Sacred Texts
The translation of the Hebrew word midrash
What is "interpretation"?
What are omnipotent and omniscient?
Ethnic group that emerged in the diaspora from Spain and Portugal and moved to the lands of the Ottoman Empire and America
Who are Sephardic Jews?
Little cylindrical container on the right hand lintel (door post/entry) that some see as an object that blesses a Jewish household and what makes it kosher
What is a mezuzah? and what is scribal hand-written text of certain parts of Deuteronomy?
The origins of the practice of shabbat
What is Genesis 1?
The names of the two authoritative Talmuds
What are the Jerusalem/Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds?
God as "wholly other" and "present" [the words used]
What are transcendent and "shekhina"?
Ethnic Jews who migrated from Italy and Germany to Eastern Europe and who decimated during the Holocaust
Who are the Ashkenazi Jews?
Name of the rite of passage that Jewish girls who reach puberty pass through to declare their adult status
What is a bar-mitzvah?
How God created humans according to Genesis 1
What is creating humans in God's own image?
The two texts that make up the Talmud
What are the mishnah and the gemara?
[you should also know what the difference between the two are]
The signs of the covenant for Abraham and Noah
What are circumcision and rainbows?
Hebrew words for Jewish legal material and "commandments" in the Bible
What are halakhah and mitzvot?
What are a quorum of 10, introduction to the service with readings from the ketuviim, shema, amidah, closing song, Torah reading, sermon by the rabbi?
How God created humans in Genesis 2
What is "formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being"... "It is not good that the man should be alone... "So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman..."
The name of the Jewish prayer book used in Shabbat services
What is the siddur?
What are "you will be fruitful and multiply and number the stars in the sky and will have my protection"
and
We will worship only one God
A modern example of halakhic debate that affects the lives of some observant Jews
What are the shrimp-like creatures found in NYC water and whether water from NYC can be considered kosher?
and
What happens when it is discovered that the slaughter of animals at a kosher butcher are not prayed over and blessed by a living person?
The three main rules of keeping kosher in am observant Jewish household
What are eating only specific kinds animals, animals killed in a specific manner, and not mixing meat and milk?
How could one view the creation of woman in Genesis 2 as being hierarchical with man as being first and superior?
And how could one view the creation of woman from the rib of man as a sign that man and woman are equal?
1. Because God made man FIRST and made woman from a piece of the man to be his helper and therefore inferior
2. Because God made woman from an important bone that covers the man's heart and by creating her from man makes her similar if not the same...she COMPLETES him. God said it was NOT GOOD for man to be alone.
What the word TaNaKh stands for with brief explanation
What are Torah [first five books of the Hebrew Bible revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai]
the Neviim [the books of the Hebrew prophets]
the Ketuvim [the various groups of writings such as Psalms, Job, etc.]
The monotheistic/patriarchal family tree
Who are Abraham/Sarah/Hagar who give birth to Isaac and Ishmael who are considered the fathers of Judaism and eventually Christianity and of Islam?
The difference between Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jews in relation to the 613 mitzvot
Conservative--mitzvot are binding but everchanging Orthodox--mitzvot are binding and not changing
[see Introduction to Judaism Google slides for details]
The importance of shabbat
What is recognizing God's creation of the universe and his resting on the 7th day, a day spent "out of time" and not engaging in modern activities that involve types of work forbidden by rabbis like driving a car, engaging in activities like games, conversation, eating with family and friends, slowing down and contemplating creation and our place in it, etc.? [see video!!!!! on Intro. to Judaism Google Slides]
Why are there two creation stories?
Different answers to this question.
Perhaps there are different authors who didn't agree? Or who were writing at different times?
Perhaps the second creation is to add important detail or to reinforce the importance of human creation...To provide depth to the story. Two explanations are better than one???