Judaism Discussion Questions

Question 1

In what way are the ancient figures of Abraham and Sarah important for the Jewish sacred story?

Answer 1

In this story god took steps to initiate in human history a new design, focused on Abraham and Sarah and
their descendants as a great nation with a land given to them by God, who would bring a blessing to all
the families of the earth through them. God made a covenant with Abraham, giving him children in his
old age. First Hagar, servant of his wife Sarah, bore him Ishmael, and then Issac was born from Sarah, the
ancestress of the people of Israel. As the sign of the covnant, God instituted the ritual of circumcision for
Abraham and his descendants. He was willignto sacrifice his son to God when god asked him to and in
the end god provided a ram to be sacrificed in place of issac and since then Abraham has been the
model of jewish faithfulness to god in all situations.

Question 2

Describe the Exodus and the covenant at Mt. Sinai. How do these events of long ago still provide
identity for Jews today?

Answer 2

God heard the people cry out in their slavery and he remembered his covenant with Abraham Issac and
with Jacob, then the Exodus began as God called Moses to free this people. Yahweh commanded Moses
with his brother aaron to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt and to bring them back to worship at this
wilderness mountain after they escaped from Egypt. When the pharaoh resisted Moses’ demand to let
the Hebrew slaves go God brought a series of terrible plagues ending with the destruction of all the
firstborn of the Egyptians, after then the Pharoah relented, this “night of watching” has ever since been
celebrated in the passpver (pesach) festival. This festival was to be kept from genereation to generation
where they slughter an unblemished lamb paint the door posts with its blood and eat it in a posture of
haste, so all future generations could reexperience the great deliverance of the Exodus. God brought
them to Mt Sinai through the red sea. At mt sinai god (Yahweh) spoke to moses and through moses to
the people of Israel, the whole torah, the laws and comandments and would form the basis of life for the
people of Israel. The revelation of the torah on mt sinai climaxed with the making of the covenant with
the people of Israel. The covenant god made with them was a two-way contract, god would be their god,
bringing them to the promised land, protecting then, they would be holy people, serving only Yahweh of
all gods and obeying the commandments.

Question 3

How was the covenant relationship between Israel and their God different from the way other
peoples of the ancient Near East understood their relationship to their gods?

Answer 3

The relationship between Yahweh and the people of Israel contrasts with religions of the other peoples
of the ancient near east as a cosmic type of religioni prevailed with many gods in charge of the different
forces of nature, it was the power of these gods that made the cosmos a functioning world and the role
of humans was to serve the gods responding to their will entreating them to act favourably

Question 4

In what ways does the history of ancient Israel reflect the sense of a covenant “struggle”
between Israel and God?

Answer 4

The struggle happened as Israelities were not faithful to Yahweh at all times and so he punished them
but also brought them back

Question 5

Explain how the development of Israel into a kingdom brought about religious changes. What
was the significance of the idea of the messiah?

Answer 5

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Question 6

Explain the role of the prophets in Israel. What was the special message of the prophet we call
Second Isaiah?

Answer 6

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Question 7

Why may Ezra be called the “founder” of Judaism?

Answer 7

Ezra led a large body of exiles back to Jerusalem, where he discovered that Jewish men had been
marrying non-Jewish women. He help create Rabbinic Judaism emphasizing the study of the torah
replacing sacrificial rituals performed at the temple which no longer existed

Question 8

What is the origin of the oral Torah (the Mishnah and Talmud), and what is its significance in
Judaism?

Answer 8

Belief that at least portions of the Oral Torah were transmitted orally from God to Moses on
Mount Sinai during the Exodus from Egypt. The Talmud is the source from which the
code of Jewish Halakhah (law) is derived. It is made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara. The
Mishnah is the original written version of the oral law and the Gemara is the record of the
rabbinic discussions following this writing down. It includes their differences of view. The Talmud
contains the history of the Jewish religion, as well as their laws and beliefs. … The Torah
is basically the Hebrew Bible – it contains the 613 commandments, and is the whole context
of Jewish laws and traditions. Some people may say that the Torah is the Old Testament.

Question 9

How would you characterize Jewish life under Muslim rule?

Answer 9

Both religions shared monotheistic views so they tolerated each other’s existence

• CHECK

Question 10

Do you think there is any relationship between Christian treatment of the Jews in the Medieval
period and the Holocaust in the Nazi era? Explain.

Answer 10

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Question 11

In the midst of persecutions, in what ways did Jewish life flourish in eastern Europe?

Answer 11

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Question 12

What do you think are the strong points of each of the modern American Jewish movements for
presenting a viable and strong Judaism for the modern age?

Answer 12

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Question 13

Why do Jews living throughout the world think preserving the state of Israel is an essential
mission for Judaism today?

Answer 13

Promised land

Question 14

What possible approaches do you see to the problem of interfaith marriage?

Answer 14

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Question 15

In what ways does the conflict in the Middle East raise religious concerns for Jews today?

Answer 15

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Question 16

In what ways was the religion of the ancient Israelites polytheistic and henotheistic? Outline the
development of monotheism.

Answer 16

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Question 17

What is the Shema, and why is it so important for Jews?

Answer 17

The Shema is regarded by many Jews as the most important prayer in Judaism. This is
because it reminds them of the key principle of the faith - there is only one God. This is a
monotheistic principle. This part of the Shema is taken from the Torah : Hear O Israel, the Lord
our God, the Lord is One

Question 18

Discuss how, in Jewish experience, God is both transcendent and immanent in the world.

Answer 18

Immanent - God is active and ‘in the world’ today. Transcendent - God is also ‘outside the
world’. God is not active in human affairs. It is up to humans to act in the world on God’s behalf.

Question 19

What are some responses to the problem of evil and suffering according to Jewish thought?
What is the impact of the Holocaust on this question for modern Jews?

Answer 19

Most Jews believe that everything God does is for good. From a human perspective,
some actions might seem evil, but they trust that whatever happens on Earth is
ultimately according to God’s plan, which is good.
There are many Jewish responses to the problem of evil and suffering.
The Tenakh teaches that suffering can be a punishment for sins.
The Tenakh teaches that suffering can be part of a test from God of a person’s
faith and to see if they will freely follow God’s commandments. Passing the test
means they will be rewarded in this life or after death.
Jews believe suffering can bring people closer to God. In times of trouble many
people turn to religion for comfort and support.
Some Jews believe suffering helps people to empathise with others and to assist
them when necessary.
Suffering cannot be understood by humans; this particularly relates to the
suffering Jewish people endured during the Holocaust or Shoah. However,
Jews believe they must do all they can to overcome and relieve suffering.

Question 20

What does the creation liturgy of Genesis I reveal about the nature of the world and of humans?

Answer 20

Genesis 1 - it states that animals, and finally humans, were created on day six. Genesis 2 -
it implies that humans were created before animals.
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth

Question 21

Is the Torah universal truth? What is the traditional idea about the Seven Commandments of the
Children of Noah? What is the fate of people who are not Jews?

Answer 21

According to the Jewish law, non-Jews (gentiles) are not obligated to convert to Judaism, but they are
required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah to be assured of a place in the World to Come ( Olam Ha-
Ba ), the final reward of the righteous.[4][5][6][7][9][10][11] The non-Jews that choose to follow the Seven Laws of
Noah are regarded as “Righteous Gentiles”
1. Not to worship idols.
2. Not to curse God.
3. Not to commit murder.
4. Not to commit adultery, bestiality, or sexual immorality.
5. Not to steal.
6. Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal.
7. To establish courts of justice.

Question 22

What is the rabbinic tradition about the good and evil inclinations? What perspective does this
place on the question of the sinfulness of humans?

Answer 22

yetzer hara (Hebrew: עַרַה רֶצ ֵי yēṣer haraʿ) is the congenital inclination to do evil, by violating the will of 
God. The term is drawn from the phrase "the imagination of the heart of man [is] evil"

Question 23

In the Jewish path of transformation, what are the roles of God and of humans?

Answer 23

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Question 24

Describe the four steps of repentance, as taught by the rabbis.

Answer 24

Teshuvah (Return, or Repentance) is a generous gift from G-d, which allows us to erase our improper
actions through a four-step process (see below).
The Torah tells us that no matter how far we stray or how many times we sin, G-d will wait for us to
return to him through Teshuvah.
TeshuvaThere are four basic parts to Teshuvah:

1. Leaving the Sin
   Leaving the sin consists of stopping the commission of the sinful act. One cannot do Teshuvah if one
   continues to do the sin, even if he or she were to perform the next three steps perfectly.
2. Regret
   Regret consists in sincerely regretting one’s wrong action. One must be genuinely ashamed and
   embarrassed over one’s sins.
3. Confession Before G-d
   Confession before G-d consists of an oral confession spoken out loud, in which one formulates in words
   the commitments and attitudes one has reached in his or her heart. One should say, “I have sinned, I
   have done such and such; I deeply regret my actions, and I declare before G-d, Who knows my innermost
   thoughts, that I will never do this sin again.”
4. Acceptance for the Future
   Acceptance for the future consists of resolving in one’s heart never to commit the sin ever again.

Question 25

Abraham Heschel says that “the true goal for man is to be what he does.” What does he mean by
this, and how does this relate to the discipline of Halakhah?

Answer 25

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Question 26

What is meant by the Jewish saying that the Sabbath has kept the Jews more than the Jews have
kept the Sabbath? Describe how Jews keep the Sabbath.

Answer 26

What he meant goes well beyond Jewish survivalism. He meant that the regulation of
time through the laws of the Sabbath gave the Jews the chance to regroup in
communities at the end of every week, and that that regrouping sustained their Jewish
identity.
What the Sabbath does to foster such social solidarity is simple. The Sabbath
coordinates non-work time. It makes people stop working not only for 25 hours a week
but for the same 25 hours a week.

Question 27

. What are the main themes of the High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur)?

Answer 27

Although the High Holidays — the two days of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur
(the Day of Atonement) — occupy three days only, they lie within a web of liturgy and customs that
extend from the beginning of the preceding Hebrew month of Elul through Yom Kippur . The focus of this
entire period is the process of teshuvah, or repentance, whereby a Jew admits to sins, asks for
forgiveness, and resolves not to repeat the sins. Recognizing the psychological difficulty of selfexamination and personal change, the rabbis instituted a 40-day period whose intensity spirals toward
its culmination on Yom Kippur, a day devoted entirely to fasting and repentance.

Question 28

What freedoms does Pesach celebrate?

Answer 28

Passover, Hebrew Pesa or Pesach, in Judaism, holiday ḥ commemorating the Hebrews’
liberation from slavery in Egypt and the “passing over” of the forces of destruction, or
the sparing of the firstborn of the Israelites, when the Lord “smote the land of Egypt” on the eve
of the Exodus.

Question 29

Explain the meaning of kashrut. What sense do the dietary laws make for modern Jews?

Answer 29

a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jews are permitted to eat and how
those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. The motive most commonly
attributed to the Jewish dietary laws is hygiene. The dietary laws are most often thought of as
health measures dictated by the primitive hygienic conditions of the ancient world

Question 30

Describe the main Jewish rites of passage at birth, puberty, marriage, and death

Answer 30

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Question 31

What central religious ideas are emphasized in Jewish ideas about healing and medicine

Answer 31

The basis of Jewish concern for healing is the belief that healthiness is a spiritual virtue.
Jewish attitudes toward the body derive from the belief that the human body-soul, whether a
unity or a dyad, is God’s creation; it must be preserved to fulfill God’s will on earth.

Question 32

How has the prohibition of making images affected Jewish art?

Answer 32

Less representational art

Question 33

How might one best answer the question, “Who is a Jew?

Answer 33

A Jew is one who practices the Jewish religion, Judaism. This includes both converts
and those who have been members of the Jewish religion since birth.
 A Jew is a member of the Israelite ethnic group, or rather, their descendants – a member
of the Jewish people. This includes those who may not be observantly religious, or may
be irreligious altogether.[10][11]
 A Jew is one who, regardless of current religious identity, is directly descended from a
Jewish ancestor. Traditionally, this has only applied to matrilineal ancestry, however,
some Jewish groups also recognize Jewishness by way of patrilineal descent.

Question 34

Describe the role of women in traditional Jewish religious life. What models are there of strong
women leaders?

Answer 34

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Question 35

What do Jews mean when they say marriage is a mitzvah? How would you characterize the
attitude in the Halakhah toward the pleasures of life?

Answer 35

The literal meaning of the Hebrew word mitzvah is commandment, but the generally accepted
sense is that of a good deed. The emphasis is on deeds—not on positive thoughts or wishes,
but on conscious acts of empathy and kindness

Question 36

What is the “whole law” that Rabbi Hillel taught to a heathen person while he stood on one
foot? What do you think is the significance of this story

Answer 36

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Question 37

What are the central meanings of the Jews being called the “chosen people”?

Answer 37

Chosen people, the Jewish people, as expressed in the idea that
they have been chosen by God as his special people. The term
implies that the Jewish people have been chosen by God to worship
only him and to fulfill the mission of proclaiming his truth among all
the nations of the world