Exam 3 Worship and Ritual Judaism

Question 1

How did the term synagogue evolve?

Answer 1

Communal gathering -> Jewish community itself ->meeting place for Jews -> place of Jewish worship

Question 2

What did the synagogue replace and how?

Answer 2

The temple; sacrifice replaced by prayer

Question 3

What is divine service?

Answer 3

Avodah

Question 4

What was quorum?

Answer 4

An example of male predominance, 10 males required to conduct service.

Question 5

What was the women’s courtyard?

Answer 5

A separate area in the synagogue for women during worship

Question 6

What is the order of ritual prayer?

Answer 6

shahariff -> minhah (only amidah) -> maariv

Question 7

What are the two elements of the obligatory prayers?

Answer 7

1) amidah (eighteen) - standing prayer recited alone quietly then aloud by leader, said to emulate angels
2) (shema) moment of study - recitation of deuteronomy and numbers to demonstrate god’s history of redemptive deeds, performed twice a day

Question 8

What are jewish holidays scheduled according to?

Answer 8

lunar month and year cycles

Question 9

What is Sabbath?

Answer 9

Once a week (Friday - Saturday evening) , a commemoration of god’s rest after creation. Therefore, labour is forbidden.

Question 10

What are the four forbidden groups during Sabbath?

Answer 10

Making bread, clothing, book parchments, or tools
Food is prepared beforehand

Question 11

What are pilgrimage festivals?

Answer 11

Originally sacrificial but replaced by other acts. Adopted from canaanites.

Question 12

What is Pesah and what does is commemorate + how?

Answer 12

Pilgrimage. Spring Passover April - March (7 days). Commemorates exodus with eight days unleavened bread (matzah) elaborate meal following.

Question 13

What is Shavot?

Answer 13

Pilgrimage festival. Weeks in the summer May-June (2 days long). Commemorates the revelation of the torah through reenactment of the Torah’s reception through vigil study, dairy feast.

Question 14

What is Sukkot?

Answer 14

Pilgrimage festival. Tabernacles in Autumn Sept-Oct (8 days). Commemorates 40 years of wondering before entrance into the promised land through construction of small thatch huts.

Question 15

The New Year Cycle.

Answer 15

1) Rosh Hashannah - New Years Day significance is the anniversary of creation that innagurates ten days of penitential prayer.

2) Yom Kippur - Day of Absolution significance is the day when God formally wipes away the past year of sins and renews perfect relationship to Israel.

Question 16

What are the two commemorative celebrations?

Answer 16

1) Chanukkah - commemorates Maccabean liberation of Judea from Syria in 165 BCE, oil burns miracurously to stay for 8 days. Rituals: lighting of menorah candles on each festival night, gifts for children, gambling for small stakes, eating food cooked in oil.
2) Purim - Raffles - commemorates Esther’s bravery and that of her adoptive father Mordecai in reversing plot to destroy Persian Jewry. Rituals: reading the book of Esther to the accompaniment of raucous celebration. A commandment of the day is to become drunk enough to not be able to distinguish between Mordecai and Haman.

Question 16

Describe the Maccabean liberation?

Answer 16

Maccabees rededicated the temple after Syrian domination

Question 17

What are the three Commemorative Fasts?

Answer 17

1) fast of 10 Tevet (Dec-Jan)
2) Fast of 17 Tammuz (July)
3) Fast of 9 AV (July-Aug)
significance is that each fast commemorates historical catastrophes but mainly function to recall the stages of the Babylonian and Roman sieges that destroyed both temples on 9 Av. Rituals: 10 Tevet and 17 Tammuz are daylight fasts, 9 Av is a 25 hour fast including all Yom Kipur prohibitions except that it is a workday. On 9 Av, the book of lamentation is read.

Question 18

What are the Rites of Passage?

Answer 18

1) Circumcision
2) Bar/Batmitzvah
3) Confirmation

Question 19

What are the biblical grounds for circumcision and when/by who is it performed?

Answer 19

It is the first divine command in the torah. Performed by the father or a specialist after morning prayer in the synagogue.

Question 20

What does Elijah’s presence signify?

Answer 20

That he is present in the room during circumcision, often a chair is left out.

Question 21

What does the Bar Mitzvah signify and what are the new privileges?

Answer 21

Legal responsibility and religious maturity at the age Can wear phylacteries during weekday morning prayers and be counted during quorum.

Question 22

What does Confirmation signify?

Answer 22

Supplementary to the Barmitzvah.

Question 23

What is the most transformative approach in modern Judaism?

Answer 23

Reform Judaism, a new conception of religion.

Question 24

Process of Reform Judaism.

Answer 24

moral relationship with god -> minimization of law -> reshaping jewish public expression

Question 25

How did reform judaism reform rituals?

Answer 25

-organ music in the sabbath service
-family worship
-revision/creation of prayer texts
-reforms in circumcision
-increased roles for women