Fall-Winter Holidays
Do we follow Beit Hillel or Beit Shammai about how we light our Hanukkiyot? +100 if you can tell me why
Beit Hillel, because in matters of holiness we always increase.
What is Tu Bishvat?
The birthday of the trees!
How many books are in the Torah?
Five
Why do the people ask for a king? +100 if you can tell me which book/ sefer this appears in!
In S'hmuel Aleph/ 1 Samuel, the people ask for a king to lead them in battle and so they can be like all the other nations. Also accepted - a king will bring order to the chaos in the land.
Translate Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim into English. +100 if you can name 5 books from Nevi'im (aleph/bet doesn't count)
Torah/ Law/ 5 books of Moses, Prophets, and Writings
According to Vayikra/ ויקרא/ Leviticus, how are we supposed to remember Rosh Hashanah?
Hear/ Blast the Shofar
Why do we read the book of Ruth during Shavuot?
Because the book of Ruth happens during the barley harvest. Shavuot is a pilgrimage festival during which people would bring their barley as an offer to the Temple. We count the OMER - the gatherings of barley - leading up to Shavuot.
What is the woman's name who Eliezer meets at the well and agrees to marry Yitzhak?
Rivkah/ Rebecca
Do kings turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing? Explain your answer.
Bad. Lots of potential reasons - Morah Suzanne will decide if they are correct.
Judaism uses a luni-solar calendar. Why do we have to make adjustments to account for the solar calendar?
We have to account for the solar part of the calendar so we don't end up celebrating Pesach in winter!
What tefillah/ prayers are we supposed to do during Hanukkah?
Hallel!
(Purim) In Megillat Esther, why did King Achasverosh banish Queen Vashti?
She refuses to dance for him!
When the servant gets to the city of Nahor, he asks G-d for help knowing which woman G-d wants for Yitzhak's wife. What is the sign he asks for?
When he asks a woman for something to drink she will say, "I will also water your camels."
The book of Ruth is about the lives of two widows in the ancient world. Why was life so difficult for widows in those days?
Women could not get jobs to provide for themselves so they needed men to take care of them. Widows needed a man in the family to help care for them.
What is Parshanut? Who was the most important Parshan?
They are questions and ideas that people in ancient times wrote down about Torah.
Rashi was the most important Parshan, person who wrote parshanut.
What is the BASIC mitzvah of lighting Hanukkah lights according to the Talmud (Tractate Shabbat 21b:5-6)?
Light just one light each night
(Pesach) What were the first and last signs that God gave to prove God's power to the Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and people of Israel?
First was the staff turning into a snake.
Last was crossing the Israelites crossing the sea on dry land.
Which brother suggested they all sell Yosef? +100 if you can tell me the reason he gave
Judah, because they would gain nothing if they just killed him
In the book of Yermiyahu, we learn that Babylon did not send every Israelite into exile. Who did they leave behind? Why?
The Babylonians left the poorest Israelites behind to be vine dressers and field hands/ to grow and harvest crops.
What was one thing Ilan Ramon took into space with him?
Tiny Torah Scroll
Drawing - "Moon Landscape"
Tiny Israeli Flag
Kiddush Cup
According to Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 3:7, how are we supposed to listen to the shofar?
with intention
with a focused heart
not the echo
(Pesach) Which was the first sign that Pharaoh's magician-priests could not recreate?
4th sign - LICE!
When Yaakov tells his Uncle Lavan that he wants to leave. His Uncle Lavan wants him to stay.
1. Why does Lavan want Yaakov to stay?
2. What does Lavan do to try to make Yaakov stay longer than Yaakov wants?
1. Lavan wants him to stay, because he found out that he is being blessed because of Yaakov.
2. Yaakov asks for the speckled and spotted goats and dark colored sheep. Lavan has his sons hide these kinds of goats and sheep.
In the book of Amos, God speaks to the people about the importance of justice and righteousness. Which famous person quoted these verses/ psukim? When/ Why did he use these psukim?
Martin Luther King Jr during his "I have a Dream" speech to talk about the importance of justice and righteousness in how the federal and state governments in the United States treated people of color.
What is gleaning? Why is it important to the story in the book of Ruth?
Gleaning is picking up the grains of wheat that fall while reapers are harvesting it. Ruth went out to glean to take care of Naomi. Then Ruth met Boaz because she gleaned in his field.