Feast Of Pentecost

Question 1

Akdamut

Answer 1

acrostic poem in the Aramaic language, composed in the eleventh century by Rabbi Meir, praising God and picturing the Messianic future; recited during Pentecost.

Question 2

Rabbi Akiva

Answer 2

Second century rabbi famous for backing Bar-Kochba’s rebellion against Rome 132–135 A.D. and declaring Bar-Kochba to be the Messiah.

Question 3

Atzeret

Answer 3

“withdrawal, conclusion.”A rabbinic name for Pentecost, suggesting that Pentecost concludes the season that began with Passover. The term is, however, used in the Bible in relation to the final days of Passover and Tabernacles.

Question 4

Aviv

Answer 4

the older name for the spring month in which Passover falls; today called Nisan.

Question 5

Baitusim (Boethusians)

Answer 5

a group related to the Sadducees, or perhaps another name for the Sadducees themselves; they disputed the Pharisees regarding the correct date for Pentecost.

Question 6

Bar Mitzvah/ Bat Mitzvah:

Answer 6

the coming-of-age ceremony for a boy at age thirteen (bar mitzvah) and for a girl at twelve (bat mitzvah).

Question 7

Bikkurim

Answer 7

firstfruits.

Question 8

Challah

Answer 8

a loaf of bread traditionally braided; used on Sabbath and other holiday occasions.

Question 9

Etz Chaim

Answer 9

“tree of life.”

Question 10

Hag ha-Bikkurim

Answer 10

“Day of the Firstfruits,” the name of Pentecost in Numbers 28: 26–31.

Question 11

Hag ha-Katzir

Answer 11

“Festival of the Harvest,” the name of Pentecost in Exodus 23: 16.

Question 12

Hag ha-Shavuot

Answer 12

“Festival of Weeks,” the name of Pentecost in Exodus 34: 22, Deuteronomy 16: 10, 16, which gives the holiday its most usual Hebrew name, “Shavuot” or “Weeks.”

Question 13

Hasidim

Answer 13

Plural of Hasid; ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Hasidic Jews; adjective, Hasidic.

Question 14

Kabbalah

Answer 14

a system of Jewish mysticism that developed from medieval times onward. Kabbalah holds to ideas quite foreign to the Bible, such as reincarnation, and the idea that God exists in ten emanations (called sefirot—not to be confused with Sefirat ha-Omer). The chief textbook of Kabbalah is the Zohar (see that entry). Many Hasidim embrace the Kabbalah, and as a sort of Jewish “New Age”movement, it has enjoyed a recent resurgence in pop culture.

Question 15

Eleazar Kalir

Answer 15

medieval liturgical poet (also variously Eliezer Kalir or ben Kalir). His poems and hymns are often included in the prayers recited on various Jewish holidays.

Question 16

Ketubah (plural, ketubot)

Answer 16

a Jewish marriage contract.

Question 17

Lag Ba’Omer

Answer 17

the 33rd day of the omer period; on this day the mourning practices that characterize the omer period are lifted.

Question 18

Manna

Answer 18

the miraculous bread that God sent from heaven in the wilderness, first mentioned in Exodus 16: 31.

Question 19

Omer

Answer 19

literally, a “sheaf” originally referred to the sheaf offered as firstfruits, but today is more generally used of the entire forty-nine-day period between Passover and Pentecost.

Question 20

Oral Law

Answer 20

Orthodox Judaism believes that along with the written Law (as found in the first five books of the Old Testament, the Torah), God also gave the inspired interpretation of the written Law. This interpretation was passed down orally until finally written down in the third-sixth century A.D.

Question 21

Pentecost

Answer 21

“fiftieth,” the Greek (and New Testament) name of the festival referring to the fiftieth day after the first day of Passover (Leviticus 23: 16). Though today most Jews refer to the holiday by its Hebrew name of “Shavuot,” older Jewish writers also often called it “Pentecost.”

Question 22

Pogrom

Answer 22

an organized, violent attack on Jewish communities, resulting in destruction of property as well as deaths. Mostly used of attacks on the Jewish villages (shtetls) of Eastern Europe over the past several centuries, but sometimes used of such catastrophes in other times and places.

Question 23

Reyzelakh

Answer 23

papercuts designed to look like foliage or flowers; literally, “little roses.”

Question 24

Sefirat ha-Omer

Answer 24

the counting of the omer whereby each day of the omer period is counted off until its conclusion.

Question 25

Shavuot

Answer 25

“weeks,” the most common Hebrew name for the holiday.

Question 26

Simeon bar Yohai

Answer 26

a student of Rabbi Akiva (see entry under Akiva) and the traditional (though not actual) author of the Zohar (see entry); mystically inclined Jews celebrate at his grave site on Lag Ba’Omer.

Question 27

Sivan

Answer 27

the month of the Hebrew calendar in which Pentecost falls.

Question 28

Talmud

Answer 28

the written compilation of commentary, legal discussion, and folklore that was produced from the third to the sixth century A.D. Orthodox Jews believe that the Talmud comprises the divine interpretation of the Torah (see Oral Law). The Talmud consists of two parts: the shorter Mishnah, compiled around 200 A.D., and the much longer Gemara, which exists in two versions, Babylonian and Palestinian, compiled third-sixth century A.D.

Question 29

Tikkun leil Shavuot

Answer 29

the custom of staying up all night on the eve of Pentecost to study Scripture and traditional Jewish writings.

Question 30

Vilna Gaon

Answer 30

Eighteenth century rabbinic sage who called for the abolition of using foliage during Pentecost as too close to Christian traditions; “gaon”literally means “genius”and was a title applied to a number of sages in Jewish history.

Question 31

Yom ha-Atzma’ut

Answer 31

Israel Independence Day.

Question 32

Yom ha-Shoah

Answer 32

Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Question 33

Yom ha-Zikkaron

Answer 33

Memorial Day; commemorating Israeli soldiers who have fallen in war.

Question 34

Yom Yerushalayim

Answer 34

Jerusalem Day.

Question 35

Z’man Mattan Toratenu

Answer 35

“the season of the giving of our Law,” a traditional Jewish name for Pentecost.

Question 36

Zohar

Answer 36

central book of Jewish mysticism (see Kabbalah), actually originating in medieval times but traditionally held to be authored by Simeon bar Yochai in the second century A.D.