Judaism (09/08)

What date is known as the beginning or near the beginning of the Second Temple Period?

539 BC.

What were the three major dominations the Jews were under during the Second Temple period (prior to the Romans)?

1. Persian domination. 2. Greek domination (by Alexander the Great, c. 322 BCE). 3. A 100-year independence after a successful rebellion (beginning 175 BCE).

What momentous event occurred during the first Jewish rebellion against Rome (year 66 CE)?

The Second Temple was destroyed (year 70 CE) , leading to the Jews being effectively in exile again.

What new Jewish institution and place of worship came into existence after the destruction of the Temple?

The Synagogue.

Who were the new religious leaders who saved Judaism from ending after the Temple's destruction?

The Rabbis

What is the Oral Torah?

A body of oral traditions that the Rabbis believed was an entire second Torah given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, never written down, and meant to supplement the written Torah.

Define Tefillin (or Filine) and Tallit (or tali).

Tefillin are black boxes containing parchments with portions of the Torah, worn during prayer. Tallit is a prayer shawl with fringes on the corners, worn during prayer to remind Jews of God's commandments

What is the figure, a descendant of King David, who would defeat Israel's enemies and restore the Jews to their homeland, called?

The Messiah (the anointed one).

What two major works did the Rabbis create that include their discussions and debates about Jewish law?

The Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud

What is the earliest core text shared by both Talmuds?

The Mishnah.

What are the Gemaras (or Gaarras)?

Commentaries on the Mishnah

Which Talmud became the "superior Talmud" that Jews would live by?

The Babylonian Talmud (completed around the 700s).

What is the term for Jewish law, which most of the Talmud deals with?

Halacha

What is the term for the non-legal material in the Talmud, such as stories, interpretations of biblical stories, and theology?

Aggada (or Agada)

What is the scholarly term for the form of Judaism created by the Rabbis?

Rabbinic Judaism (in contrast to Biblical Judaism).

What was the goal of Jewish Philosophy starting around the year 900?

To clarify the basic beliefs of Judaism through the use of reason.

What two sources of knowledge did Jewish philosophers try to balance?

Reason (rational thinking) and Revelation (sacred texts like the Bible or Koran).

Who is considered the greatest figure in medieval Jewish philosophy (in the 1100s)?

Rabbi Moses Ben Maimun, commonly known as Maimonides.

What was Maimonides' most influential work on Jewish philosophy?

The Guide of the Perplexed.

What is the core idea of the First Cause Argument for God's existence?

That every event has a cause, so to avoid an infinite regress, there must be a First Cause that initiates the entire chain, and that cause is God.

Why did some traditional Rabbis object to Jewish Philosophy?

They believed using human reason to probe God was arrogant and that Jews should rely on faith. They also objected to the reliance on the philosophy of non-Jews like the ancient Greeks.

What is Kabbalah (meaning "tradition")?

A school of thought that claimed to be a secret wisdom given to Moses on Mount Sinai that unlocked the secrets of the universe, relying more on revelation than reason.

What is the most important work of Kabbalah from the medieval period (appearing in the 1200s)?

The Zohar (meaning "illumination" or "radiance").

According to Kabbalah, what are the 10 attributes of God that explain everything human beings can know about the divine?

The Sefirot (or spheros).

According to Kabbalah, what is the cause of evil in the world?

The Sefirot (God's attributes) are out of sync or out of harmony with each other, a problem that began with the sin of Adam and Eve

How could Jews help restore cosmic harmony according to the Kabbalists?

By meticulously observing God's 613 commandments; these actions had a cosmic effect that would gradually bring God's attributes back into harmony.

What is the Italian word for the Jewish area where Jews were first forced to live separately in Venice (1500s)?

Ghetto

What two major 18th-century European movements led to the dramatic change in the status of Jews, eventually granting them equal rights?

The French Revolution (1789) and the underlying intellectual movement, the Enlightenment.

What was the view of the Torah held by the rabbis of the Reform Movement?

They no longer saw the Torah as the literal word of God but as a book written by human beings who were inspired by God.

Where did the Reform Movement end up having its greatest success?

The United States (especially after 2 million Jews migrated there between 1880 and 1924).

What is a huge focus in the Reform Movement today, according to the transcript?

Social justice (along with ethics and tolerance).