Lecture 3: Judaism 2 Flashcards
what is in the Holy Ark in Italy?
- Torah scrolls
what is the Yad, hand or Torah pointer used for?
to help read the Torah
who was Herod the Great?
Roman ruler who ruled over the Roman territory of Judea but he appreciated Jewish religious traditions and helped renovate the temple in Jerusalem before its destruction
who was Roman general Pompey?
sent to settle the dispute(rivalry among the various contenders for the Hasmonean throne) but he established rule over the territory
what were the Jewish Revolts?
- the Maccabean Revolt
- the Zealots (temple was destroyed as result)
- Simon bae Kokhba (Jews were expelled from the Holy Land after)
conflict among who eventually led to a bloody civil war?
among the Hasmonean Leaders
the Romans ruled over the territory for how many years before the second temple was destroyed in Jerusalem?
over 100
what is Judea?
the Roman name for the province around Jerusalem
how was the Hasmonean dynasty ended? when?
in 37 BCE the Romans put an end to the Hasmonean dynasty by naming Herod the Great king of Israel
because of the destruction of the second temple, the ritual sacrifices were replaced because the priests were the ones that did the rituals. what was it replaced with?
ritualistic interpretation of the oral and written Torah. Caused the beginning of Rabbinic Judaism
what dimension of religion is emphasized when Judaism transitions from Priests to Rabbis?
institutional/Social
when was the Rabbinic Period?
70-700 CE
by the end of the first century CE, the majority of Jews were living where?
outside of Judea
the written form of the Oral Torah is called?
Mishnah
when was the last Jewish revolt against Roman rule?
between 132 and 135 CE
the foundational literature of rabbinic Judaism reflects the interests and concerns of who?
the male rabbis
what are the two major parts of the Talmud?
Mishnah and Gemara
what is the Gemara?
commentaries on the Mishnah that were written by Rabbis over the generations and old commentaries are added to
The Gemara contains both Halakhah (legal material) and _________ (narrative material)
Aggadah
what are the two Talmuds?
- Palestine (Jerusalem) Talmud
- Babylonian Talmud
what is the difference between the two Talmuds?
the Gemara. the interpretations and commentaries
what did Christianity begin from?
a sect of Judiasm
what happened in Christianity in 380 CE?
Christianity was decreed the official religion of the Roman Empire. All inhabitants of the Byzantine Empire were expected to practice the Christian faith
what does Paganism refer to?
pre-Christian religion
by the end of the second century, most people joining Christianity were?
non-Jews (Gentiles)
what Gospel blames the Jews for the death of Jesus? (anti-semitism in ancient history)
Gospel of Matthew
what were the 3 persian empires?
- Achaemenid Empire
- Parthian Empire
- Sassanid Empire
who gave Christians the liberty to practice their faith in 313?
the Roman emperor Constantine I
why does the professor point out that Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all exclusivist traditions?
because they all have incompatible doctrines
- all believe something different about Jesus
how is Jesus viewed in Islam?
as a prophet and nothing more
how is Jesus viewed in Christianitiy?
as the Messiah, fully human an fully divine
how is Jesus viewed in Judaism?
as someone who faked being the Messiah. they believe the Messiah is yet to come
what were the leaders of the Talmudic academies called?
Gaonim
what was Maimonides famous for?
a 14-volume code of Jewish law called Mishneh Torah
what was Maimonides most important philosophical work?
“The Guide of the Perplexed”
In all three eastern traditions, in terms of the medieval philosophical dimension, there is an attempt to claim that philosophy and reason are compatible with?
faith
why was the Spanish inquisition initially established?
to persecute Jews who were believed to be practicing Jewish rituals in secret
what does the “Kabbalah” mean?
to receive
when does the Kabbalah appear to date?
from the twelfth century when many Jews took a renewed interest in mysticism in response to the pain caused by the expulsion from Spain and other Christian lands
what is the most authoritative Kabbalah text?
the commentary on the Five Books of Moses called the Zohar thought to have been written by Moses de Leon (a 13th century Spanish-Jewish Mystic)
what is Isaac Lurias best known concept of Lurianic teachings?
the concept of ‘tikkun olam’, the process of restoring the created order to its original state
- he claims that after creation, there is a sense of unity established that Gods creation brought form and order but there we divine sparks that bursted us under a vessel in which they were contained and part of this process of ‘tikkun olan’ (mending the world) consisted in trying to restore the original sense of unity.
ESSENTIALLY:
Tikkun: restoration of the original balance of the ten Sefirot
what are the 10 eminations (Sefirot) of the divine?
- crown
- wisdom
- understanding
- loving kindness
- might
- beauty
- splendor
- victory
- foundation
- sovereignty
who was the founder of Hasidism?
-Israel ben Eliezer (1698-1760)
what did Hasidism encourage?
his fellow Jew to worship God with joy and delight, from the heart rather than the head
- modern emphasis on the mystical dimension
Hasidic leaders are not rabbinic scholars but charismatic leaders(tzaddikim) whose authority rests with?
what are believed to be their supernatural powers
Hasidim makes up an important component of which Judaism?
orthodox
