Wouk Flashcards
What does the author now (that is, as of 1987) take for granted?
An educated westerner can live a traditional Jewish existence.
What does Wouk call “a formidable intellectual position”?
Belief in God
Where does Wouk say Jews today “live as free and equal citizens”?
The United States (and Israel)
How old is the Jewish people? What does Wouk say has verified this?
3000 years, confirmed by archaeology.
Wouk observes that the Bible says Jews descend from three men. Who were they?
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
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 participants in the Exodus under Moses
What two things does Wouk say determines “who is a Jew”?
Descent from one man, Abraham, and the tribe of Israel; and that descent is defined by faith: following the God of Abraham and obeying His law.
In Judaism, what is the “path to God” and to whom does it lie open?
“Right conduct,” which “lies open to Jews and non-Jews”
For whom does Wouk say he is “sketching Judaism”?
“for those who want to know about it, whatever the source of their curiosity.”
How does Wouk say Jews can be loyal to both religious law and the law of the land?
“Both laws are one law.” The Talmud dictates that “the law of the land is our law.”
What is the one point over which conflict might exist in this issue?
A law prohibiting Jews from worshiping their God.
What is the nearest thing to an encyclopedia in Judaism?
The Babylon 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”?
24
What does Wouk say is the “core of Judaism”?
“Right conduct to other people.”
What did Hillel say is the “core of Judaism”?
“What is offensive to you do not do to others.”
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)?
Seven
How many positive commands are there in the “two tablets”?
Three
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, and Israel’s beginning.”
In the presence of emergency, what vanishes on Sabbath?
“All the restrictive laws of the Sabbath”
What does Wouk say is the second layer of Judaism’s bedrock?
“Common sense”
What seems to be the definition of Sabbath emergency?
“Peril to life or limb,” but not peril to personal gain or interests
What is the nature of the Jewish religious calendar
Lunar (with leap months)
What is Judaism’s spring festival called?
Pesakh/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 Passover feast
What is a Hagada?
The script of the seder pageant, telling the story of the Exodus
What substance has to be completely removed from homes for Passover?
Leaven/yeast
How many days after Passover until the festival of Shavu’ot (i.e. Shavuos)?
About fifty
What is Shavu’ot (Shavuos) the Hebrew word for? What’s the connection?
“Weeks.” It celebrates the reception of the Law at Sinai seven weeks after leaving Egypt.
Why did Greeks call this festival Pentecost? How long does it last?
That 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
In addition to wheat harvest, Shavu’ot is the anniversary of … what?
Receiving the Law at Sinai
With what season is the festival of Sukkot (Sukos) associated?
Autumn
What does the Law of Moses require for seven days at Sukkot (Sukos)?
Living outdoors in temporary, crude huts.
What does the Hebrew word Sukkot mean in English (modern & archaic versions)?
Hut or 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, like a lemon but larger
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. It is waved through the air while marching and performing the Hallelujah chants.
When does Shemini Atzeret (Sh’mini Atzeres) occur?
On the eighth day, at the end of Sukkot
What is another name for Shemini Atzeret, and what does it mean?
Simkhas Torah: Celebration of the Law
But outside the land of Israel, on what day does Simhat Torah (Simkhas Torah) occur?
On the ninth day
With what sacred item in their hands do people dance in the synagogue on Simhat Torah?
The Holy Scrolls (the Torah)
What will teach you more than reading forty books on Judaism?
Experiencing a year of the Jewish festivals
See note at end of chapter – what Hebrew pronunciation did Wouk’s father use?
Eastern European
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” and “The 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, and wearing leather shoes.
In the metaphor of the High Holy Days, what is written in the scrolls of fate?
One’s “deeds of the year past.”
Which of the High Holy Days the day of “horn blowing”?
Rosh Hashana
In the machinery of penitence, atonement begins with two things … what are they?
Repairing the injury, then seeking God’s absolution
In Judaism, what is there no machinery for? (two things)
“confession to a human being or 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 Hanuka
What does Tisha B’av mean?
The Ninth of Av
What does Tisha B’Av commemorate?
The day the Babylonians sacked the Temple of Solomon, and the day the Romans destroyed the Second Temple.
How do observant Jews mark Tisha B’av (i.e. what do they do or not do)?
A fast and all the Yom Kippur abstinences, although they still work.
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?
Hanuka
What does Hanukkah (Hanuka) celebrate?
The Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Greeks
Who was the Seleucid king that persecuted the Jews?
Antiochus IV 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?
Judah Maccabee; he recaptured the temple and restored/rededicated it.
What does the Hebrew term Hanukkah (Hanuka) mean?
Dedication
The oil in the Temple menorah burned for (how many) days on Hanukkah?
Eight
A traditional Jew prays (how many) times a day? And when?
Thrice: Morning, afternoon, and night
The synagogue began as a kind of … what?
“popular law school”
What is “the very heart of synagogue practice”?
“the reading of the Torah, week by week, in fifty-two sections”
Synagogue filled “the vacuum at the core of the religion” after what event?
The fall of the First Temple
The synagogue “evolved into a house of” … what?
Worship
What is the Shema (Sh’ma), the prayer which Wouk calls the synagogue “creed”?
A brief statement of devotion to God
What does the word Shema mean, in English?
Hear
What is the first verse of scripture of the Shema?
Deuteronomy 6:4
What is the Shemone Esray (Shmone Esrai), the prayer Wouk calls the “service”?
A litany of eighteen blessings
What do the words Shemone Esray mean?
The Eighteen
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?
The Ashkenaz and the Sefard
Where, geographically, do Ashkenazim (the Ashkenazi Jews) have their heritage?
North and East Europe
Where, geographically, do the Sefardim (the Sefardi Jews) have their heritage?
The Mediterranean
Jewish diet – the Torah gives one brief reason for the laws … what is it?
To “help discipline Israel to holiness.”
From the Bible, what features must an animal have for Jews to be able to eat it?
Cloven hooves and cud-chewing
Other than the obvious pork, what kinds of animals may Jews not eat?
Rodents, reptiles, horses, primates, etc.
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?
Everything else, including shrimp, oysters, and lobsters
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
What foods does the word ‘trayf’ (trefe) describe or extend to as used by Jews?
“Torn,” or those that were not properly slaughtered
The Torah has four main rules for preparing meat. What does the second one forbid?
Drinking blood
How is the third main ruled interpreted today? What cannot be mixed or eaten together?
Do not have meat and dairy in the same meal.
What is Jewish kosher slaughtering law supposed to insure for the animal involved?
A painless death
What is a talit (tallis)? When is it worn for prayer? What does it have on its corners?
A prayer shawl worn in the morning. Fringes.
The law of fringes is found in what biblical book?
Numbers
What are tefillin (phylacteries)? When are they worn for prayers?
Black leather boxes tied to the forehead and arm. In the morning.
What is inside the tefillin? How are the tefillin worn?
The Sh’ma and other Bible verses. Worn on the forehead and arm.
What Jewish movement discarded the wearing of head covering, tallis, and tefillin?
Reform
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 box containing scripture on the doorway. Means doorpost.
To what part of a Jewish house is a mezuza affixed (usually with small nails)?
The doorway.
Regarding circumcision (Hebrew bris) what does the Hebrew word bris mean?
Covenant
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 skilled 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?
Thirteen
What does the term bat mitzva (bas-mitzva) mean? Who is the ceremony for?
Daughter of the commandment, 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
The ban on musical instruments in the orthodox synagogue is linked to … what?
The destruction of the Temple
One fourth of the vast Talmud consists of material on the subject of … what?
Women (or, the relation between the sexes)
How does Judaism regard sex? And for what four purposes?
As the cord binding spouses together. For shared strength, pleasure, and ease, and the rearing of children.
When do orthodox Jewish couples sleep apart? Why?
“During twelve days after the menses begin.” Practically, “they rejoin at the time when the wife is most likely to conceive.
How does the orthodox Jewish wife mark the end of the abstinence?
By immersing in a 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”
Judaism regards divorce as … what?
Catastrophe that is bound to occur occasionally
What is Kaddish and when is it said?
An ancient Aramaic prose-poem sanctifying God’s name, spoken at the end of each section of a synagogue service. The last of a service was spoken by a mourner.
How long is a Shiva and what is done? How long is a Shloshim and how is it related?
Seven days; remain at home and receive condolences. Thirty days; resume normal activity, but avoid entertainment and observe some prayers.
When do Shiva and Shloshim take place?
After the death of a loved one.
What does Wouk call the survival of the Bible?
A miracle
What five biblical books comprise the Torah?
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
What is the theme sounded in the last words of Malachi?
“Remember the Torah of Moses”
In Hebrew scripture, the law itself is called … what? Meaning what?
Halakha, meaning “the way.”
The rest of this literature is light on the law, called … what? Meaning what?
Hagada, meaning “the story.”
Scholars call the Hebrew text of the Bible the ___________ Text.
Masoretic
What is the Talmud? What is the Mishna? What is the Gemara?
A long collection of commentary on the Torah. Mishna: Legal decisions from a period of 400 years, compiled by Rabbi Judah. Gemara: Legal analysis.
What is the term for the Talmud’s parables, sermons, and allegories?
Hagada
What is the Jews’ common law?
The Talmud
The core of Jewish common law is … what?
Precedent
What is the “slow veto” in Jewish law?
The de facto rejection of “amendments” to Jewish law, where the people do not abide by them.
What kind of damages does “an eye for an eye” refer to?
Theoretical liability, money damages
Who was Maimonides?
A Spanish Jew who wrote a relatively clear summary of the oral law, based on the Talmud
What does the term Rambam mean?
Rabbi Moses ben Maimon
What was the major literary work of Maimonides?
Mishna Torah (or Guide for the Perplexed?)
What is the Shulkhan Aruch?
An important book of law and legal commentary.
Who produced this work?
Joseph Caro
What is haskala?
Enlightenment
Where and when did this enlightenment primarily take place?
Europe, 1600s and 1700s
Who are the Hassidim? And against what do they hold out?
A group of ultra-orthodox Jews, practitioners of Cabala. They hold out against Western education.
What (in Wouk’s brief terms) is the Cabala they practice? (also spelled Kabalah)
A movement of Jewish mysticism
Who was the Baal Shem Tov? Where and when did he live?
The founder of Cabala, from Poland in the 1700s.
Where (what country) and when did the Reform movement get its start?
Germany, early 19th century
Who was the father of the Conservative movement? In what country?
Solomon Schechter, in the United States
What is assimilation?
Abandoning Judaism and “disappearing” into society at large
Why is this considered undesirable and a danger for the Jewish people?
It reduces their numbers?
What is the term for the political movement of Jewish return to Palestine?
Zionism
What is the name of the modern Jewish state?
Israel
What is the capital of the modern Jewish state?
Jerusalem
Wouk’s answer to Ben Gurion on how American Jews will survive
“Through the religion”
