Judaism Key Terms

Question 1

Ba’al

Answer 1

storm-fertility god of the ancient Canaanites

Question 2

Bar mitzvah

Answer 2

ceremony in which a thirteen-year-old boy becomes an adult member of the Jewish community

Question 3

Bat mitzvah

Answer 3

equivalent of bar mitzvah ceremony for girls in Reform and Conservative Jewish
congregations

Question 4

Brit milah

Answer 4

see circumcision

Question 5

Circumcision

Answer 5

boys’ initiation ritual that occurs on the eighth day after birth and is called brit
milah (covenant of circumcision)

Question 6

Conservative Judaism

Answer 6

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 7

Covenant (berith)

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Diaspora

Answer 8

the dispersion of Jews away from Jewish homeland, to live as minorities in other lands

Question 9

Dietary law

Answer 9

Jewish Laws pertaining to the proper preparation and eating of food, and the
avoidance of certain animal food; see kashrut

Question 10

Essenes

Answer 10

ascetic Jewish movement around the Dead Sea area from the second century B.C.E. to
the first century C.E.

Question 11

Exile

Answer 11

The Jewish captivity in Babylon, especially the period from the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. until the first return to Jerusalem in 538 B.C.E.

Question 12

Exodus

Answer 12

deliverance of Israelites from Egypt under Moses’ leadership

Question 13

Gemara

Answer 13

comments on the Mishnah; added to the Mishnah to form the Jewish Talmud

Question 14

Ghetto

Answer 14

special Jewish quarter in certain European cities

Question 15

Halakhah

Answer 15

Jewish legal tradition based on the Talmud

Question 16

Hanukkah

Answer 16

festival of lights in December, celebrating rededication of the temple in Maccabean
times

Question 17

Hasidim

Answer 17

popular mystical and devotional Jewish movement beginning in the 17th century in
eastern Europe

Question 18

Hebrews

Answer 18

ancestors of the Israelites

Question 19

Holocaust

Answer 19

ancient Israelite ritual meaning “all-consuming sacrificial fire”, used in modern times
to denote the destruction of Jews and others under the Nazis

Question 20

Israel

Answer 20

“he strives with God”; name given to Jacob and thereafter to the covenant people; name
of modern Jewish state

Question 21

Kabbalah

Answer 21

“tradition”, especially the medieval mystical Jewish tradition, of which the Zohar is a
central text

Question 22

Karaites

Answer 22

Jewish sect that rejected oral Torah (Talmud), relying on scripture alone

Question 23

Kashrut

Answer 23

ritual fitness, suitable for use according to Jewish law; applies especially to dietary laws,
what foods can and cannot be eaten, and how to prepare them

Question 24

Maimonides

Answer 24

great medieval Jewish philosopher (1135-1204 C.E.)

Question 25

Marranos

Answer 25

Spanish Jews who were outwardly Christianized but many of whom secretly continued Jewish tradition

Question 26

Masada

Answer 26

Mountain fortress near the Dead Sea where Jewish Zealot made a last stand against the Romans

Question 27

Mendelssohn, Moses

Answer 27

Jewish Enlightenment thinker (1729-1786)

Question 28

Messiah

Answer 28

end-time king, descended from King David, expected to redeem Ismael

Question 29

Mishnah

Answer 29

code of Jewish oral law compiled ca 200 C.E. by Judah the Prince; see Talmud

Question 30

Mitzvot

Answer 30

commandments given by God

Question 31

Moses

Answer 31

leader of Israel in the Exodus from Egypt and the founding of the covenant on Mt. Sinai

Question 32

Orthodox Judaism

Answer 32

Modern movement continuing a strict traditional belief in the binding character of the Torah and Halakhah

Question 33

Pesach (Passover)

Answer 33

spring festival commemorating deliverance from Egypt

Question 34

Pharisees

Answer 34

party in ancient Judaism teaching the oral Torah along with the written Torah, resurrection of the body, and application of the law in everyday life

Question 35

Prophets

Answer 35

inspired people who spoke God’s word an 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 36

Purim

Answer 36

early spring festival remembering events of the Book of Esther

Question 37

Rabbi

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Rabbinic Judaism

Answer 38

designation for Judaism as it developed under the teachers of the oral Torah (Talmud)

Question 39

Reconstructionist Judaism

Answer 39

modern movement founded by Mordecai Kaplan (1881-1982), | emphasizing Judaism as a civilization

Question 40

Reform Judaism

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Rosh Hashanah

Answer 41

``` Jewish New Year, first day of Tishri (usually in September); beginning of High Holy Days (which include Yom Kippur) ```

Question 42

Sabbath

Answer 42

seventh day of the week, sacred day of rest and study for Jews

Question 43

Sadducees

Answer 43

conservative party of temple priests and sympathizers in ancient Judaism who rejected the oral Torah and the idea of resurrection

Question 44

Shavuot

Answer 44

Feast of weeks (Pentecost), Commemorating the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai

Question 45

Shema

Answer 45

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

Question 46

Sukkot

Answer 46

Feast of Booths, autumn harvest festival

Question 47

Synagogue

Answer 47

Greek term translating Hebrew “house of assembly”; Jewish place for prayer and study

Question 48

Talmud

Answer 48

Jewish “oral Torah,” comprised of the Mishnah and Gemara; exists in a Palestinian and Babylonian version

Question 49

Tanakh

Answer 49

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

Question 50

Torah

Answer 50

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

Question 51

Yahweh

Answer 51

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 52

Yom Kippur

Answer 52

Jewish Day of Atonement on the tenth of Tishri, a solemn day of repentance

Question 53

Zealots

Answer 53

Jewish religious party in the Roman period that advocated resistance to Roman occupation

Question 54

Zionism

Answer 54

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