This is my God Midterm Flashcards
What does the author now (that is, as of 1987) take for granted?
A westerner could live a traditional existence
What does Wouk call “a formidable intellectual position?”
A belief in God
Where does Wouk say Jews today “live as free and equal citizens”?
In the USA
How old are the Jewish people? What does Wouk say has verified this?
They are over three thousand years old
Archaeology
Wouk observes that the bible says Jews descend from three men. Who were they?
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
Abraham-”A Mesopotamian nomad… who came with his flocks and his tents in the shadowy dawn of history to Canaan, the place we now call Israel”
Isaac-son of Abraham.
Jacob-Grandson of Abraham. “Migrated to Egypt with his large household to escape a famine. Jacob’s family prospered and multiplied in the cattle raising northern province of Goshen”
What is the Hebrew word for the scripture law given to Moses for Israel?
Torah
“To sum up,” says Wouk, who are the Jews?
Israelites, descended from the land of Canaan and Delivered by Moses
What two things does Wouk say determines “who is a Jew?”
descendants of Abraham, faith
In Judaism, what is the “path to God” and to whom does it lie open?
Right conduct is the path to God, it lies open to both Jews and non Jews.
For whom does Wouk say he is “sketching Judaism”?
Those who want to hear about it
How Does Wouk say Jews can be loyal to both religious law and the law of the land?
Because in their minds religious and civil law are the same
The law of Judaism is to be a law abiding citizen so they are the same thing.
What is the one point over which conflict might exist in this issue?
When civil law forbids the practice of Judaism
What is the nearest thing to an encyclopedia in Judaism?
The Babylonian Talmud
By tradition, how many commandments does Judaism (i.e. the Law) have?
613
But how many of those commandments does Wouk say are “key observances”?
A couple Dozen… 24
What does Wouk say is the “core of Judaism”?
The core of Judaism is right conduct to other people
What did Hillel say is the “core of Judaism”?
“What is offensive to you, do not do to others. That is the Core of Judaism. the rest is commentary.”
What is the only strictly Jewish symbol in the Ten Commandments?
The Sabbath
How many prohibitions are there in the “two tables” (i.e. Ten Commandments)?
- idolatry
- perjury
- murder
- adultery
- theft
- false witness
- covetousness
How many positive commands are there in the “two tablets”?
- worship one God
- honoring parents
- keeping the Sabbath
What LDS emphasis do you think is contained in these positive commands?
Just a couple ideas . . . i’m not sure, but I was leaning to either something about the sacrament, or possibly about temple worship.
What (“in the second place” according to Wouk) does the Sabbath mark?
the founding of the Jewish nation in the Exodus from Egypt
The Sabbath is a recurring sign and reminder of … what two things?
- Creation
2. Israel’s beginning
In the presence of emergency, what vanishes on Sabbath?
restrictive laws of Sabbath
What does Wouk say is the second layer of Judaism’s bedrock?
common sense, (faith in One God is the first)
What seems to be the definition of Sabbath emergency?
an austere but realistic one (peril to life or limb, peril to thousands of dollars is not)
What is the nature of the Jewish religious calendar (Solar, Lunar, Other)
Lunar
What is Judaism’s spring festival called? (know the English and Hebrew terms)
Pesakh; Feast of the Exodus - Passover
What central and picturesque rite of Passover no longer exists?
the eating of the Paschal lamb
What is the word “seder” a popular name for?
The feast
What is a Hagada?
story
What substance has to be completely removed from homes for Passover?
Yeast (Leaven)
How many days after Passover until the festival of Shavu’ot (i.e. Shavuos)?
50 days after
What is Shavu’ot (Shavuos) the Hebrew word for? What’s the connection?
weeks. it was celebrated 7 weeks after the bringing in of the barley
Why did Greeks call this festival Pentecost? How long does it last?
Pentecost means fiftieth day. The festival lasts one day, two outside Israel
What season of the year is the Shavu’ot (Shavuos) festival associated with?
Summer
n addition to wheat harvest, Shavu’ot is the anniversary of … what?
the Sinai revelation’s anniversary of the Giving of the Law
With what season is the festival of Sukkot (Sukos) associated?
Autumn
What does the Law of Moses require for seven days at Sukkot (Sukos)?
That all Jews live in huts. partially roofed by green boughs, palm branches, etc. They feast and sing and visit and sleep, living as their ancestors did in the desert.
What does the Hebrew word Sukkot mean in English (modern & archaic versions)?
modern- feast of booths (huts), jewish holiday archaic-tabernacle
In the sukkah (suko) what does there have to be room for?
a table and chairs
Of the four species carried at Sukkot, what is an etrog (esrog)? What is it like?
a fragrant yellow fruit native to the Holy Land; a large lemon with a brownish button at the tip that is a withered blossom.
Along with a palm branch, what two other tree branches are bound and carried?
Willow and Myrtle
What kind of branch is a lulav? What action is done with the lulav?
palm branch, recite benediction and wave
When does Shemini Atzeret (Sh’mini Atzeres) occur?
At the end of Sukos on the eight day
What is another name for Shemini Atzeret, and what does it mean?
Celebration of the Law: simkhas torah
But outside the land of Israel, on what day does Simhat Torah (Simkhas Torah) occur?
on the added ninth day
With what sacred item in their hands do people dance in the synagogue on Simhat Torah?
The Holy Scrolls
What will teach you more than reading forty books on Judaism?
Carrying out in a single year the duties and the pleasures of the festivals
See note at end of chapter – what Hebrew pronunciation did Wouk’s father use?
The Eastern European pronunciation
On what day do many Jews, who might not attend any other time, go to synagogue?
Yom Kippur
What is the term for the Jewish new year?
Rosh Hashana
What two days are the High Holy Days?
Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana
What are two other “days of” names for the period of these holy days?
Days of awe, ten days of repentance
On Yom Kippur, what are the five abstentions of the 24 hour fasting period?
Eating and drinking, sex, bathing, anointing the body with oil, wearing leather shoes
In the metaphor of the High Holy Days, what is written in the scrolls of fate?
The deeds of man for the last year
Which of the High Holy Days is the day of “horn blowing”?
Rosh hashana
In the machinery of penitence, atonement begins with two things … what are they?
Repair the injury in full, then find God’s absolution
In Judaism, what is there no machinery for? (two things)
Confession to a human being, release from sin through an agency on earth
Jewish liturgy says three things can “dissolve the evil decree” … what are they?
Repentance, prayer, and good works
What three minor (post-Mosaic) holidays does Wouk discuss?
Ninth of av, Purim, and hanukkah
What does Tisha B’av mean?
9th day of av
What does Tisha B’Av commemorate?
The date that the Babylonians sacked the temple of Solomon and the Romans sacked the second temple (655 years later)
How do observant Jews mark Tisha B’av (i.e. what do they do or not do)?
Fast and Yom Kippur abstinences, no meat first 9 days of the month, let beard and hair grow for three weeks
When (in the modern calendar) does Tisha B’av normally occur?
July or August
What biblical book is the source for the festival of Purim?
Esther
When (in the modern calendar) does Purim normally occur?
February or March
Purim is the nearest thing Judaism has to a … what?
Carnival
What is the Jewish holiday not rooted in the Bible narrative?
Hanukkah
What does Hanukkah (Hanuka) celebrate?
The successful revolt of the Jews in the days of the second temple against the Seleucid Greeks
Who was the Seleucid king that persecuted the Jews?
Antiochus epiphanes
Of what priestly family was Mattathias, who started the revolt?
Hasmonean
Who was the son of Mattathias, and what did he do that Hanukkah celebrates?
Juddah Maccabee, recaptured the temple
What does the Hebrew term Hanukkah (Hanuka) mean?
Dedication
The oil in the Temple menorah burned for (how many) days on Hanukkah?
8
A traditional Jew prays (how many) times a day? And when?
3 times a day; morning, noon, and night.
The synagogue began as a kind of … what?
Popular Law School
What is “the very heart of synagogue practice”?
Reading of the Torah, week by week, in 52 sections.
Synagogue filled “the vacuum at the core of the religion” after what event?
When the First Temple fell and daily service in Jerusalem stopped.
The synagogue “evolved into a house of” … what?
Worship
What is the Shema (Sh’ma), the prayer which Wouk calls the synagogue “creed”?
The essence of the Law
What does the word Shema mean, in English?
Hear
What is the first verse of scripture of the Shema?
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.
What is the Shemone Esray (Shmone Esrai), the prayer Wouk calls the “service”?
Old Litany of 18 Blessings. It is the link between the synagogue and the ancient Temple.
What do the words Shemone Esray mean?
The 18
READ the end note and prayers on pp. 295-301
READ the end note and prayers on pp. 295-301
What have Jews always clung to as their language of liturgy and prayer?
Hebrew
What two general communities of Jews pulled together after the Roman dispersion?
Ashkenaz and Sefard
Where, geographically, do Ashkenazim (the Ashkenazi Jews) have their heritage?
Northern and Eastern Europe
Where, geographically, do the Sefardim (the Sefardi Jews) have their heritage?
Mediterranean Lands
Jewish diet – the Torah gives one brief reason for the laws … what is it?
They will help discipline Israel to holiness
From the Bible, what features must an animal have for Jews to be able to eat it?
Split hoof and cud-chewing
Other than the obvious pork, what kinds of animals may Jews not eat?
Beast of prey, rodents, reptiles, horses, pachyderms, and primates.
From the Bible, what features must sea creatures have for Jews to be able to eat them?
Fins and scales
What kinds of seafood may Jews not eat?
Shellfish: shrimp, lobsters, mussels, oysters, clams. Squid, octopus, frog, sea urchins.
What kinds of birds does the Torah list as forbidden (proscribed) for eating?
Birds of prey or carrion eaters
Other than “pure” what is the nearest English word for the meaning of “kosher”?
Fit or suitable
What foods does the word ‘trayf’ (trefe) describe or extend to as used by Jews?
“Torn” meaning carrion food: Animal that has died of old age or disease or killed by another animal. Also meat that is not prepared according to the four main rules.
The Torah has four main rules for preparing meat. What does the second one forbid?
Drinking of blood. They drain meat of blood. “Blood of life”
How is the third main ruled interpreted today? What cannot be mixed or eaten together?
The separation of flesh and dairy food
What is Jewish kosher slaughtering law supposed to insure for the animal involved?
It’s the most merciful and painless way of killing, cutting off their conscious immediately.
What is a talit (tallis)? When is it worn for prayer? What does it have on its corners?
A four-cornered shawl worn by men for morning prayers. It has fringes on its corners that remind the man praying about all of God’s commandments and the need to fulfill them.
The law of fringes is found in what biblical book?
Numbers
What are tefillin (phylacteries)? When are they worn for prayers?
A pair of black boxes of leather. Worn in the morning.
What is inside the tefillin? How are the tefillin worn?
Small parchment scrolls containing the Sh’ma and other Bible verses. It is tied on the forehead and left bicep with leather thongs.
What Jewish movement discarded the wearing of head covering, tallis, and tefillin?
The reform movement
In Europe, what was the wide, dark skullcap called?
Yarmulka
It is also customary for women to wear something in the synagogue … what?
A head covering
What is a mezuza? What is inside a mezuza? What does the word mezuza mean?
A small case that holds the two Torah passages that prescribe the binding of words on head and arm and also requires us to write the words on the doorposts of our houses. The word means “doorpost”.
To what part of a Jewish house is a mezuza affixed (usually with small nails)?
In the doorway
Regarding circumcision (Hebrew bris) what does the Hebrew word bris mean? Instructor’s note:In Israeli Hebrew, the act (circumcision) is reffered to as brit milah
Covenant
One fourth of the vast Talmud consists of material on the subject of … what?
Women: 7 long tractates treating the relation between the sexes in all its branches.
Who pronounces the blessing at the ceremony (also called bris) of circumcision?
The father
What is a mohel (in the US, often pronounced ‘moyl’)?
A circumciser
What does the term bar-mitzva mean?
Son of the Commandment
How old is a Jewish boy, at the minimum, when he becomes bar-mitzva?
13
What does the term bat mitzva (bas-mitzva) mean? Who is the ceremony for?
Daughter of the Covenant. It’s for Jewish girls.
The two major Jewish movements (other than orthodoxy) are … what and what?
Conservative and Reform
Traditional Jewish separation of men and women in worship goes back to … when?
Temple times. over 2000 years old
The ban on musical instruments in the orthodox synagogue is linked to … what?
The custom of mourning for the destruction of the Temple.
How does Judaism regard sex? And for what four purposes?
The cord that secures the union of two lovers for life. 4 purposes: For shared strength, pleasure, and ease, and for the rearing of children.
12 days after the menses (period) begin, or 7 days after they cease, whichever is longer. They rejoin at a time when the woman is ready to conceive. It has always been a part of marriage in the Jewish faith.
When do orthodox Jewish couples sleep apart? Why?
How does the orthodox Jewish wife mark the end of the abstinence?
Immersion in an ocean, river, lake, or a Jewish ritual pool.
What is a Jewish ritual immersion pool or font called?
Mikva
The rite of the pool, which takes a few seconds, is … what?
Wholly symbolic of purity and rebirth.
Judaism regards divorce as … what?
A catastrophe that is bound to occur in a certain number of mistaken marriages.
What is Kaddish and when is it said?
An ancient Aramaic……… prose-poem sanctifying God’s name and praying for the speedy coming of His kingdom. It is said at the very end of a service by new mourners as a pledge of undimmed faith in God despite the recent disaster in their lives.
How long is a Shiva and what is done? How long is a Shloshim and how is it related?
Shiva is the first 7 days after death where the mourners stay at home sitting on low stools and receive condolence calls. Shloshim is after the Shiva and it is 30 days when resume normal life, except they avoid places of entertainment and continue to observe certain forms and prayers.
When do Shiva and Shloshim take place?
After the death of a relative/loved one.
What does Wouk call the survival of the Bible?
A miracle
What five biblical books comprise the Torah?
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
What is the theme sounded in the last words of Malachi?
“Remember the Torah of Moses my servant that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel, laws of faith and laws of justice.”
In Hebrew scripture, the law itself is called … what? Meaning what?
Halaka. It means “The way”
The rest of this literature is light on the law, called … what? Meaning what?
Hagada. It means “the story”.
Scholars call the Hebrew text of the Bible the _M__________ Text.
Masoretic
What is the Talmud? What is the Mishna? What is the Gemara?
The Talmud is two books put together, the Mishna and the Gemara. The Mishna is a report of the legal decisions of a line of analysts and judges known as the Tanna’im (Teachers) over a space of 400 years. The Gemara was made by the second great line of sages known as the Amora’im and it is the analysis of the laws laid down in the Mishna, and it includes stories, poems, science, prayers, etc. The Gemara means, The Completion.
What is the term for the Talmud’s parables, sermons, and allegories?
Hagada
What is the Jews’ common law?
To follow the Talmud
The core of Jewish common law is … what?
Precedent
What is the “slow veto” in Jewish law?
The only effective veto in Judaism. “A veto of long run, or of social progress.” It is used if an amendment has put communities outside the living frame of the Torah, there has been a dimming of identity, or a loss of vigor.
What kind of damages does “an eye for an eye” refer to?
The “damages” is the money that a person had to pay to the court to compensate for whatever mutilation he did to his neighbor.
Who was Maimonides? [in 20 words or less, create your own summary]
Jewish scholastic philosopher and rabbi, born in Spain: one of the major theologians of Judaism.
What does the term Rambam mean?
Refers to Rabbi Moses, son of Maimon. - Maimonides.
What was the major literary work of Maimonides?
Mishnah Torah
What is the Shulkhan Aruch? [in 20 words or less, create your own summary]
“The ready table” Pg 199. A book which he said was short, simple, and clear so that the average layman could run through it once a month to keep Jewish practice fresh in his mind
Who produced this work? (the Shulkhan Aruch)
Joseph Caro
What is haskala?
Enlightenment
Where and when did this enlightenment primarily take place?
Started in Western Europe mostly. Eventually spread to the East. Germany was a Jewish stronghold, but then became the center of Apostasy. Early 1800’s.
Who are the Hassidim? And against what do they hold out?
Jews who stand against this new form of Orthodoxy that has been formed with Western influence. They hold out against Western Education.
What (in Wouk’s brief terms) is the Cabala they practice? (also spelled Kabalah)
A book of strange efflorescence of magic, mystery, and poetry in Jewish lore. It is not in any way connected to the Talmud. Heavily set in ideas of mysticism.
Who was the Baal Shem Tov? Where and when did he live?
Mystic wonder-worker who started the Hasidic Cabala movement with ideas of romanticism: anyone could please God with an offering of love and service of the heart. Born in 1700 in Poland.
Where (what country) and when did the Reform movement get its start?
Germany in the early nineteenth Century
Who was the father of the Conservative movement? In what country?
Solomon Schechter in the USA
What is assimilation?
A popular party of dissent among Jews that is not organized with temples or books of doctrine. Usually made up of the poorest and the richest Jews. It is the idea that Jews should just intermarry and disappear, to just not do anything about being Jewish. Join the main population of mankind.
Why is this considered undesirable and a danger for the Jewish people? (assimilation)
If assimilation ever won over, then the world would be deprived of the next group of Freuds, Spinozas, St. Pauls, etc. that Judaism provided before, because the Jewish line of people would be gone.
What is the term for the political movement of Jewish return to Palestine?
Practical Zionism which was opposed to Herzl’s Political Zionism
What is the name of the modern Jewish state?
Israel
What is the capital of the modern Jewish state?
Jerusalem
What does the author now (that is, as of 1987) take for granted?
Through the religion
