Judaism

Question 1

Ba’al

Answer 1

fertility god of the ancient Canaanites

Question 2

bar mitzvah

Answer 2

ceremony in which a 13 year old boy becomes an adult member of the Jewish community

Question 3

bat mitzvah

Answer 3

equivalent pf bar mitzvah ceremony for girls in Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations

Question 4

circumcision

Answer 4

boys’ initiation ritual that occurs on the 8th day after birth and is called brit milah (covenant of circumcision)

Question 5

Conservative Judaism

Answer 5

movement attempting to adapt Judaism to modern life by using principles of change within the traditional laws; occupies middle ground between Reform and Orthodox Judaism

Question 6

covenant (berith)

Answer 6

relationship between God and Israel, enacted on Mt. Sinai, based on Israel’s acceptance of God’s Torah

Question 7

diaspora

Answer 7

the dispersion of Jews away from the Jewish homeland, to live as minorities in other lands

Question 8

dietary law

Answer 8

Jewish laws pertaining to the proper preparation and eating of food

Question 9

Essenes

Answer 9

ascetic Jewish movement around the Dead Sea area from the second century - first century B.C.E

Question 10

Exile

Answer 10

The Jewish captivity in Babylon, especially from the fall of Jerusalem in 589 B.C.E until the first return of Jerusalem in 538 B.C.E

Question 11

Exodus

Answer 11

deliverance of Israelites from Egypt under Moses’ leadership

Question 12

Gemara

Answer 12

Comments on the Mishnah, added to the Mishnah to form the Jewish Talmud

Question 13

ghetto

Answer 13

special Jewish quarter in certain European cities

Question 14

Halakhah

Answer 14

Jewish legal tradition based on the Talmud

Question 15

Hanukkah

Answer 15

festival of lights in December, celebrating rededication of the temple in Maccabean times

Question 16

Hasidim

Answer 16

Popular mystical and devotional Jewish movement beginning in the 17th century in eastern Europe

Question 17

Hebrews

Answer 17

ancestors of the Israelites

Question 18

Israel

Answer 18

“he strives with God”, name given to Jacob and thereafter to the covenant people
name of modern Jewish state

Question 19

Kabbalah

Answer 19

“tradition” especially the medieval mystical Jewish tradition, of which the Zohar is a central text

Question 20

Karaites

Answer 20

Jewish sect that rejected oral Torah (Talmud), relying on scripture alone

Question 21

kashrut

Answer 21

ritual fitness, suitable for use according to Jewish law; applies especially to dietary laws, what foods can and cannot be eaten, and how to prepare them.

Question 22

Maimonides

Answer 22

great medieval Jewish philosopher 1135 - 1204

Question 23

Marranos

Answer 23

Spanish Jews who were outwardly Christianized but many of whom secretly continued Jewish tradition

Question 24

Masada

Answer 24

Mountain fortress near the Dead Sea where Jewish Zealots made a last stand against the Romans

Question 25

Mendelssohn, Moses

Answer 25

Jewish Enlightenment thinker 1729 - 1786

Question 26

Messiah

Answer 26

end-time king, descended from King David, expected to redeem Ismael

Question 27

Mishnah

Answer 27

code of Jewish oral law complied ca. 200 c.e. by Judah the Prince

Question 28

mitzvot

Answer 28

commandments given by God

Question 29

Moses

Answer 29

leader of Israel in the Exodus from Egypt and the founding of the covenant on Mt. Sinai

Question 30

Orthodox Judaism

Answer 30

modern movement continuing a strict traditional belief in the binding character of the Torah and Halakhah

Question 31

Pesach (Passover)

Answer 31

spring festival commemorating deliverance from Egypt

Question 32

Pharisees

Answer 32

party in ancient Judaism teaching the oral Torah along with the written Torah, resurrection of the body, and application of the law in everyday life

Question 33

prophets

Answer 33

inspired people who spoke God's word and advocated reforms in Israel, especially from the 8th - 4th cent. B.C.E; recorded words of individual profits prophets became part of the sacred scripture

Question 34

Purim

Answer 34

early spring festival remembering events of the Book of Esther

Question 35

rabbi

Answer 35

"my master" title for teacher of the law; spiritual leader of a congregation

Question 36

Rabbinic Judaism

Answer 36

designation for Judaism as it developed under the teachers of the oral Torah

Question 37

Reconstructionist Judaism

Answer 37

modern movement founded by Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1982), emphasizing Judaism as a civilization

Question 38

Reform Judaism

Answer 38

modern movement attempting to conform tradition to conditions of modern life, allowing changes in the Halakah

Question 39

Rosh Hashanah

Answer 39

Jewish New Year, first day of Tishri; beginning of High Holy Days

Question 40

Sabbath

Answer 40

seventh day of the week, sacred day of rest and study for Jews

Question 41

Sadducees

Answer 41

conservative party of temple priests and sympathizers in ancient Judaism who rejected the oral Torah and the idea of the resurrection

Question 42

Shavuot

Answer 42

Feast of Weeks, commemorating the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai

Question 43

Shema

Answer 43

statement proclaiming the unity of God

Question 44

Sukkot

Answer 44

Feast of Booths, autumn harvest festival

Question 45

synagogue

Answer 45

Greek term translating Hebrew "House of Assembly"; Jewish place for prayer and study

Question 46

Talmud

Answer 46

Jewish "oral Torah" comprised of the Mishnah and Gemara; exists in a Palestinian and a Babylonian version

Question 47

Tanakh

Answer 47

Hebrew scriptures comprised of the Torah (the Pentateuch), Nevi'im (the Prophets), and Khetuvim (The Writings)

Question 48

Torah

Answer 48

first five books in the Hebrew scriptures; also the whole of scripture; also the whole corpus of revelation, including oral Torah

Question 49

Yahweh

Answer 49

special covenant name of Israel's God as it was probably pronounced; written YHWH in the Hebrew scriptures

Question 50

Yom Kippur

Answer 50

Jewish Day of Atonement on the tenth of Tishri, a solemn day of repentance

Question 51

Zealots

Answer 51

Jewish religious party in the Roman period that advocated resistance to Roman occupation

Question 52

Zionism

Answer 52

modern movement to secure a Jewish homeland in Palestine, which led to the formation of the state of Israel