RLGA02 Midterm Review - Terms & Importance
RLGA02 Midterm Review - Terms & Importance Maccabean Revolt – During the period of the Seleucids’ ruling in Judea, a general revolt broke out, led by resistance fighters called Maccabees ‘hammer’ (nickname of their ruler, Judah). Their objective was to expel the Seleucids for crushing the Judeans’ religion. Babylonian Exile – The deportation of Jewish leaders from Jerusalem to Mesopotamia by the conquering Babylonians in 586 BCE; disrupting local Israelite political, ritual, and agricultural institutions (Temple is razed), it marked the transition from Israelite religion to Judaism. Passover – The major spring festival of agricultural rebirth and renewal, given a historical dimension by association with the hasty departure of the Israelites from Egypt under Moses’ leadership YHWH – God’s personal name in Hebrew or can be written as Yahweh. Originally have meant “he who causes to be”. ‘Adonay’ ‘G-d’ It is considered blasphemous to pronounce the name Midrash – Commentary on scripture. Torah – A word meaning ‘teaching’ or ‘instruction’; applied most specifically to the Law of Moses (the Pentaeuch) but may also refer to the entire scripture, including commentaries, and even the entire spiritual thrust of Jewish religion. Rashi – Rashi wrote the definitive commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud and the Bible Sadducees – represented the upper stratum of Judean society—the aristocracy that embraced Hellenization. The upper class both politically and occupationally, they were also the party of the priestly establishment and the custodians of the Temple, in charge of its operations. They insisted on a narrow, literal interpretation of the law. Zaddik – “Righteous person”. A title conveying the Hasidic ideal for a teacher or spiritual leader Ghettos – During the Napoleonic period when the ideals of French Revolution spread throughout Europe, Jews were living in the Ghettos, isolated from the mainstream society. It is where they were viewed as foreigners due to their non-Christian beliefs and Middle-Eastern origins in a Renaissance Christian environment. As a result, they were placed under strict regulations throughout many European cities. Sabbath (Saturday) – The seventh day of the week, observed by Jews since ancient times as a day of rest from ordinary activity. Documentary hypothesis – The theory (1894) that the Pentateuch was not written by one person (Moses) but compiled over a long period of time from multiple sources. Hellenistic Judaism – When Alexander the Great conquers Persian Empire. Greek becomes the language of trade; style for dress, architecture, even Bible translated into Greek (Septuagint). Judea was under the control of Ptolemies and then rule passed onto Seleucids in 198 BCE.
Seleucids dedicated the Temple to place of worship cult of Zeus, raided it of its riches and suspended the local Torah constitution. Hellenistic influences on Judaism as it becomes more individualistic, and encouraging of opposing truths—no single orthodoxy. Hellenistic Judaism comprised of a variety of sects. In North America, there are two major groups—Sadducees and Pharisees, representing the upper and middle classes. They faced challenges from two smaller, more radical sects—the Essenes and the Zealots. Diaspora – ‘Dispersal’, the Jewish world outside the land of ancient Israel; it began with the Babylonian Exile, from which not all Jews returned. Second Commonwealth – The post-exilic community. Not all Jews returned to Persiancontrolled Judah. The Second Temple was built; greater bureaucratic roles for priestly roles. The Torah became the foundation document of the nation in the period of the second commonwealth in somewhat the same way that the collected body of British law came to serve as Britain’s constitution Mishnah – The Hebrew summary of the oral law—inherited from Pharisaism and ascribed to Moses—arranged by topic; edited by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi before 220 CE, it has an authority paralleling that of the written Torah. Logos – ‘Word’; a kind of divine intelligence thought to mediate between God and humanity and carry out God’s intentions on earth Jewish Enlightenment – a movement among European Jews in the 18th-19th centuries that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history. Pharisees – represented the middle classes, landowners, skilled workers and many were professional scribes serving the aristocratic Sadducees. From time to time they also held power in the Temple, but they were more at home in the synagogues of Judea. Kabbalah – The medieval Jewish mystical tradition; its central test is a commentary on scripture called the Zohar, compiled by Moses ben Shemtov of Leon (d. 1305) but attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, a famous second century rabbinic mystic and wonder-worker. Reform Judaism – The belief of that Jewish life should parallel that of modern Europe. There is a Jewish Enlightenment which advocates in adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history. The movement sought to minimize the temptation of converting to Christianity by creating a new, more modern kind of Jewish religious life, such as vernacular sermons, western dress, prayers. Later on, it was taken to North America to continue to modernize and imbibe the intellectual assumptions of the time.
Conservative Judaism – takes a intermediate position between Reform and Orthodoxy. Hebrew is still used in prayer, but some reforms followed, such as patriarchal elements not allowing women to participate in services Temple Mount (Zion)– located in Jerusalem which was the center of Jewish worship from the time of Solomon to its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE. It is the one and only place where sacrifices and certain other religious rituals were performed. It was partially destroyed at the time of the Babylonian Exile and rebuilt. The rebuilt temple was known as the Second Temple. Moses – The greatest prophet who saw what all of the other prophets combined saw, and more. He saw the whole of the Torah, including the Prophets and the Writings that were written hundreds of years later Septuagint – The Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, made in Alexandria in Hellenistic times Hanukkah – An eight-day holiday to commemorate the rededication of the Temple in the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucids. Rabbi Judah – the Prince who produced the oldest datable rabbinic document—Mishnah. Rabbi – A teacher, in Roman times an expert on the interpretation of Torah; since priestly sacrifices ceased with the destruction of the Temple, the rabbi has been the scholarly and spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation. Covenant – contract; central organizing concept in the ancient Hebrews’ religion. Those who are bound by the covenant is defined by the special contractual relationship entered with God which specifies exactly how God desires Abraham’s descendants to behave. Abraham is assured of a long life and a peaceful death with many descendants to carry on afterward Essenes – widely believed to have been the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls—a collection of manuscripts from the Maccabean and early Roman period discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea at Qumran. Hasidism – ‘Pious ones’; applied to two unrelated groups of loyal or pious Jews: those who resisted Hellenism militarily in second-century BCE Palestine, and the mystically inclined followers of the Baal Shem Tov in eighteenth-centre Poland and their descendants today. The founder of Hasidism, Israel ben Eliezer created this pietistic Judaism and he proclaimed that the best way of community with God was through good deed, prayer, humility, and joy. Pogrom – a violent riot aimed at massacre or persecution of a religious group—Jews. Sukkoth – The festival of ‘Tabernacles’, named for the temporary booths or shelters originally constructed by farmers in autumn to protect their ripening crops and given a historical interpretation recalling the migration experiences of the Exodus Prophets – any person who has the ability to see the future. A prophet is a spokesman for God, a person chosen by God to speak to people on God’s behalf and convey a message or
teaching. They represent social criticism: people not living up to God’s covenant foretelling punishment if they don’t change their ways. The greatest prophet was Moses. It is said that Moses saw all that all of the other prophets combined saw, and more. Moses saw the whole of the Torah, including the Prophets and Writings that were written hundreds of years later Abraham and Sarah – the narratives of the patriarchs and matriarchs—the tribal ancestors of the Hebrews—mark the transition from the imaginative paradigms of myth and allegory to the anecdotal detail of legend. Menorah – The seven-branched candle-stick, a Jewish symbol since ancient times, well before the widespread adoption of the six pointed star; the nine-branched menorah used at Hanukkah is sometimes called a hanukiah. Tanakh – The entire Hebrew Bible, consisting of Torah (or law), Nevi’im (or prophets), and Ketuvim (or sacred writings), and named as an acronym of these three terms Talmud – the Mishnah became the skeleton of it. There are two different Talmuds—the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Each consists of the Hebrew Mishnah of Rabbi Judah together with one of the two bodies of commentary, Gemarah. Zionism – the modern movement to return to the ancient land of Israel, to found a nation there on the model of modern European nationalism. Zion is the Temple Mount. The revival of Hebrew language is a significant factor in the emergence of Zionism Moses Maimonides – born in Spain but living in Egypt, was the most famous of all Jewish philosophers. His greatest contribution was his effort to resolve the tension between faith and knowledge Zealots – A sect that expressly liberate Judea from Roman control. They come from Josephus, who describes bandits. But in fact their motives appear to be purely political. The emergence of the Zealots upset the balance between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The revolt against Rome left Jerusalem and the Temple in ruins and also destroyed Qumran. It was from the ashes of these disasters that the rabbinic movement would emerge to carry on the traditions of Pharisaism Moses Mendelossohn – The first and most influential reformer in Judaism, whose ideas preceded the French Revolution, may be seen as the father of modern Orthodoxy as well as Reform Judaism, because of his formula for the relationship between Jewish identity and European nationality became the model almost everywhere. Holocaust – “burnt offering” or “burnt sacrifice”. One of the ancient sacrifices mandated in the Hebrew bible. During WW2, roughly 6 million European Jews were put to death by the Nazis. This significantly decreased the world population of Jews by 1/3 since 1939. Orthodox Judaism – emphasizes the preservation of Jewish tradition. Though many adopt western dress, they still conduct services in Hebrew, observe Sabbath obligations, and insist on kosher meals and traditional gender roles
Seleucids dedicated the Temple to place of worship cult of Zeus, raided it of its riches and suspended the local Torah constitution. Hellenistic influences on Judaism as it becomes more individualistic, and encouraging of opposing truths—no single orthodoxy. Hellenistic Judaism comprised of a variety of sects. In North America, there are two major groups—Sadducees and Pharisees, representing the upper and middle classes. They faced challenges from two smaller, more radical sects—the Essenes and the Zealots. Diaspora – ‘Dispersal’, the Jewish world outside the land of ancient Israel; it began with the Babylonian Exile, from which not all Jews returned. Second Commonwealth – The post-exilic community. Not all Jews returned to Persiancontrolled Judah. The Second Temple was built; greater bureaucratic roles for priestly roles. The Torah became the foundation document of the nation in the period of the second commonwealth in somewhat the same way that the collected body of British law came to serve as Britain’s constitution Mishnah – The Hebrew summary of the oral law—inherited from Pharisaism and ascribed to Moses—arranged by topic; edited by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi before 220 CE, it has an authority paralleling that of the written Torah. Logos – ‘Word’; a kind of divine intelligence thought to mediate between God and humanity and carry out God’s intentions on earth Jewish Enlightenment – a movement among European Jews in the 18th-19th centuries that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history. Pharisees – represented the middle classes, landowners, skilled workers and many were professional scribes serving the aristocratic Sadducees. From time to time they also held power in the Temple, but they were more at home in the synagogues of Judea. Kabbalah – The medieval Jewish mystical tradition; its central test is a commentary on scripture called the Zohar, compiled by Moses ben Shemtov of Leon (d. 1305) but attributed to Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, a famous second century rabbinic mystic and wonder-worker. Reform Judaism – The belief of that Jewish life should parallel that of modern Europe. There is a Jewish Enlightenment which advocates in adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history. The movement sought to minimize the temptation of converting to Christianity by creating a new, more modern kind of Jewish religious life, such as vernacular sermons, western dress, prayers. Later on, it was taken to North America to continue to modernize and imbibe the intellectual assumptions of the time.
Conservative Judaism – takes a intermediate position between Reform and Orthodoxy. Hebrew is still used in prayer, but some reforms followed, such as patriarchal elements not allowing women to participate in services Temple Mount (Zion)– located in Jerusalem which was the center of Jewish worship from the time of Solomon to its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE. It is the one and only place where sacrifices and certain other religious rituals were performed. It was partially destroyed at the time of the Babylonian Exile and rebuilt. The rebuilt temple was known as the Second Temple. Moses – The greatest prophet who saw what all of the other prophets combined saw, and more. He saw the whole of the Torah, including the Prophets and the Writings that were written hundreds of years later Septuagint – The Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, made in Alexandria in Hellenistic times Hanukkah – An eight-day holiday to commemorate the rededication of the Temple in the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucids. Rabbi Judah – the Prince who produced the oldest datable rabbinic document—Mishnah. Rabbi – A teacher, in Roman times an expert on the interpretation of Torah; since priestly sacrifices ceased with the destruction of the Temple, the rabbi has been the scholarly and spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation. Covenant – contract; central organizing concept in the ancient Hebrews’ religion. Those who are bound by the covenant is defined by the special contractual relationship entered with God which specifies exactly how God desires Abraham’s descendants to behave. Abraham is assured of a long life and a peaceful death with many descendants to carry on afterward Essenes – widely believed to have been the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls—a collection of manuscripts from the Maccabean and early Roman period discovered in 1947 near the Dead Sea at Qumran. Hasidism – ‘Pious ones’; applied to two unrelated groups of loyal or pious Jews: those who resisted Hellenism militarily in second-century BCE Palestine, and the mystically inclined followers of the Baal Shem Tov in eighteenth-centre Poland and their descendants today. The founder of Hasidism, Israel ben Eliezer created this pietistic Judaism and he proclaimed that the best way of community with God was through good deed, prayer, humility, and joy. Pogrom – a violent riot aimed at massacre or persecution of a religious group—Jews. Sukkoth – The festival of ‘Tabernacles’, named for the temporary booths or shelters originally constructed by farmers in autumn to protect their ripening crops and given a historical interpretation recalling the migration experiences of the Exodus Prophets – any person who has the ability to see the future. A prophet is a spokesman for God, a person chosen by God to speak to people on God’s behalf and convey a message or
teaching. They represent social criticism: people not living up to God’s covenant foretelling punishment if they don’t change their ways. The greatest prophet was Moses. It is said that Moses saw all that all of the other prophets combined saw, and more. Moses saw the whole of the Torah, including the Prophets and Writings that were written hundreds of years later Abraham and Sarah – the narratives of the patriarchs and matriarchs—the tribal ancestors of the Hebrews—mark the transition from the imaginative paradigms of myth and allegory to the anecdotal detail of legend. Menorah – The seven-branched candle-stick, a Jewish symbol since ancient times, well before the widespread adoption of the six pointed star; the nine-branched menorah used at Hanukkah is sometimes called a hanukiah. Tanakh – The entire Hebrew Bible, consisting of Torah (or law), Nevi’im (or prophets), and Ketuvim (or sacred writings), and named as an acronym of these three terms Talmud – the Mishnah became the skeleton of it. There are two different Talmuds—the Palestinian Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud. Each consists of the Hebrew Mishnah of Rabbi Judah together with one of the two bodies of commentary, Gemarah. Zionism – the modern movement to return to the ancient land of Israel, to found a nation there on the model of modern European nationalism. Zion is the Temple Mount. The revival of Hebrew language is a significant factor in the emergence of Zionism Moses Maimonides – born in Spain but living in Egypt, was the most famous of all Jewish philosophers. His greatest contribution was his effort to resolve the tension between faith and knowledge Zealots – A sect that expressly liberate Judea from Roman control. They come from Josephus, who describes bandits. But in fact their motives appear to be purely political. The emergence of the Zealots upset the balance between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The revolt against Rome left Jerusalem and the Temple in ruins and also destroyed Qumran. It was from the ashes of these disasters that the rabbinic movement would emerge to carry on the traditions of Pharisaism Moses Mendelossohn – The first and most influential reformer in Judaism, whose ideas preceded the French Revolution, may be seen as the father of modern Orthodoxy as well as Reform Judaism, because of his formula for the relationship between Jewish identity and European nationality became the model almost everywhere. Holocaust – “burnt offering” or “burnt sacrifice”. One of the ancient sacrifices mandated in the Hebrew bible. During WW2, roughly 6 million European Jews were put to death by the Nazis. This significantly decreased the world population of Jews by 1/3 since 1939. Orthodox Judaism – emphasizes the preservation of Jewish tradition. Though many adopt western dress, they still conduct services in Hebrew, observe Sabbath obligations, and insist on kosher meals and traditional gender roles
