Judaism Study Guide

Hanukkah

("festival of lights") celebrates one of the great military victories in Jewish history. ________ is an eight-day celebration. Its main ritual is the lighting of one additional candle of a _________ menorah each evening.

land of Israel

- also known as Canaan, the Promised Land, Judea, Palestine, and the state of Israel, is of great significance to the Jewish people. -The land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants is "flowing with milk and honey." -It is holy ground

bimah

The elevated platform in a Jewish synagogue where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the service

Torah

The first component of the Hebrew Bible is the _____, or the first five books comprising Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Talmud

Two long collections of Jewish religious literature that are commentaries on the Mishnah, the Hebrew code of laws that emerged about 200 CE.

Sukkot

is another festival during the Tishri cycle. It is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. (______ means "booths"). ______ begins five days after Yom Kippur and lasts for eight days. ______ commemorates the time when the Jews were in the desert for forty years and later when in Israel, they had to protect themselves from the elements during harvest. To do so they built covered huts or booths. With this protection from the weather, Jews also came to understand that God alone was their great protector. ______ also marks the end of the fruit harvest season, especially the harvest for grapes used for making wine.

Rosh Hashanah

is celebrated on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishri (September or October on the Roman Calendar). is also the day that Jews believe God judges each individual for his or her actions of the previous year.

Tishvi cycle

is named for the first month of the cycle (occurring in September or October) and contains, besides Rosh Hashanah, the festivals of Yom Kippur and Sukkot.

Nisan cycle

is the first month of the spring cycle. The name "_____" comes from the Sumerian word for "first fruits". The _____ _____ contains two festivals, Pesach and Shavuot.

mezuzah

meaning "doorpost," a small parchment containing Jewish scripture, usually the Sh'ma, that is placed in a case on or near the right doorframe at the home of an observant Jew.

Shavuot

means "week" in Hebrew; is celebrated fifty days after the first day of Pesach, so some see _______ as the conclusion of Passover that was originally a harvest festival celebrating first fruits of the wheat harvest, but is now associated with the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai

Pesach

retells the story of the Exodus, the first major feast of the Nisan cycle. is more commonly known as Passover, celebrating the Hebrews' freedom from Egyptian slavery when the angel of death "passed over" the houses of the Hebrews that were marked with the blood of the lamb.

monotheistic

subscribing to the doctrine or belief that there is only one God

Festivals and Holy Days

the major Jewish festivals are divided into two main cycles: the Tishri cycle in the fall and the Nisan cycle in the spring.

covenant

A binding and solemn agreement between human beings or between God and people, holding each to a particular course of action.

Havdalah

A religious ceremony that symbolically ends the Shabbat usually recited over kosher wine or kosher grape juice. Sabbath ends at sunset Saturday.

Biblical Period

-A history of Judaism finds the Jewish people on the move or controlled by foreign governments much of the time. -the ________ ______ often begins with Abraham (ca. 1800 BCE) and concludes the death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE). -God's promise that Abraham and Sarah would have a son and that Abraham would be the "father of all nations" was fulfilled. -In Canaan, the habiru, or Hebrews, formed nomadic tribes. -In approximately 1250 BCE Moses freed the Hebrew people from Egyptian bondage and led them back to Canaan, known to the Hebrew people as the Promised Land. -The Hebrew people became a confederation of tribes and began to establish a powerful kingdom around 1050 BCE under the leadership of Kings Saul, David, and Solomon. -A temple was built in Jerusalem under the patronage of David's son Solomon. -Thus, Jerusalem became the political and religious center of the Hebrew people and remained so for almost one thousand years. -During this time, the oral tradition of the Hebrew people began to be transcribed into what became known as the Torah, a word meaning "law" or "instruction."

Rabbinic Period

-A second major historical period of Judaic history -Also known as Classical Judaism, this historical period began in 323 BCE, the year Alexander the Great died. -The closing of the period may be dated 625 CE, the year Jerusalem fell to the Islamic army coming out of the Arabian Peninsula. -By the end of this era, many Jews found themselves living in a world that was both Christian and Muslim.

Dead Sea Scrolls

-Between 1947 and 1956 thousands of fragments of biblical and early Jewish documents were discovered in eleven caves near the site of Khirbet Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea. These important texts have revolutionized our understanding of the way the Bible was transmitted and have illuminated the general cultural and religious background of ancient Palestine, out of which both Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity arose. -These writings, which became known as the ____ ___ _______, indicated the monastic nature of the Essenes and their scrupulosity for the Law.

Medieval Period

-During the -------- ------ (638-1783 CE) the Diaspora was moving farther away from Palestine. -The -------- ------ was also marked by Jewish persecution.

Idolatry

-Giving worship to something or someone other than one, true God. -As the kingdoms weakened due to the sin of idolatry, Israel and Judah became more vulnerable to outside threats.

Hellonization

-The adoption of Greek ways and speech as happened in the case of Jews living in Diaspora. -The original conquests of Alexander the Great had lasting repercussions and resulted in the ________________ of much of the known world.

Nevi'im

-The second component of the of the Hebrew Bible is the ______, or prophets. -This includes the three Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, as well as the twelve Minor Prophets, such as Hosea and Amos.

Ketuvim

-The third component of the Hebrew Bible is _______, or writings. -This section includes such writings as Job, Psalms, and Proverbs.

Midrash

-The type of biblical interpretation found in rabbinic literature, especially the Talmuds. - _______ assumes that the scriptures provide answers for every situation and every question in life. -_______ is a way of interpreting the biblical text.

Diaspora

-Through foreign occupation and conquest over a number of centuries, the Jews found themselves driven from their homeland. -This growing number of Jews not living in Judea as the area around southern Palestine came to be called was known as _______, for they were dispersed from their land.

Ark

-a repository traditionally in or against the wall of a synagogue for the scrolls of the Torah -when not in use, the scrolls are kept in a specially made place within the synagogue

Jerusalem

-is a holy city for each of the three religions that traces its roots to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity and Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -For Jews, however, Jerusalem is the holiest city; there is no other. -It is in Jerusalem where the foundations of Mount Moriah the spiritual center of the universe- once stood.

Shabbat

-the Jewish Sabbath, is a weekly event -is celebrated from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday -Friday evenings is the ________ dinner, a family ritual that ushers in the Sabbath. -On this holiest day of the week, observing Jews refrain from work, attend synagogue services, and study the Torah.

Purim

-translates to "feast of lots" -celebrates the victory of Jews living in Persia in the fifth century BCE over Haman, the prime minister of Persia -The feast of lots refers to the lots Haman randomly cast to determine which day he would slaughter the Jews.

Hasidism

From the Hebrew meaning "pious," a movement within Judaism founded in eighteenth-century Poland where pious devotion to God is as important as study of Torah.

halakhic

From the Hebrew meaning "way", Jewish law that covers all aspects of the life of an individual and of the community.

kosher

From the Hebrew word kaser, meaning "proper." Commonly, it refers to food permitted by Jewish dietary laws. Jews observe kosher laws to remind themselves that they are to be a holy and separate people.

Zionism

From the name Zion (the historic land of Israel), it is the movement with origins in the nineteenth century that sought to restore a Jewish homeland in Palestine in response to anti-Semitism.

rabbi

Hebrew for "My Master" or "My Teacher." A ------became known as someone who was authorized to teach and judge in matters of Jewish law.

Tanakh

Jews tend to call the Bible the ______, an acronym for three divisions of the Hebrew Bible.

Modern Period

The Age of Enlightenment, a philosophical movement of the eighteenth century that emphasized the use of reason to analyze previously accepted doctrines and tradition, ushered in the ------ ------ (1783 CE-present).

Holy of Holies

The sanctuary inside the tabernacle in the Temple of Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.

mitzvot

a commandment of the Jewish law

synagogue

the temple in Jerusalem was the center of Jewish worship for centuries. The Temple was where the ritual sacrifice of animals, the main expression of worshiping God, took place. /became multidimensional/ it was a house of prayer (where Jews address God), a House of study (where Jews study the Torah), and a House of Assembly (where Jews meet socially).

Yom Kippur

which means "Day of Atonement" generally accepted as the holiest day of the year for Jews, is a day of prayer, fasting, and repentance.