Judaism

Question 1

What are 10 Holy Days of Judaism?

Answer 1

1. Rosh Hashanah - New Years, time to reflect on who you were and decide who you would like to become. Commemorates creation.
2. 10 days of awe - days to repent/follow through on ‘resolutions’ leading to…
3. Yom Kippur - Day of Repentance, completes high holy days. High priest enters temple and pronounces name of YHWH to ask forgiveness for the sins of the people
4. Sukkot - fall harvest festival. Build and dwell in booth for 7 days. Commemorates journey out of Egypt. Shake the Lulav and Etrog in 6 directions praising God. Sometimes offered water. Made merry.
5. Hanukah - Near winter solstice. Feast of dedication. Commemorates Maccabean Rebellion and 8 days of light from the menorah.
6. Purim - Spring. Commemorates legend of Esther. Roudy celebration.
7. Pesach - Passover. Spring. Commemorates deliverance from Egypt and new life. Begin with Sedar Dinner with eating unleavened bread (urgency), bitter herbs (slavery), charoset (sweet fruit and nuts, like mortar of brick), and saltwater (tears of slaves) which they dipped parsley or some other plant in to (new life).
8. Holocaust Memorial Day - April/May. Country wide minute of silence.
9. Shauvot - early summer. Identified with giving of Torah to Moses at Sinai and the people hearing God’s voice. Some bring first fruits to God and some read 10 commandments and present Torah like marriage contract between God and Israel.
10. Mourning - Three weeks of mourning for the temples. Both temples destroyed in july or august.

Question 2

What is Judaism?

Answer 2

1. One of the first monotheistic religions (several other examples of monolatrism)
2. A covenant based religion (Noah, Abraham, Moses)
3. NOT the Christian understanding of Judaism

Question 3

Jewish Time Periods (3)

Answer 3

1. Ancient
2. First temple (10th to 6th century BCE)
3. Second temple (6th century BCE to 70 CE)

Question 4

Timeline of Crises (6)

Answer 4

1. A split with Christianity: Pauline Christians and Jewish Christians
2. The destruction of the temple in 70 CE
3. Diaspora (scattering), persecution
4. Anti-Semitism and “the teaching of contempt,” the Shoah (Holocaust)
5. How would any group or church manage to survive if 1/3 of its members were suddenly exterminated?
6. LDS-Jewish relations (BoM, BYU Jer., temple)

Question 5

Who is a Jew? (4)

Answer 5

1. Ancient Jews
   - Hebrews, Israelites, Jews (after Babylon)
2. Ethnic Jews (Halachic)
   - Your mother is a Jew
   - Ashkenazi and Sephardic
3. National Jews (Presently Israeli)
   - Grandparent is a Jew
   - Zionism
4. Religious Jews
   - Varies depending on the denomination. Circumcision is the common identifying mark of the covenant.

Question 6

Ashkenazi Jews

Answer 6

Jews of European descent. They preserve Palestinian rather than Babylonian Jewish traditions. Some still speak Yiddish. More than 80% of Jews today are Ashkenazim.

Question 7

Sephardic Jews

Answer 7

Jews of the Middle East or North Africa.

Question 8

Major Jewish groups of present (4)

Answer 8

Post-enlightenment groups

1. Orthodox (Umbrella term): Nothing should change even though the world has
2. Conservative - Agrees in the need to adapt, but feels they have gone too far
3. Reform - Need to adapt to new world
4. Others include:
   Hasidic (Mystic Emphasis), ultra-orthodox, secular, reconstructionis, messianic (Christian)

Question 9

New Testament Jews

Answer 9

1. Pharisees (Rabbis)
2. Sadducees (Priests)
3. Essenes (broke off and left to the desert, dead sea scrolls)
4. Zealots (nationalists)

Question 10

What are 3 definitions of Torah?

Answer 10

1. Pentateuch
2. The Whole Hebrew Bible
3. The Whole Law (corresponds with LDS use of the term gospel)

Question 11

Explain the Written Torah and Oral Torah

Answer 11

1. Written Torah
   - Tanak (Hebrew Bible), Midrash Commentary
2. Oral Torah
   - Mishnah, (Commentary is Gemara) Legal type stuff
   - Talmud = Mishhan + Gemara

* Oral Torah includes all commentaries.

Question 12

Beliefs (8)

Answer 12

1. Writings and Traditions = Central authority
   - not an individual (no prophet figure)
   - absence of unifying creed
2. Orthopraxy over Orthodoxy
   - More focused on correct conduct, litergy and ethics; than faith, grace and rituals
3. YHWH is Non-anthropomorphic
   - not like man
4. Reason
   - reason is the ‘image’ of God in us
5. No Mediator
   - No need for mediation between God and man. He is omniscient.
6. Free Will
   - rooted in dual tendency to do good and evil
   - Satan is not personified.
   - Didn’t talk too much about afterlife. Focus on good you can do today.
7. Mashiach
   - Messiah is a righteous King who rules according to Jewish Law. Jesus was didn’t fit the definition.
8. Soteriology? (doctrine of salvation through Jesus Christ)

Question 13

13 Principles of the Faith

Answer 13

1. The Creator is Author and Guide of everything that exists.
2. The Creator is One; His unity is unlike that of anything else; He is our God and exists eternally.
3. The Creator has no body or physical characteristics, and cannot be compared with anything that exists.
4. The Creator is first and last of all beings.
5. It is right to pray to the Creator, but to no other being.
6. All the words of the prophets are true.
7. The prophecy of Moses is true, and He was the father (that is, the greatest) of all prophets, both before and after Him.
8. The Torah now in our possession is that given to Moses.
9. The Torah will not be changed, nor will the Creator give any other Torah.
10. The Creator knows the deeds and thoughts of people.
11. He rewards those who keep His commandments, and punishes those who disobey.
12. Though the Messiah delay, one must constantly expect His coming.
13. The dead will be resurrected.

Question 14

The Philidelpia Platform of Reformed Judaism

Answer 14

• Jews are for the Union of All
  
  • The Messianic aim of Israel is not the restoration of the old Jewish state under a descendant of David…but the union of all the children of God in the confession of the unity of God
• Jews are like Leaven
  
  • The destruction of 2nd Jewish commonwealth was not punishment, but so Jews could be like leaven
• The Aaronic priesthood and Mosaic sacrifices were preparatory to the real priesthood of the whole people
• No foundation for resurrection of body
• Continue to learn Hebrew, but pray in a language all will understand

Question 15

Practices (8)

Answer 15

1. Prayer
   - 3 times a day (need minyan or a quorum to pray in a group at synogague)
2. Shema (Deut. 6:4)
   - Confession of the faith.
   - “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord”
3. The Amidah
   - (19 benedictions)
4. Shabbath
   - Friday night to Saturday night
5. Fastings
6. Circumcision
7. Bar/Bat Mitzvah
   - bat mitzvah is only reform groups
   - come of age, can be counted in Minyan
   - You are choosing Judaism as an individual
8. Festivals

Question 16

Items for Worship

Answer 16

Question 17

Joyous Festivals

Answer 17

Pesach (Passover)

Shavuot (Pentecost)

Sukkot (Tabernacles)

Question 18

What are the lulav and the esrogg?

Answer 18

lulave: palm branch, symbolizes the spine. It is shaken in six different directions with the myrtle leaf, willow leaf, and esrogg. Each thing represents a different part of the body. The myrtle leaf represents the eyes, that we see in God. The willow leaf represents our lips. The Esrogg represents our heart. It comes from a quote in psalms that says to worship God with our very bones. Shaking all of these means that we worship God with our whole bodies.

Esrogg: Like a lemon. A citris that represents our heart.

Question 19

Give a Historical Overview

Answer 19

1. Ancient:
   - Jews are in Egypt since Jacob and sons, Led out by Moses. Conquered Canaan.
2. First Temple:
   - Solomon’s temple built. (Materials gathered by King David)
   - Kingdom split into Ephraim and Judah
   - Assyria conquers and scatters Ephraim
3. Second Temple:
   - Babylon conquers and scatters Judah
   - King Cyrus (Zoroastryan) allows Jews to return 50 years after capture. Those who remained practiced diaspora.
   - Antiochus rules 175-164 BCE.
   - Macabean Rebellion (Hanukah) 164 BCE
   - Emergence of: Sadducee, Pharisee, and Essenes. Years later the Zealots.
4. Rabbinic Judaeism:
   - Divide with Christianity
   - Destruction of temple (no temples, no priests. Bye bye Sadducees) Rabbanic Judaeism gains precedence.
   - Synagogues, and Minyans emerge. Study of scripture gains importance, Halakhah and Haggadah.
   - 200 AD Judah the Prince compiles the Mishnah. Talmud came forth after.
5. Middle Ages (still Rabbinic):
   - Diasapora becomes more prevalent, Jews forced to places like the Roman Empire and Baghdad. They become bankers and craftsmen by trade because of facility of languages.
   - Period of Peace with Muslims, for a while they were accepted and protected by Muslims. Creativity was encouraged.
   - Muslims and Jews Slaughtered in Europe (inquisitions?). Fled to places like Poland.
6. Modernity:
   - The Enlightenment, got rid of ghettos and other social injustices. Questioning the Torah began.
   - Holocaust: killed 1/3 of all European Jews.