Torah Characters
Who are the first Jews/Isralites in the Torah?
Abraham and Sarah
Channukah in the Torah is described as a winter holiday during the darkest time of the year (True or false)
False. Channukah isn't in the Torah
A Torah has to be written by hand for it to be a Kosher Torah (True or false)
True! A Kosher Torah can not be written by machine
How long does it roughly take to write a Torah?
Roughly a year of work
You are supposed to be a Jewish adult before you read from the Torah. (True or false)
False. You don't have to be a Jewish adult to read from the Torah
Their name means “drawn from water," had a special connection with God, and led us from slavery in Egypt
Moses
When you reach the end of the Torah on Simchat Torah, what do you do next?
You start over from the beginning because our reading of the Torah never ends just like our learning is never over
The Torah portion. There is a torah portion that corresponds to each week of the year and in synagogues around the world, they read the same portion
There is a special style that the Torah needs to be written in (True or false)
True! There are different scripts depending on your tradition but you can't just use any Hebrew style you want
What is the pointer called that people use to read from the Torah?
A yad. Yad translations to hand or finger which is also why if you look at most of them, you will see a small hand with its pointer finger extended
The younger of twins who didn’t have a good relationship with his twin. He ran away from home after stealing his brother’s (Esau's) birthright and blessing
Isaac
Shavuot is a Holiday where we celebrate the Torah being revealed to the Israelites. What kind of food is traditional to eat on Shavuot?
Dairy! Things like cheese cake, ice cream, milk shakes, etc.
How many books are there in the Torah?
Extra 100 points if you can name 3 of the books
Five!
B'reshit, Sh'mot, Vayika, B'midbar, D'varim
or
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
Which of these materials isn't allowed to be used in the making of a Torah?
Ink, parchment, wood, iron, a quill, steel
Iron and steel aren't allowed because they are used in instruments of war
It's traditional to say important blessings or honors during the Torah service. (True or false)
True. Blessings like the Mishaberach, where you pray for people's health, wedding blessings, and blessings to honor people are traditionally done before the Torah is put away
Youngest brother who had a special ability to interpret people’s dreams and foretell the future. His brothers despised him so much when they were younger that they sold him as a slave
Joseph
On Simchat Torah it's traditional to have sweets because...
Learning Torah is supposed to be sweet.
The parchment used in the making of a Torah is...
Animal hide
What does the sofer have to do if they mess up writing God's name?
Generally, the page has the be started over
What is the interpretation of the torah portion called?
When someone gives their interpretation of the week's torah portion, it's called a d'var Torah.
Isaac is given a new name before he reunites with his twin brother, Esau. In a dream where he sees himself wrestling with an angel, the angel gives him a new name as _____
Israel
On our Passover Seder plate, the roasted shankbone represents the Passover __________ Israelites would have to make at the Temple in Jerusalem
The roasted shankbone represents the Passover sacrifice Israelites would make. When the Second Temple was destroyed, we moved to using prayers to worship God
What is the "punishment" for people if a Torah is dropped?
Everyone in the room is supposed to fast. There isn't a specific amount of time that people have to fast but traditionally, the fast is split up amongst everyone in the room
How can a sofer correct a mistake they make when writing a Torah?
If it isn't God's name, they can scratch out the mistake and rewrite the word or even cut out a piece of the parchment and replace it.
What is it called when someone is called up to read the blessing for the Torah?
An alliyah. It literally means "going up" because they aren't just physically going up the bimah to the Torah but they are also going up spiritually as they get close to the Torah