Judaism Key Terms

Question 1

Covenant

Answer 1

An agreement of mutual faithfulness, like a contract or alliance, between two parties; “I will be your God and you shall be my people”; the agreement binds the parties together with mutual privileges and obligations

Question 2

Messiah

Answer 2

A word meaning “the anointed one”

Question 3

Diaspora

Answer 3

The scattering of Jews outside of Israel in both ancient and modern times

Question 4

Ashkenazim

Answer 4

Central and Eastern European Jews and their descendants

Question 5

Sephardim

Answer 5

Primarily Spanish, Portuguese, and North African Jews and their descendants

Question 6

Hasidism

Answer 6

Jews who observe a form of strict Orthodox Judaism. One of the main Jewish Mystical teachings are Hasidism (eighteenth century). The founder of Hasidism was Israel Ben Eliezer (1698-1759), also known as Ba’al Shem Tov. He taught that communion with God happened through prayer, good deeds, humility and joy. He’s best known for his humorous stories in which people encounter God as they do the simplest chores.

Question 7

Shoah

Answer 7

From the Hebrew word for “catastrophe,” “calamity,” or, “holocaust”; if refers to Nazi Germany’s deliberate attempt to exterminate the Jewish race between 1933 and 1945

Question 8

Tikkun Olam

Answer 8

Reform Jews also stress Tikkun Olam (repairing the world through social action)

Question 9

Secular Jews

Answer 9

An ethnic Jew who is not religious

Question 10

Holocaust

Answer 10

the systematic killing of over 6 million Jews before and during WWII

Question 11

Zionism

Answer 11

movement that began in the 19th century for the purpose of creating a Jewish state in what is now modern Israel; today “Zionism” refers to strong support for the State of Israel; today it refers to strong support for the state of Israel

Question 12

Shabbat

Answer 12

Hebrew word meaning “Sabbath”

Question 13

Rosh Hashanah

Answer 13

means “Head of the Year.”

Question 14

Yom Kippur

Answer 14

day of atonement; holiest day. During the time period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, called the “Days of Awe”, jews turn inward and remember that God will be their judge at the end of time. The 10 days of celebration end with Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement. On Yom Kippur, a solemn day of fasting, Jews seek reconciliation with God. Anyone who has sinned against another person must atone for it by reconciling with that person and with God.

Question 15

Shofar

Answer 15

A rabbi blows the shofar. The ram’s horn is blown many times during the Rosh Hashanah synagogue service as a celebration of God’s creation and a heralding of the Messiah and the beginning of the new year

Question 16

Seder Meal

Answer 16

When a family is celebrating Passover with a special meal called the Seder. The Seder commemorates the escape of the children of Israel from captivity in Egypt. Elements of the feast include the central Seder plate with its symbolic foods, cups of wine, and pillows. Ritual meal were participants recall how their ancestors were freed by God from slavery in Egypt; Jews celebrate freedom and never ending bond with God

Question 17

Passover

Answer 17

Important holy days of the Jewish year is Pesach, or the passover and is basic to Jewish identity. It celebrates the freedom won by Jewish slaves when they escaped from the Egyptian Pharaoh.

Question 18

Kaddish

Answer 18

When a parent dies, a son (and, in some communities, a daughter) recites the Kaddish, a special prayer of sanctification (a prayer to make something sacred) in the synagogue each morning and each evening for 11 months after the death.

Question 19

Shiva

Answer 19

A seven-day period of mourning

Question 20

Star of David

Answer 20

The Star of David is a six-pointed star that is formed from two overlapping triangles. It has seven spaces. The number seven is important in Judaism, for example, the six days of creation plus the seventh day of rest. Jewish identity

Question 21

Menorah

Answer 21

The Menorah is a seven branched candelabra, created in the wilderness. The seven branches of the menorah symbolize the seven days of creation. As the shape suggests a tree, it’s sometimes referred to as a “tree of life”.

Question 22

Torah Scroll

Answer 22

Is the most sacred object in Judaism. Torah means teachings. It is very carefully written by hand, in Hebrew, using sheets of parchment made from the specially prepared skin of a kosher animal with a goose quill and special ink. It takes six months to write a Torah scroll and is the center of Jewish life (The five books of Moses). Because it contains God’s words, a Torah scroll that has become too worn for further use is ceremonially buried in a service similar to the ceremony for human burial

Question 23

Mezuzah

Answer 23

container with parchment with a scripture from the Torah hung on the right doorpost

Question 24

Synagogue

Answer 24

Jewish place of worship. House where Torah is taught to jews

Question 25

Tanakh

Answer 25

Hebrew word for the sacred writings of Judaism; the word is formed from the first Hebrew letter of the three parts of the Jewish scriptures (what Christians call the Old Testament); Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim

Question 26

Shema

Answer 26

The Shema is the most important confession of faith in Judaism. The Jewish mourning and evening prayers are built around this prayer. It sums up the Jewish scriptures or Tanakh.

Question 27

Talmud

Answer 27

The compilation of written interpretation of the oral Torah (the Halakhah)

Question 28

Halakhah

Answer 28

“Laws” or “the path”; the oral tradition of Judaism

Question 29

Mitzvah

Answer 29

Religious or moral path that Jews must follow; the plural form is “mitzvot” (commandments)

Question 30

Kosher

Answer 30

Comes from the Hebrew word kasher, meaning “fit and right.” For many Jews, following the kosher dietary laws is an important discipline and a way of expressing Jewish identity

Question 31

Israel

Answer 31

Today, Israel is a country in the Middle East (place where people live). The modern state of Israel was established as a Jewish homeland in 1948. In the Bible, “Israel” describes the Hebrew people or nation with whom God made a covenant. This is the meaning most used.