Lecture 2: Judaism 1

Question 1

what is monotheism?

Answer 1

belief in one God

Question 2

what is polytheism?

Answer 2

belief in many Gods

Question 3

what are the religions of the book (or the Abrahamic traditions)?

Answer 3

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Question 4

What are the three sections the Hebrew Bible is made up of? (Tanakh to Jews and Old Testament for Christians)

Answer 4

1. Torah (Law)
2. Nivi’im (Prophets)
3. Ketuvim (Writings)

Question 5

Torah refers to the five books of Moses. What are the five books?

Answer 5

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
- also known as the Pentateuch

Question 6

The first five books of Moses are referred to with 3 names. what are they?

Answer 6

Torah, Pentateuch and the five books of Moses

Question 7

Judaism believes the Torah was writted by who?

Answer 7

Moses as God says

Question 8

what is the difference between the first and second account of creation in the Genesis books?

Answer 8

B1, Man and Woman were created at the same tine whereas B2, woman is created as an after thought, as a fitting helper for Man
B2: woman and man creation is different. Man is made from dust of earth where Woman is made from Mans rib. (suggests She is secondary)

Question 9

what is the explanation as to why Moses has two very different creation stories if he is stating God?

Answer 9

there is an insider explanation and an outsider explanation
OR
theological explanation and an academic explanation

insider/theological: developed by Rabbis later
outsider/academic: “Moses did not write this book”

Question 10

what is “The Documentary Hypothesis”?

Answer 10

• proposed in 1883 by Julius Wellhausen and argues that the Five Books of Moses consist of material from four different authors (Yahwist, Elohist, Priestly and Redactor)
• outsider view

Question 11

why did Rabbis perhaps invent the story of Lilith?

Answer 11

to account for the differences of the first and second accounts of creations

Question 12

what is the main point of the story of lilith?

Answer 12

Adam had a wife named Lilith in the first Genesis book and then she got banished so Adam got a second wife named Eve in the second Genesis book

Question 13

what is the outsider view on the Genesis book?

Answer 13

one author wrote Genesis 1 while another wrote Genesis 2

Question 14

what does “The Septuagint” mean?

Answer 14

the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible

Question 15

What is the Hebrew Bible referred to as in Christianity?

Answer 15

the old testament just in a different order of books

Question 16

why was was the Hebrew text translated?

Answer 16

after the babylonial excile of the 6th century BCE, Jews became dispersed people and Greece was one of the first big colonializers

Question 17

who are the patriarchs and matriarchs of Judaism?

Answer 17

• Abraham and Sarah
• Isaac and Rebecca
• Jacob and Leah and Rachel

Question 18

who is said to be the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel?

Answer 18

Jacobs twelve sons

Question 19

what is a covenant?

Answer 19

a treaty, alliance or pact (a legal or ethical agreement) and was renewed with various Patriarches of the Hebrew Bible. (First being Noah when God promised to never destroy the earth through flood (rainbow being a sign of that covenant))
- was renewed with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David

Question 20

where do Muslims vs Jews trace their lineage to in regards to Abraham?

Answer 20

Muslims to Abrahams first son, Ishmael
Jews to Abrahams second son, Isaac and his twelve tribes of Israel

Question 21

what are the three major festivals known collectively as the Shalosh Regalim?

Answer 21

1. Passover
2. Shavuot
3. Sukkot

Question 22

Jewish boys are circumcised when and by who?

Answer 22

eight days after birth by a mohel (a ritual circumciser)

Question 23

what is the Shavuot?

Answer 23

celebrates God’s revelation of the Torah to Moses

Question 24

What is the Sukkot?

Answer 24

commemorates the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness

Question 25

what is Hanukkah?

Answer 25

Festival of Lights that recalls the rededication of the Second Temple following the Macabean revolt

Question 26

(IMPORTANT) the first temple in Jerusalem was built by who and destroyed by who? (IMPORTANT)

Answer 26

built by King Solomon (son of King David) and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE

Question 27

what stands from the second temple from 515 BCE today in Jerusalem?

Answer 27

the supporting wall of which the second temple stood
- an important religious sight