Judaism

Question 1

bar mitzvah

Answer 1

ceremony in which a thirteen-year-old boy be­

comes an adult member of the Jewish community

Question 2

bat mitzvah

Answer 2

equivalent of bar mitzvah ceremony for girls in

Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations

Question 3

circumcision

Answer 3

boys’ initiation ritual that occurs on the eighth day after the birth

Question 4

Conservative Judaism

Answer 4

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 5

covenant

Answer 5

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

Question 6

diaspora

Answer 6

the dispersion of Jews away from the Jewish

homeland, to live as minorities in other lands

Question 7

Exodus

Answer 7

deliverance of Israelites from Egypt under

Moses’ leadership

Question 8

Gemara

Answer 8

comments on the Mishnah; added to the

Mishnah to form the Jewish Talmud

Question 9

Halakhah

Answer 9

Jewish legal tradition based on the Talmud

Question 10

Israel

Answer 10

“he strives with God”; name given to Jacob and there­

after to the covenant people; name of modern Jewish state

Question 11

Messiah

Answer 11

end-time king, descended from King David,

expected to redeem Ismael

Question 12

Mishnah

Answer 12

code of Jewish oral law compiled ca. 200 C.E. by

Judah the Prince; see Talmud

Question 13

mitzvot

Answer 13

commandments given by God

Question 14

Moses

Answer 14

leader of Israel in the Exodus from Egypt and the

founding of the covenant on Mt. Sinai

Question 15

Orthodox Judaism

Answer 15

modern movement continuing a

strict traditional belief in the binding character of the Torah and Halakhah

Question 16

Pesach (Passover)

Answer 16

spring festival commemorating deliv­erance from Egypt

Question 17

prophets

Answer 17

inspired people who spoke God’s word and advocated reforms in Israel, especially from the eighth to the fourth centuries B.C.E.; recorded words of indi­vidual prophets became part of the sacred scripture

Question 18

rabbi

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Rabbinic Judaism

Answer 19

designation for Judaism as it developed

under the teachers of the oral Torah (Talmud)

Question 20

Reform Judaism

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Sabbath

Answer 21

seventh day of the week, sacred day of rest and

study for Jews

Question 22

Shema

Answer 22

statement proclaiming the unity of God, based on
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, beginning, “Hear, 0 Israel, the
Lord our God, the Lord is one”

Question 23

synagogue

Answer 23

Greek term translating Hebrew “house of

assembly”; Jewish place for prayer and study

Question 24

Talmud

Answer 24

Jewish “oral Torah;’ comprised of the Mishnah and

Gemara; exists in a Palestinian and a Babylonian version

Question 25

Tanakh

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Torah

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Yahweh

Answer 27

special covenant name of Israel’s God as it was probably pronounced; written YHWH in the Hebrew scriptures; at a certain point Jews stopped pronouncing this sacred name and substituted the name Adonai

Question 28

Zionism

Answer 28

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