Chevron Left
Back to The Talmud: A Methodological Introduction

Learner Reviews & Feedback for The Talmud: A Methodological Introduction by Northwestern University

4.6
stars
280 ratings

About the Course

The Talmud is one of the richest and most complicated works of literature the world has ever known. Since being composed around 1500 years ago it has inspired not only religious reverence but significant intellectual engagement. In this course learners will be introduced to the unique characteristics of this text and the challenges that inhere in studying it while studying a chapter of the Talmud. Students of the course can expect to develop an appreciation for how the Talmud works and why it continues to inspire religious and intellectual devotion. They will be challenged to employ critical reading skills and to analyze legal and historical concepts....

Top reviews

AP

Feb 17, 2019

Great way of introducing a topic as complex as the Talmud. It was surely amazing to have such course instructors who can rarely be matched both in eloquence and erudition. Overall it was fun!

FD

Jan 10, 2021

The choice of material was excellent as was the presentations by both knowledgable instructors.

Would be happy to take additional advanced courses in Talmud skills from them as well.

Filter by:

76 - 100 of 100 Reviews for The Talmud: A Methodological Introduction

By char h

Sep 24, 2020

Very interesting, with great use of the text to illustrate various talmudic methodologies and features. However, PLEASE have someone proofread your captions. They are riddled with errors, including both leaving out Hebrew words and mis-transcribing English words.

By John H

Apr 18, 2020

A fast paced and interesting journey through an example of the subject. Leaves a lot of questions to explore. The only thing I would like to have seen more would have been interaction with other students.

By Charles W

Aug 29, 2017

This is a very well constructed introduction to the Talmud but I think it would be improved if it made more demands on the student in terms of reading assignments and exercises.

By John L

Apr 29, 2019

Very interesting peek into the world of Talmud (and interesting to this non-Jewish student). I like that the Hebrew-reading student can access the original texts too.

By Patrik W

Oct 27, 2020

Informative and deatiled. A bit more practical context for those unfamiliar with the jewish tradition would have helped put this on 5-star level :)

By Lorena W

Apr 22, 2020

I wish there were subtitles in other languages. Some concepts are too complex to understand in a foreign language.

By Ms.Supriya A K

Sep 27, 2020

The course is great and the instructors are superbly skilled people making complex topics easy to understand.

By aviva b

Sep 18, 2016

very interesting, challenging, but I find it hard to understand the intonation (highs and lows) of the ph

By Fr. P G

Jun 14, 2020

Very informative course. I would like to thank the team behind this course, I learned a lot from them.

By Arna G S

Aug 5, 2019

No problem with the course actually. Experienced several technical problems, however.

By Joy S

Jan 7, 2017

Entertaining way of teaching a complex subject

By jeffrey m

Nov 17, 2021

complicated topic,,,but well presented

By Hudson J M d A

Sep 26, 2023

Very informative!

By Paulus C

Mar 14, 2018

G

By Laura Z

Mar 2, 2021

My rating is a hybrid rating reflecting the content vs the course structure. I was looking for something more basic as I knew virtually nothing about the Talmud. I learned that I am not really interested in the intellectual discussions/arguments that are involved in Talmudic study and the detailed discussions in the videos were well beyond what I needed. So I give the content a 2 for me personally. The self-paced format worked for me, the video delivery was fine and I liked being able to download the transcripts and the glossaries. I read through the transcription after watching the videos and noticed that the transcriptions had many errors. Had I not listened to the video first, I would have been confused. I also found that I needed to read the transcript to better understand the content. Video only would not have been sufficient for understanding. I think Sarah's delivery was much more engaging and animated than Prof Wimpfheimer's. I appreciated the opportunity to take the quizzes more than once. While this course was taken purely for my personal interest and i didn't need to "prove" completion/passing, I still wanted to know what the right answers were. I would have liked having an easy way to download the completed quizzes with the questions and the correct answers. Rating of 3 for the format/structure. This was the first online course that i have taken that was not work-related and i plan to see what else is available.

By RICHARD J Y

Feb 3, 2022

Interesting & informative but a bit overwhelming with too many divergent opinions centuries apart. Glad I participated but not sure I fully understood how or if the opinions studied applied practically. Instructors were good & presented the subject matter well, however the plethora of information & constant twists & turns at times lost me.

I still continue to take Coursera courses.

Yoffee

By Leo H

Oct 22, 2018

great presentation with good dive into historical context and thought provoking material. quizzes are too easy, no real "homework" and self study required, which could strengthen the course. Beware that many academic views diverge from traditional Jewish interpretations and opinions accepted in more observant communities and yeshivot.

By Shawn C

Mar 11, 2021

While the content was generally good, some of the explanations were lacking, starting in "the middle" as you say. This is not helped by the poorly edited text that accompanies each lecture. After six years, this should have been fixed. Organization of the material could have been better.

By Natalia B

Jan 31, 2018

The professor is speaking as a robot, and not a human being - reading the text without any emotions, pauses, gesticulations etc, All these are necessary to make the lectures worthwhile watching, otherwise we could just read the text.

By kouassi n c

Sep 15, 2017

c'est bon pour notre propre culture mais il faut arriver à suivre surtout qu'il y a des termes spéciaux à connaître

By Francisco L

Jul 29, 2019

I expected a more general view of the Talmud, I think the course is not for the normal student.

By Jorge R P

Aug 11, 2022

Le falta trabajar sobre la lógica del talmud.

By wads

Jan 6, 2022

Dull as watching paint dry

By Maureen C

Jul 3, 2020

Too technical. Boring.

By Tina D

Sep 23, 2017

The course was read out by the instructors and read out extremely quickly, which is very annoying.