What has it meant to eat as a Jew, dress as a Jew, or pray as a Jew in different time periods and locales? How do the Sabbath laws inscribed in the Hebrew Bible relate to Jewish practices of rest and celebration in the modern period? This course familiarizes students with the central sacred texts and practices of Jewish traditions as they have been interpreted by different communities over the past 2000 years. We study the development of Jewish thought and practice through a series of different lens--theology, history, ethnography, and feminism among others. By exploring the diverse history of Jewish practice, students gain insight into contemporary debates in the Jewish world: questions such as who is a Jew, which practices define Judaism as a religion in the modern world, and what does a flourishing Jewish community look like.