complex religious system explains Shammai's anger and renders Hillel's over-simplification suspect. This course seeks to provide a more sure-footed understanding of the Jewish religion. While recognizing the value of an essentialist approach, the course also conveys the multifaceted, indefinable character of Judaism. Therefore we will examine Judaism from four different yet complementary aspects: history, theology, text, and ritual. The examination of Jewish ritual and practice will especially help to integrate our understanding of Jewish history, theology, and text just as Jewish ritual itself incorporates these elements into Jewish life. Format: lecture/discussion, and students will be required to engage in "fieldwork" involving the observation of a communal as well as a home ritual. Evaluation will be based on four 3-page papers, a 6- to 8-page final paper, a 2-page write-up of the fieldwork, and 2 major quizzes. Enrollment limit: 19 (expected: 16).