The first modern novel employs humor and satire to explore what it means to be an individual. To help us in our survey of Don Quixote, we'll focus on the following questions:

1. How does Don Quixote both mock the past and emphasize the value of tradition?
2. Even if Don Quixote is objectively mad, how do his wild imaginings critique modernity?
3. What are we to make of and learn from Don Quixote's insistence that he knows exactly who he is?

Recommended Reading: Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote. Trans. Edith Grossman. New York: Ecco, 2015.

The Jewish communities of Renaissance Italy were unusual in their interactions with their Christian neighbors. As we explore this topic, we'll find answers to the following questions:

1. Why did early Renaissance Italian humanists turn to Jews to inspire Christian thought?
2. In what ways were the Jews involved in developing the Renaissance culture of Italy?
3. How did the Jews of this period lay the groundwork for the development of the modern Hebrew language?

For good reason, Shakespeare is one of the most famous and most influential writers of the English language. To help us unpack that topic, we'll explore the following questions:

1. In contrast with the greatness of man to be found in Hamlet, how does the relative bleakness of Macbeth resonate with a listener?
2. Of all the bard's plays, what makes As You Like It a good one to introduce students to Shakespeare?
3. Can The Merchant of Venice be understood in a way that is sympathetic to Jews?

Arguably Shakespeare's greatest play, Hamlet will catapult us into the modern era of literature. To unpack that notion, we'll explore the following questions:

1. In what sense does Hamlet have a foothold in both the classical and modern eras?
2. How does Hamlet grapple with the Biblical, covenantal tension between man's significance, on the one hand, and insignificance, on the other?
3. Why is Hamlet's conversation with his conscience an answer to Machiavelli?

Recommended Reading: Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2012. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Modernity continues to emerge with the writings of Montaigne and Shakespeare. On today's episode, Rabbi Rocklin will help us address the following questions:

1. Why did Montaigne love history as a tool to understand the human character?
2. How does Montaigne's approach to education diverge from his contemporaries' such that we might recognize his approach in today's world of education?
3. What sets Shakespeare's plays apart from his contemporaries' and makes his works relevant throughout the centuries?

Recommended Reading: Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life. New York: Harper Perennial, 2001.

The study of Kabbalah—Jewish mysticism—will play an outsized role in shaping not only Western thought but even modern science. To explore the topic, we'll turn to the following questions:

1. What is Kabbalah and why did it become important, as an area of study, for Christian thinkers and scholars?
2. How does Kabbalah further develop the notion of human agency?
3. What role did Kabbalah play in the development of modern science?

Recommended Reading: Coudert, Allison P. Hebraica Veritas: Christian Hebraists and the Study of Judaism in Early Modern Europe. Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2024.

The amount of bloodshed that took place following the Protestant Reformation is staggering. As we try to make sense of the religious wars, we'll explore the following questions:

1. What role did chivalric virtues play in bolstering Protestantism in France?
2. Why did local Catholics in the Low Countries oppose an inquisition against Protestants?
3. How did the Treaty of Westphalia, which recognized Protestantism as legitimate, differ from the Peace of Augsburg a century earlier?

In the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation, religious Europe continued to splinter. On today's episode, Rabbi Rocklin will answer the following questions:

1. How did John Calvin's views of free will and predestination lead to a culture in which hard work and monetary success was seen as valuable?
2. How does Anglicanism occupy a middle ground between Lutheranism and Calvinism?
3. Over the course of the Council of Trent, how did the Catholic Church clarify its doctrine in response to Luther's criticisms?

Erasmus was arguably the greatest scholar and foremost humanist of the Northern Renaissance. As we learn more about him, we'll explore the following questions:

1. How was Erasmus' Greek language scholarship foundational to the Protestant Reformation?
2. What were Erasmus' basic criticisms of the Catholic Church? How did those critiques differ from Luther's?
3. Why is it still important to read Erasmus today, despite his fundamental character flaws?

Recommended Reading: Shepherd, Victor. Interpreting Martin Luther: An Introduction to His Life and Thought. Canada: Regent College Publishing, 2008. Reverend Dr. Victor Shepherd's website: https://victorshepherd.ca/

Political turmoil swept across Europe in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. To help us expand the topic, Rabbi Rocklin will answer the following questions:

1. How did Luther's approach to religious reform encourage a rise in centralized power?
2. Why was it necessary to divide the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Augsburg?
3. How did Rashi, an eleventh century Jewish scholar, indirectly influence Luther's interpretation of scripture?