Lecture 3: Judaism 1.2 Flashcards
who is identified as the Israelites greatest king?
David
- he was called the messiah because Samuel anointed him with oil
when was the first temple destroyed? who destroyed it?
586 BCE by ancient civilization of the Babylonians (now iraq)
who defeated the Babylonians under Cyrus the Great (leader of the First Persian Empire)
the Persians
following the death of Solomon in the second half of the tenth century BCE, what happened to the Kingdom?
it was split into two:
- Israel in the North
- Judah is the South
how long did the Babylonian Exile go on for?
589-539 BCE (50 years)
how long was the second temple up and when did it come down and by who?
515 BCE is was built, then destroyed 70 CE by the Romans
what is Hellenization?
the process of spreading Greek culture to lands beyond the boarders of mainland Greece and the Greek Islands
which empire the Alexander the Great attack?
the Persian empire and destroyed the ancient city of Persepolis
what began the Babylonian Exile?
Israel’s political and religious leaders being sent to Babylon
How long did the Babylon Exile last and who allowed all captivies to return to their homelands?
50 years and Cyrus of Persia allowed all captives to return to their homelands
what community produced the Babylonian Talmud?
The Babylonian Jewish community
who was Alexander the Great?
- He was Greek.
- He brought major cultural shifts to the ancient Near East
- introduced Greek culture to the lands he conquered
what was the Maccabean Revolt?
Judea’s rulers worked to break down Jewish resistance to Hellenization
in 198 BCE, who took control of Judea?
the Seleucids
Antiochus IV did what to force Greek culture on the Jews?
- prohibited both the reading and the teaching of the Mosaic Law
- commanded that Torah scrolls be burned
- made observation of the Sabbath a crime punishable by death
- ordered women who has their son circumcised be put to death
- offered sacrifice with unclean animals
in 167 BCE, what did the Hasmoneans (family of priests) do?
mounted a successful uprising against Antiochus Epiphanes and Hellenized Jews
What did the Maccabeans do in 164 BCE?
recaptured the Tempe, purged it of foreign idols (Zeus) and impure animals (Pigs) and rededicated it to its rightful deity
what is the variety of Jews in the Second Temple?
- Sadducees and Pharisees
- Essenes
- Therapeutae
- Zealots
where did the Sadducees come from?
primarily the upper echelons
what is the only authoritative text for the Sadducees?
the Torah
Who was the only groups to survive when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE?
The Pharisees
who was the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls?
the Essenes
who were the Therapeurtae?
a type of Jew that was a monastic group living near Lake Mareotis in Egypt
- included women as well as men in their community
When did the Zealots exist as an organized group?
in the first century CE
what was the Zealots revolt against?
Rome but it was crushed by the Romans and lead to the destruction of the second temple
what did majority of Jews believe in?
- the oneness of God
- the authority and sacred nature of the Torah
- the special status of Israel as the chosen “people of God”
- the status of the Temple of Jerusalem as the place where God and his people met
the rabbis’ process of study yielded two types of interpretation. What are they?
- legal decisions, called halakhah (proper conduct)
- non-legal teachings, called haggadah
what is Midrash
interpretations of the written Torah and folklore
what is Mishnah?
written version of oral Torah
what is Gemara?
commentary on the Mishna
what is Talmud?
refers to the Mishna along with the commentary known as the Gamara, as its published in two sets, one in Babylonia and one in Jerusalem
