Religious Concepts Flashcards
(100 cards)
1
Q
What are the Reform views of the afterlife? (3)
A
- no resurrection of the dead
- spiritual life after death
- immortality of the soul provided by the divine element of being made in God’s image
2
Q
Paragraph 7 of the Pittsburgh Platform (RJ R the I of BR but A the V that the S is I and the S is D)
A
‘Reform Judaism rejects the idea of bodily resurrection but accepts the view that the soul is immortal and the spirit is divine’
3
Q
What does Vayyitzer mean and what does it indicate?
A
- Formed
- 2 consecutive letters indicates humanity was created with 2 impulses: good and evil
4
Q
What does Yetzer Hatov do?
A
Influences a person to follow the mitzvot and maintain the covenant in spite of temptation
5
Q
When are bar/bat mitzvot celebrated in relation to good/evil?
A
When the age of responsibility over right and wrong is reached
6
Q
What does Yetzer Hara do?
A
Can lead to sin when unrestricted
7
Q
Why is Yetzer Hara not inherently bad?
A
Because it was created by God
8
Q
What is Teshuvah?
A
Return - describes repentance
9
Q
What is the belief about free will in Judaism?
A
Each individual has been given free will to choose between right and wrong, and may repent for transgressions
10
Q
What is Nefesh?
A
Soul
11
Q
What is the Jewish belief about the body and soul?
A
They are separate but coexist
12
Q
Why is the role of the body important?
A
Used to do God’s sacred work and carry out his plan
13
Q
What is Kabbalah and what does it lay out?
A
- Jewish mystic tradition
- 5 levels of the soul
14
Q
What is the role of Nefesh in the Kabbalah?
A
The first level of the soul, represents the ego
15
Q
What is Pikuach Nefesh?
A
Sanctity of life
16
Q
What is the significance of Pikuach Nefesh?
A
It overrides any other mitzvah
17
Q
What does Olam Ha-Ba mean?
A
The world to come (afterlife)
18
Q
Where does thought around the afterlife likely come from in Judaism?
A
Greek thought as there are few details of it in the Torah
19
Q
What is Gan Eden?
A
Paradise
20
Q
What is Gekinnom?
A
Hell
21
Q
What is the key Orthodox belief about resurrection?
A
Believes in resurrection of both body and soul
22
Q
What is important to remember when considering the afterlife in Judaism?
A
That the essence of Judaism is about how a person lives in this life
23
Q
What is the Messianic Age?
A
The coming of a future figure who will signal the end of history and the time of God’s judgement - the dead will rise to live again
24
Q
What is the goal of history?
A
The coming of God’s kingdom
25
What did Maimonides write about resurrection?
Resurrection is of both soul and body
26
What did Hasdai Croscas propose about resurrection?
Due to human duality, both body and soul will be resurrected and duly punished or rewarded
27
What is tzelem?
Image - the nature of essence of being
28
What is believed in Judaism about God's image?
As God is incorporeal, humans cannot be created in God's physical image, instead the essence of humanity is like God
29
What did Maimonides argue about the attributes of God?
God can only be understood in knowing what he is not like - to describe God is to divide subject and predicate which is plurality
30
What is Kavod?
Heavy - energy encountered in moments of revelation
31
Isaiah 6:1
'I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up'
32
What is Shekinah?
Dwelling - divine presence of God in the world and relationship with each individual, the feminine aspect of God
33
What is qodesh?
Holiness, God is separate from evil and deficiency
34
Why is the name Adonai used for God?
The name of God is holy and shouldn't be spoken
35
Give 9 characteristics of God.
1. Omnibenevolent
2. Perfect
3. Just
4. Merciful
5. Creator
6. Incorporeal
7. Eternal
8. Omnipotent
9. Omniscient
36
How do Jews view creation?
As a continuous event that occurs as God pours creative energy into it
37
What does God's incorporeality suggest?
Neither male or female, not bound by the physical world
38
What does the name El Olam mean?
The everlasting
39
How did Abraham come to the conclusion of absolute monotheism?
After a process of elimination, worshipping the sun, moon, stars and air
40
What do Reform Jews believe about the Messianic Age?
It will be a period of peace
41
What does Reform Judaism reject about the Messianic Age?
That it will restore the Jewish state in the God-given land
42
What will determine when the Messianic Age will occur?
Human conduct
43
What are the 2 possibilities for when the Messianic Age will occur?
1. When the world is in a sinful state
2. When the world is most deserving
44
What did Maimonides believe about the establishment of a new world order?
A personal Messiah will restore the Kingdom of David and gather the Jews as a nation - although the course of nature will not be changed and the Jews will not claim superiority over other nations
45
What is the Orthodox belief about the Messianic Age?
A personal Messiah descended from David will come at a time of God's choosing to lead humans back to God, Jerusalem rebuilt and dead resurrected
46
Who do Orthodox Jews believe proceeds the Messiah?
The prophet Elijah
47
What does Messiah mean?
Anointed one
48
What does the Torah teach about the Messianic Age?
No explicit mention
49
What are tefillin?
2 small leather boxes containing passages from the Torah
50
Where are the tefillin worn and why?
- head as a reminder to serve God with the mind
- weaker arm to point towards the heart
51
Why are tefillin worn?
Deuteronomy 6:8, to cultivate holy thoughts and moral actions
52
What is a mezuzah?
A scroll fixed to a doorpost containing passages from the Torah
53
What Torah passages are in a mezuzah?
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:13-21
54
What is the purpose of the mezuzah?
A reminder that everything in the home should be done with respect to God
55
What are tzitzit?
Fringes worn on the corners of garments to remember the commandments
56
What is a tallit?
A shawl worn during prayer
57
Where is the tallit gadd worn?
Around the shoulders
58
Where is the tallit hatan worn and why?
Under clothes - getting dressed becomes a devotional undertaking
59
What is the purpose of the Shema?
Reinforces the covenant daily, provides understanding of what the purpose of life is
60
What does Shema mean?
Hear
61
What is the Shema?
A prayer recited every morning and evening, and at birth and death
62
What are the 3 parts of the Shema?
1. Deuteronomy 6
2. Deuteronomy 11
3. Numbers 15
63
What is the first part of the Shema?
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - declares monotheism and the commandments as the central focus for life
64
What is the second part of the Shema?
Deuteronomy 11:13-21 - declares acceptance of the commandments, reminder of judgement and the impact of human action
65
What is the third part of the Shema?
Number 15:37-42 - specific actions e.g. wearing a tallit
66
It is possible to know God:
1. Covenants and Torah study
2. Via negativa
3. Spiritual experience
67
It is not possible to know God:
1. Transcendent
2. Incomprehensible (ineffable)
3. Via negativa
68
God's characteristics are meaningful:
1. Notions or justice and mercy or meaningful for society
2. God demands people live moral lives
3. Holiness is relevant in reverence towards using the name of God
69
God's characteristics are not meaningful:
1. Scientific understanding denounces characteristics
2. Problem of Evil and Suffering
3. Cannot be fully comprehended
70
The Shema contains the most important beliefs:
1. Unites Jews
2. Sums up the covenant relationship
3. Puts belief into practical action
71
The Shema does not contain the most important beliefs:
1. Subject to adaptation
2. Not precise enough on its own
3. Practical things not adhered to universally
72
The Shema is a precise guide to practice:
1. Reinforces responsibility to God and essence of Jewish belief
2. Practical guide
3. Unites Jewish people
73
The Shema is not a precise guide to practice:
1. Torah and mitzvot are better guides
2. Beliefs and duties have evolved over time
3. Not followed in the same way across denominations
74
The concept of Messiah is a serious belief:
1. Fundamentally held in Orthodox belief
2. Based on covenant relationship
3. Provides an ultimate goal for history
75
The concept of Messiah is not a serious belief:
1. No single, unified notion
2. Reform Judaism denies an individual Messiah, believing they were chosen to spread monotheism
3. More important to focus on this life
76
Beliefs about judgement and afterlife are relevant:
1. Book of Daniel predicts a Day of Judgement and resurrection
2. God punishes and rewards in response to adherence to the mitzvot
3. Prayer for the dead and Yom Kippur suggest the existence of judgement for sins
77
What is El male rachamim?
Prayer for the dead, suggesting the good will live forever and the wicked will suffer torment
78
Beliefs about the afterlife are not relevant:
1. No accepted agreement
2. More important to focus on this life
3. God should be served out of love of truth rather than desire for reward
79
Exodus 20:3
'You shall have no other Gods before me'
80
Incorporeality - Maimonides
'You cannot conceive of Him as having any form because, as stated, He is neither a body or a bodily force'
81
Exodus 13:21
'and the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light'
82
Divine image - Wright
'Human beings are at the apex of creation, because they are alone made in the image of God'
83
Leviticus 19:16
'do not do anything that endangers your neighbour's life'
84
Choice - Luzzatto
'man has the power of choice and is able to choose either side knowingly and willingly'
85
Messianic Age - Talmud
'all prophets prophesy only for the days of the Messiah'
86
Isaiah 2:4
'nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore'
87
David 12:2
'multitudes who sleep in the dust of the Earth will arise: some to eternal life, others to shame and everlasting contempt'
88
Shema - Mintz
'exclusive fidelity to God and God's unity are the 2 major concepts of the Shema'
89
Deuteronomy 6:4
'love your Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength'
90
Deuteronomy 6:9
'tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates'
91
What does Maimonides' 12th Principle state?
The belief in the Messiah is central to Judaism, and is the end of the created world that began in Genesis 1
92
Monotheism - Maimonides
'there is one God... who created all'
93
Daily prayer asserting continuous creation
'He who in his goodness renews the work of creation each day continually'
94
Genesis 16:13
'the Lord who sees'
95
Psalms 5:4
'for you are not a God who delights in wickedness'
96
What is the Shema one of?
The only 2 prayers commanded in the Torah
97
Monotheism - Deuteronomy 6:4
'The Lord, and the Lord alone, is our God'
98
Mezuzot - Deuteronomy 6:9
'you shall write them on your doorframes of your houses and on your gates'
99
When do Orthodox Jews wear tefillin?
Every morning in prayer except on Shabbat
100
What did Saadia write about the duality of humanity?
He wrote that, without the body, the soul would be unable to do the holy redemptive work of carrying out God's sacred plan
