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REL C 357 > Wouk > Flashcards

Wouk Flashcards

1
Q

What does the author now (that is, as of 1987) take for granted?

A

An educated westerner can live a traditional Jewish existence.

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2
Q

What does Wouk call “a formidable intellectual position”?

A

Belief in God

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3
Q

Where does Wouk say Jews today “live as free and equal citizens”?

A

The United States (and Israel)

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4
Q

How old is the Jewish people? What does Wouk say has verified this?

A

3000 years, confirmed by archaeology.

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5
Q

Wouk observes that the Bible says Jews descend from three men. Who were they?

A

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

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6
Q

What is the Hebrew word for the scripture law given to Moses for Israel?

A

Torah

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7
Q

“To sum up,” says Wouk, who are the Jews?

A

Israelites, descended from the participants in the Exodus under Moses

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8
Q

What two things does Wouk say determines “who is a Jew”?

A

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.

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9
Q

In Judaism, what is the “path to God” and to whom does it lie open?

A

“Right conduct,” which “lies open to Jews and non-Jews”

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10
Q

For whom does Wouk say he is “sketching Judaism”?

A

“for those who want to know about it, whatever the source of their curiosity.”

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11
Q

How does Wouk say Jews can be loyal to both religious law and the law of the land?

A

“Both laws are one law.” The Talmud dictates that “the law of the land is our law.”

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12
Q

What is the one point over which conflict might exist in this issue?

A

A law prohibiting Jews from worshiping their God.

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13
Q

What is the nearest thing to an encyclopedia in Judaism?

A

The Babylon Talmud

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14
Q

By tradition, how many commandments does Judaism (i.e. the Law) have?

A

613

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15
Q

But how many of those commandments does Wouk say are “key observances”?

A

24

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16
Q

What does Wouk say is the “core of Judaism”?

A

“Right conduct to other people.”

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17
Q

What did Hillel say is the “core of Judaism”?

A

“What is offensive to you do not do to others.”

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18
Q

What is the only strictly Jewish symbol in the Ten Commandments?

A

The Sabbath

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19
Q

How many prohibitions are there in the “two tables” (i.e. Ten Commandments)?

A

Seven

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20
Q

How many positive commands are there in the “two tablets”?

A

Three

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21
Q

What (“in the second place” according to Wouk) does the Sabbath mark?

A

“the founding of the Jewish nation in the Exodus from Egypt.”

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22
Q

The Sabbath is a recurring sign and reminder of … what two things?

A

“creation, and Israel’s beginning.”

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23
Q

In the presence of emergency, what vanishes on Sabbath?

A

“All the restrictive laws of the Sabbath”

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24
Q

What does Wouk say is the second layer of Judaism’s bedrock?

A

“Common sense”

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25
Q

What seems to be the definition of Sabbath emergency?

A

“Peril to life or limb,” but not peril to personal gain or interests

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26
Q

What is the nature of the Jewish religious calendar

A

Lunar (with leap months)

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27
Q

What is Judaism’s spring festival called?

A

Pesakh/Passover

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28
Q

What central and picturesque rite of Passover no longer exists?

A

“The eating of the Paschal lamb”

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29
Q

What is the word “seder” a popular name for?

A

The Passover feast

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30
Q

What is a Hagada?

A

The script of the seder pageant, telling the story of the Exodus

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31
Q

What substance has to be completely removed from homes for Passover?

A

Leaven/yeast

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32
Q

How many days after Passover until the festival of Shavu’ot (i.e. Shavuos)?

A

About fifty

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33
Q

What is Shavu’ot (Shavuos) the Hebrew word for? What’s the connection?

A

“Weeks.” It celebrates the reception of the Law at Sinai seven weeks after leaving Egypt.

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34
Q

Why did Greeks call this festival Pentecost? How long does it last?

A

That means “fiftieth day.” The festival lasts one day (two outside Israel).

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35
Q

What season of the year is the Shavu’ot (Shavuos) festival associated with?

A

Summer

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36
Q

In addition to wheat harvest, Shavu’ot is the anniversary of … what?

A

Receiving the Law at Sinai

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37
Q

With what season is the festival of Sukkot (Sukos) associated?

A

Autumn

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38
Q

What does the Law of Moses require for seven days at Sukkot (Sukos)?

A

Living outdoors in temporary, crude huts.

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39
Q

What does the Hebrew word Sukkot mean in English (modern & archaic versions)?

A

Hut or tabernacle

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40
Q

In the sukkah (suko) what does there have to be room for?

A

A table and chairs

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41
Q

Of the four species carried at Sukkot, what is an etrog (esrog)? What is it like?

A

A fragrant yellow fruit, like a lemon but larger

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42
Q

Along with a palm branch, what two other tree branches are bound and carried?

A

Willow and myrtle

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43
Q

What kind of branch is a lulav? What action is done with the lulav?

A

Palm branch. It is waved through the air while marching and performing the Hallelujah chants.

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44
Q

When does Shemini Atzeret (Sh’mini Atzeres) occur?

A

On the eighth day, at the end of Sukkot

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45
Q

What is another name for Shemini Atzeret, and what does it mean?

A

Simkhas Torah: Celebration of the Law

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46
Q

But outside the land of Israel, on what day does Simhat Torah (Simkhas Torah) occur?

A

On the ninth day

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47
Q

With what sacred item in their hands do people dance in the synagogue on Simhat Torah?

A

The Holy Scrolls (the Torah)

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48
Q

What will teach you more than reading forty books on Judaism?

A

Experiencing a year of the Jewish festivals

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49
Q

See note at end of chapter – what Hebrew pronunciation did Wouk’s father use?

A

Eastern European

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50
Q

On what day do many Jews, who might not attend any other time, go to synagogue?

A

Yom Kippur

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51
Q

What is the term for the Jewish new year?

A

Rosh Hashana

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52
Q

What two days are the High Holy Days?

A

Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana

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53
Q

What are two other “days of” names for the period of these holy days?

A

“Days of Awe” and “The Ten Days of Repentance”

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54
Q

On Yom Kippur, what are the five abstentions of the 24 hour fasting period?

A

Eating and drinking, sex, bathing, anointing the body with oil, and wearing leather shoes.

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55
Q

In the metaphor of the High Holy Days, what is written in the scrolls of fate?

A

One’s “deeds of the year past.”

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56
Q

Which of the High Holy Days the day of “horn blowing”?

A

Rosh Hashana

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57
Q

In the machinery of penitence, atonement begins with two things … what are they?

A

Repairing the injury, then seeking God’s absolution

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58
Q

In Judaism, what is there no machinery for? (two things)

A

“confession to a human being or release from sin through an agency on earth.”

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59
Q

Jewish liturgy says three things can “dissolve the evil decree” … what are they?

A

“Repentance, prayer, and good works.”

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60
Q

What three minor (post-Mosaic) holidays does Wouk discuss?

A

Ninth of Av, Purim, and Hanuka

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61
Q

What does Tisha B’av mean?

A

The Ninth of Av

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62
Q

What does Tisha B’Av commemorate?

A

The day the Babylonians sacked the Temple of Solomon, and the day the Romans destroyed the Second Temple.

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63
Q

How do observant Jews mark Tisha B’av (i.e. what do they do or not do)?

A

A fast and all the Yom Kippur abstinences, although they still work.

64
Q

When (in the modern calendar) does Tisha B’av normally occur?

A

July or August

65
Q

What biblical book is the source for the festival of Purim?

A

Esther

66
Q

When (in the modern calendar) does Purim normally occur?

A

February or March

67
Q

Purim is the nearest thing Judaism has to a … what?

A

Carnival

68
Q

What is the Jewish holiday not rooted in the Bible narrative?

A

Hanuka

69
Q

What does Hanukkah (Hanuka) celebrate?

A

The Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Greeks

70
Q

Who was the Seleucid king that persecuted the Jews?

A

Antiochus IV Epiphanes

71
Q

Of what priestly family was Mattathias, who started the revolt?

A

Hasmonean

72
Q

Who was the son of Mattathias, and what did he do that Hanukkah celebrates?

A

Judah Maccabee; he recaptured the temple and restored/rededicated it.

73
Q

What does the Hebrew term Hanukkah (Hanuka) mean?

A

Dedication

74
Q

The oil in the Temple menorah burned for (how many) days on Hanukkah?

A

Eight

75
Q

A traditional Jew prays (how many) times a day? And when?

A

Thrice: Morning, afternoon, and night

76
Q

The synagogue began as a kind of … what?

A

“popular law school”

77
Q

What is “the very heart of synagogue practice”?

A

“the reading of the Torah, week by week, in fifty-two sections”

78
Q

Synagogue filled “the vacuum at the core of the religion” after what event?

A

The fall of the First Temple

79
Q

The synagogue “evolved into a house of” … what?

A

Worship

80
Q

What is the Shema (Sh’ma), the prayer which Wouk calls the synagogue “creed”?

A

A brief statement of devotion to God

81
Q

What does the word Shema mean, in English?

A

Hear

82
Q

What is the first verse of scripture of the Shema?

A

Deuteronomy 6:4

83
Q

What is the Shemone Esray (Shmone Esrai), the prayer Wouk calls the “service”?

A

A litany of eighteen blessings

84
Q

What do the words Shemone Esray mean?

A

The Eighteen

85
Q

What have Jews always clung to as their language of liturgy and prayer?

A

Hebrew

86
Q

What two general communities of Jews pulled together after the Roman dispersion?

A

The Ashkenaz and the Sefard

87
Q

Where, geographically, do Ashkenazim (the Ashkenazi Jews) have their heritage?

A

North and East Europe

88
Q

Where, geographically, do the Sefardim (the Sefardi Jews) have their heritage?

A

The Mediterranean

89
Q

Jewish diet – the Torah gives one brief reason for the laws … what is it?

A

To “help discipline Israel to holiness.”

90
Q

From the Bible, what features must an animal have for Jews to be able to eat it?

A

Cloven hooves and cud-chewing

91
Q

Other than the obvious pork, what kinds of animals may Jews not eat?

A

Rodents, reptiles, horses, primates, etc.

92
Q

From the Bible, what features must sea creatures have for Jews to be able to eat them?

A

Fins and scales

93
Q

What kinds of seafood may Jews not eat?

A

Everything else, including shrimp, oysters, and lobsters

94
Q

What kinds of birds does the Torah list as forbidden (proscribed) for eating?

A

Birds of prey or carrion eaters

95
Q

Other than “pure” what is the nearest English word for the meaning of “kosher”?

A

Fit

96
Q

What foods does the word ‘trayf’ (trefe) describe or extend to as used by Jews?

A

“Torn,” or those that were not properly slaughtered

97
Q

The Torah has four main rules for preparing meat. What does the second one forbid?

A

Drinking blood

98
Q

How is the third main ruled interpreted today? What cannot be mixed or eaten together?

A

Do not have meat and dairy in the same meal.

99
Q

What is Jewish kosher slaughtering law supposed to insure for the animal involved?

A

A painless death

100
Q

What is a talit (tallis)? When is it worn for prayer? What does it have on its corners?

A

A prayer shawl worn in the morning. Fringes.

101
Q

The law of fringes is found in what biblical book?

A

Numbers

102
Q

What are tefillin (phylacteries)? When are they worn for prayers?

A

Black leather boxes tied to the forehead and arm. In the morning.

103
Q

What is inside the tefillin? How are the tefillin worn?

A

The Sh’ma and other Bible verses. Worn on the forehead and arm.

104
Q

What Jewish movement discarded the wearing of head covering, tallis, and tefillin?

A

Reform

105
Q

In Europe, what was the wide, dark skullcap called?

A

Yarmulka

106
Q

It is also customary for women to wear something in the synagogue … what?

A

A head covering

107
Q

What is a mezuza? What is inside a mezuza? What does the word mezuza mean?

A

A box containing scripture on the doorway. Means doorpost.

108
Q

To what part of a Jewish house is a mezuza affixed (usually with small nails)?

A

The doorway.

109
Q

Regarding circumcision (Hebrew bris) what does the Hebrew word bris mean?

A

Covenant

110
Q

Who pronounces the blessing at the ceremony (also called bris) of circumcision?

A

The father

111
Q

What is a mohel (in the US, often pronounced ‘moyl’)?

A

A skilled circumciser

112
Q

What does the term bar-mitzva mean?

A

Son of the commandment

113
Q

How old is a Jewish boy, at the minimum, when he becomes bar-mitzva?

A

Thirteen

114
Q

What does the term bat mitzva (bas-mitzva) mean? Who is the ceremony for?

A

Daughter of the commandment, for Jewish girls.

115
Q

The two major Jewish movements (other than orthodoxy) are … what and what?

A

Conservative and Reform

116
Q

Traditional Jewish separation of men and women in worship goes back to … when?

A

Temple times

117
Q

The ban on musical instruments in the orthodox synagogue is linked to … what?

A

The destruction of the Temple

118
Q

One fourth of the vast Talmud consists of material on the subject of … what?

A

Women (or, the relation between the sexes)

119
Q

How does Judaism regard sex? And for what four purposes?

A

As the cord binding spouses together. For shared strength, pleasure, and ease, and the rearing of children.

120
Q

When do orthodox Jewish couples sleep apart? Why?

A

“During twelve days after the menses begin.” Practically, “they rejoin at the time when the wife is most likely to conceive.

121
Q

How does the orthodox Jewish wife mark the end of the abstinence?

A

By immersing in a ritual pool.

122
Q

What is a Jewish ritual immersion pool or font called?

A

Mikva

123
Q

The rite of the pool, which takes a few seconds, is … what?

A

“wholly symbolic”

124
Q

Judaism regards divorce as … what?

A

Catastrophe that is bound to occur occasionally

125
Q

What is Kaddish and when is it said?

A

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.

126
Q

How long is a Shiva and what is done? How long is a Shloshim and how is it related?

A

Seven days; remain at home and receive condolences. Thirty days; resume normal activity, but avoid entertainment and observe some prayers.

127
Q

When do Shiva and Shloshim take place?

A

After the death of a loved one.

128
Q

What does Wouk call the survival of the Bible?

A

A miracle

129
Q

What five biblical books comprise the Torah?

A

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

130
Q

What is the theme sounded in the last words of Malachi?

A

“Remember the Torah of Moses”

131
Q

In Hebrew scripture, the law itself is called … what? Meaning what?

A

Halakha, meaning “the way.”

132
Q

The rest of this literature is light on the law, called … what? Meaning what?

A

Hagada, meaning “the story.”

133
Q

Scholars call the Hebrew text of the Bible the ___________ Text.

A

Masoretic

134
Q

What is the Talmud? What is the Mishna? What is the Gemara?

A

A long collection of commentary on the Torah. Mishna: Legal decisions from a period of 400 years, compiled by Rabbi Judah. Gemara: Legal analysis.

135
Q

What is the term for the Talmud’s parables, sermons, and allegories?

A

Hagada

136
Q

What is the Jews’ common law?

A

The Talmud

137
Q

The core of Jewish common law is … what?

A

Precedent

138
Q

What is the “slow veto” in Jewish law?

A

The de facto rejection of “amendments” to Jewish law, where the people do not abide by them.

139
Q

What kind of damages does “an eye for an eye” refer to?

A

Theoretical liability, money damages

140
Q

Who was Maimonides?

A

A Spanish Jew who wrote a relatively clear summary of the oral law, based on the Talmud

141
Q

What does the term Rambam mean?

A

Rabbi Moses ben Maimon

142
Q

What was the major literary work of Maimonides?

A

Mishna Torah (or Guide for the Perplexed?)

143
Q

What is the Shulkhan Aruch?

A

An important book of law and legal commentary.

144
Q

Who produced this work?

A

Joseph Caro

145
Q

What is haskala?

A

Enlightenment

146
Q

Where and when did this enlightenment primarily take place?

A

Europe, 1600s and 1700s

147
Q

Who are the Hassidim? And against what do they hold out?

A

A group of ultra-orthodox Jews, practitioners of Cabala. They hold out against Western education.

148
Q

What (in Wouk’s brief terms) is the Cabala they practice? (also spelled Kabalah)

A

A movement of Jewish mysticism

149
Q

Who was the Baal Shem Tov? Where and when did he live?

A

The founder of Cabala, from Poland in the 1700s.

150
Q

Where (what country) and when did the Reform movement get its start?

A

Germany, early 19th century

151
Q

Who was the father of the Conservative movement? In what country?

A

Solomon Schechter, in the United States

152
Q

What is assimilation?

A

Abandoning Judaism and “disappearing” into society at large

153
Q

Why is this considered undesirable and a danger for the Jewish people?

A

It reduces their numbers?

154
Q

What is the term for the political movement of Jewish return to Palestine?

A

Zionism

155
Q

What is the name of the modern Jewish state?

A

Israel

156
Q

What is the capital of the modern Jewish state?

A

Jerusalem

157
Q

Wouk’s answer to Ben Gurion on how American Jews will survive

A

“Through the religion”

REL C 357 (5 decks)

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