Religious Figures and Sacred Texts 2 Flashcards
What is the Gemara?
Discussions and debates of rabbis on the Mishnah
What language is the Gemara in?
Aramaic
Roughly when was the Gemara written?
500CE
What was the group of rabbis who wrote the Gemara called?
Amoraim
What is the style/arrangement of the Gemara?
Arranged in 6 orders but is a continuous flaw of academic thought on diverse topics
What is the purpose of the Gemara?
Expands upon the Mishnah, explaining unclear concepts and introducing connections between biblical text and contemporary practices
What is the impression created in the Gemara?
That rabbis are in conversation with each other, despite writing centuries apart
What is the difference in language between the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds?
JT is mostly Palestinian Aramaic, which is different from the Jewish dialect in the Babylonian region
What is the style of the Jerusalem Talmud?
Short and succinct, not standardised and containing longer narrative portions
What is the style of the Babylonian Talmud?
Uniform and sophisticated
How many mishnah are in the Jerusalem Talmud?
The first 39
How many mishnah are in the Babylonian Talmud?
36.5 non-consecutive tractates
What is the difference in content on sukkot in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds?
BT discusses and debates it at length, JT contains very little discussion
Which Talmud has greatest authority?
Babylonian
Why is the Babylonian Talmud of greater authority?
The weight of the Jewish world has shifted to Babylon, growth in the rabbinic movement makes it larger and more intricate
What did Maimonides say about the Babylonian Talmud?
That all Jewish communities had formally accepted it
What is the focus of the Babylonian Talmud?
Process and questions rather than fact
When was the Jerusalem Talmud compiled?
End of the 4th century CE
What is the content of the Jerusalem Talmud?
Compilation of Palestinian rabbis’ interpretation of scripture, discussion and rulings on mishnah previously transmitted orally
Roughly when was the Babylonian Talmud compiled?
500CE
What is the content of the Babylonian Talmud?
Updated version of JT including Babylonian discussions
Why was the Babylonian Talmud compiled?
Due to the decline of Jewish institutions in Israel as Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire
What does the Talmud represent?
The unbroken chain back to transmission of the Oral Torah at Sinai
What does the Talmud enable to be created?
Halakhic guidelines
How does the Talmud aid understanding?
Allows interpretation of the mitzvot in order to remain relevant and understanding of laws and customs
How should the Talmud be studied?
In a group or with a partner to encourage the process of argument
Which educational institutions centre around the Talmud?
Yeshivas and Reform Rabbinical Colleges
What is Halakhah?
Legal rulings and reasoning behind them that govern Jews practice
What is the primary purpose of Halakhah?
Discovery and regulation of the mitzvot
What is Midrash Halakhah?
The rabbinical method of interpreting the legal topics contained in scripture
What are the 3 categories of Halakhah?
- Derives from scripture
- Obtained through interpreting verse in the prescribed manner
- Derived from Moses at Sinai containing traditions from the Oral Torah
What is the purpose of Midrash Halakhah?
Attempts to clarify law beyond obvious reference points
What are gezerot?
Prohibitions against behaviour that seemingly breaks the mitzvot
What did Maimonides believe about Midrash Halakhah?
Rejected Midrash as a source of Halakhah, believing it should be derived from oral law
What does Midrash Halakhah allow the creation of?
New practices replacing the Temple
What is PaRDeS?
Acronym of mishradic methods, forming aa word of Persian origin meaning ‘orchard’
What are the 4 principal methods of mishradic interpretation?
- Peshat
- Remez
- Derash
- Sod
What is Peshat?
Reading the text for its plain sense, using historical and cultural context and accommodating for metaphorical and figurative language
What is Remez?
Means ‘hint’, seeks allegorical meaning of text using philosophical implications and the standard rabbinic view
What is Derash?
- derived from ‘darash’ meaning ‘to seek’
- uses homily or parable to reveal the underlying meaning of a text
What is Sod?
Seeks to find mystical significance of the text, treats text as a codebook using methods such as gematria and notarikon
What is gematria?
System by which the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are each given a numerical value
What is an example of use of gematria?
Number 6:5 used to calculate the length of time for which a Nazirite’s vow is valid
What are the 2 methods of notarikon?
- a word is understood as an acronym for its real meaning
- a word may be broken up into other words
What is midrash?
Rabbinic literature, serving to thoroughly interpret sacred texts
What is the purpose of midrash?
Seeks truth and significance in scripture and uses it to address present day issues despite ambiguous language
What are the 3 meanings of Midrash?
- The process
- The result
- The collection
What is in collection 1 of midrashim?
- Mekhilta on Exodus
- Sifra on Leviticus
- Sifrei on Numbers and Deuteronomy
What is in collection 2 of midrashim?
Midrash rabbah
What is Midrash Rabbah?
A compilation of commentaries on each of the 5 books of Jewish scriptures and one on the Megillot
What is the Orthodox view of Halakhah?
Accepts Torah as direct revelation, therefore their duty is obedience
What is the Reform view of Halakhah?
The Torah is the product of human ninds and so it is allowed to contextually re-evaluate the mitzvot - Halakhah is an on going conversation
What did Geiger call for in regard to Halakhah?
Reform of the Halakhic procedure in a gradual, evolutionary process
What is Responsa?
The Reform movement’s version of the questions and answers literature of Jewish scholars - advisory rather than obligatory
What is aggadah?
Non-legalist exegesis - folklore, anecdotes and practical advice
From when does Midrash Aggadah date?
4th-6th centuries CE
What are Heinemann’s 3 broad categories of aggadah?
- Biblical - linked to biblical narrative
- Historical - post-biblical people and events
- Ethical/Didactic - guidance and principles
What is the intention of all aggadot?
To teach
What is the purpose of aggadah?
Explains inconsistencies in biblical narrative, reconciling and supplementing scripture to make it easier to understand
What does aggadah provide material for?
Sermons
What is an inconsistency within the book of Genesis that is explained through aggadah?
Man and woman are created in the first chapter but man is alone in the second character
How is the inconsistency in the book of Genesis explained?
Lilith is created as the first woman but was banished as she didn’t get along with Adam
What were Rashi’s dates?
1040-1105
Who was Rashi?
Medieval Jewish scholar, both a rabbi and judge for the Jewish community
What is Rashi most notable for?
His commentary on the whole of the
Hebrew Bible and the Talmud
Where was Rashi from?
Troyes in North-East France
What was Rashi’s approach to midrash?
Reliant on midrash, traditionalist interpretation
How does Rashi writes?
Writes in concise and clear Hebrew prose rich in derash and mishradic folklore with a key focus on agriculture
Exodus 23:19
‘you shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk’
How does Rashi interpret exodus 23:19?
Says it refers to all meat as ‘kid’ can be applied to livestock generally - rigid linguistic analysis
Leviticus 24:19-20
‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’
How does Rashi interpret leviticus 24:19-20?
Interprets as compensation with money rather than injury
What is Rashi’s mishradic technique?
Analysis phrase by phrase through knowledge and understanding of Biblical language and makes a clear distinction between what is said and what is traditionally read into it
How is Rashi’s commentary on the Talmud regarded?
As the definitive explanation
What were Maimonides’ dates?
1135-1204
Who was Maimonides?
Jewish intellectual, theologian and philosopher - became leader of Cairo’s Jewish community
Where was Maimonides from?
Cordoba, Spain - later settled in Fez, Morocco
How does Robinson divide Maimonides’ work?
Into Halakhic and philosophical
What does Maimonides’ work contain in relation to the Jewish Community?
Numerous letters and responsa in response to questions from the community
What are Maimonides’ 13 principles of faith?
Most famous list of principles in Judaism, a clear statement of faith in defence of Judaism widely held as obligatory
What is Maimonides’ work concerning Aristotelian philosophy?
The Guide for the Perplexed
What is the purpose of the Guide for the Perplexed?
An attempt to help Jews who had become bewildered by the teachings of Greek philosophy and did not know how to reconcile it with Judaism
What does Maimonides write in the Guide for the Perplexed regarding via negativa?
God is a perfect unity - to describe his attributes is to admit plurality. Therefore, negative language must be used to describe what God is not
What is Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah?
The ultimate manual of Jewish law written in order to update the Talmud and condense it into something anyone could read
What does the Mishneh Torah contain?
14 books, each dealing with a separae subject in the Jewish legal system
What are the 4 major subject headings of the Mishneh Torah?
- God and humankind
- Life of the individual
- Religion and ritual law
- Civil and criminal law
What did Maimonides believe about philosophy?
It should be an integral part of the Jewish faith, uses it to expand Halakhah
How does Rashi interpret Genesis 1?
Suggests creation ‘de novo’, and asserts that the text does not reference the sequence of creation
What does Rashi assert in his exegesis of bereshith?
God created the world and the land of Israel for the Jews
Which 2 ways of interpreting creation does Maimonides suggest?
- As an act which constituted the first instance of time
- As an act in which God shapes the world from a pre-existent and formless matter
Which 3 methods of creation does Maimonides suggest?
- Moses
- Plato
- Aristotle
What is Mosaic creation?
God created the world out of nothing in a free and spontaneous act
What is Platonic creation?
The world was created ‘de novo’ from pre-existing matter
What is Aristotelian creation?
The world has always existed and is eternal
What is the oral Torah?
A second Torah presented at Sinai and transmitted orally
What is the mishnah?
The written oral torah
What is the traditional originating belief of the Mishnah according to Dosick?
That the written Torah would not be enough for the Jewish society when they left the desert
When was the oral torah originally written down?
200ce
Why is there debate surrounding the mishnah?
Because there exist differing versions due to the fallibility of oral tradition and human record
What are the 6 sedarim of the mishnah?
- Zeraim
- Mo’ed
- Nashim
- Nezihim
- Kodashim
- Tohorot
What is Zeraim?
Seeds - offerings for priests and agriculture
What is Mo’ed?
Holidays - holy times, Sabbath and festivals
What is Nashim?
Women - marriage, divorce, incest etc.
What is Nezihim?
Damages - civil disputes, courts etc.
What is Kodashim?
Holy things - temple sacrifices, rituals
What is Tohorot?
Purity - ritual cleanliness
What language is the mishnah in?
Hebrew with some Aramaic
How is the mishnah divided?
Into volumes (tractates), chapters and paragraphs
How does the mishnah teach?
Through example, bringing every day reality into practising the Torah and offering discussions and debates
What is the purpose of the mishnah?
A practical law manual providing a guide to Halakhah
What is the relation of the mishnah to the Temple?
The mishnah contains material related to the Temple despite being written after its destruction
What does the Temple content of the mishnah display?
- a sign of the persistent holiness of Israel
- the idea that the loss of the Temple was only temporary
Mishnah - Hoffman
‘the Mishnah’s essential message is the that the Jewish people, in spite of the absence of the Temple, retains its sanctity’
Gemara - De Lange
‘consists largely of detailed and strenuously argued disagreements on the meaning and validity of both Mishradic and biblical laws’
Babylonian Talmud - Neusner
‘the Babylonian Talmud is the primary source for Jewish law and theology’
Midrash - Neusner
‘Midrash represents the effort to seek truth in scripture, in order to address current day questions to ancient, enduring revelation’
Mishradic method - Talmud
‘no passage loses its peshat’
Halakhah and Aggadah (face) - Bialik
‘Halakhah wears an angry frown; aggadah a broad smile’
Halakhah - Bialik
‘the embodiment of the attribute of justice, iron handed, rigorous and severe’
Aggadah - Bialik
‘the embodiment of the quality of mercy, essentially lenient and indulgent’
Rashi - Robinson
‘one of those extraordinary minds that humanity throws up periodically’
Maimonides - Twersky
‘his fame is as a direct result of the quality and quantity, scope and originality, magnitude and fascination of his writings’
Creation - Maimonides
‘God’s bringing the world into existence does not have a temporal beginning, for time is one of the created things’
The mishnah is the most important in the Talmud:
- Origins at Sinai, reminder of covenant
- Founded Talmuds
- Supplements Torah
The mishnah is not the most important part of the Talmud:
- The Gemara
- Concerns the Temple
- Rabbis and situational ruling
The Gemara is important:
- Understanding of mitzvot
- Adds to mishnah
- Connects text and practice
The Gemara is less important:
- Not relevant to ordinary Jews
- Relies on mishnah
- Mishnah is more important
Halakhah is more important than aggadah:
- Regulates mitzvot
- Clarifies law
- Integral to all Jews and practice
Halakhah is not more important than aggadah:
- Contribute to each other
- A explains text
- Fulfils a more figurative purpose
Midrash is an imprecise science:
- Interpretation and opinion
- No conclusion
- Legendary and mythical
Midrash is not an imprecise science:
- Skilled and systematic observation
- Rules and regulations
- Aggadic midrashim are symbolic only
Rashi is important:
- Influence on Torah and Talmud
- Accessible writing
- Rabbinic
Maimonides is important:
- Intellectual
- Mishneh torah and 13 principles
- Philosophical thought
Maimonides is the most complete Jewish scholar:
- 13 principles
- Mishneh torah
- Philosophy
Maimonides is not the most complete Jewish scholar:
- Deemed sacrilegious
- Rashi
- Impossible to decide
