Guided Reading for The Western Traditions.

Find the answer to each of these questions as it is given in the textbook before moving on to the next question. Some answers, drawn from the textbook alone, will be rather simplistic. They can, and should, be elaborated upon as your knowledge of the subject grows.

The symbol (*) after a question indicates that these might be used for longer essays in your quizzes.

Pages 71 - 91:

  1. With what is the destruction of Jerusalem in 70CE comparable?

    2.  

  2. What disappeared from Jewish life at that time? (*)

    3.  

  3. What gave birth to the institutions of rabbinic Judaism? (*)

    4.  

  4. What was established in Yavneh around 100CE?

    5.  

  5. When did rabbinic Judaism formulate its principles?

    6.  

  6. What is a yeshiva?

    7.  

  7. What was concluded about the status of the Temple and what other means of reconciliation with God was recognized?

    8.  

  8. What was the new locus of public worship?

    9.  

  9. When may synagogues have first come into being?

    10.  

  10. From what time do we have actual archeological evidence of synagogue ruins?

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  11. What is a menorah?

    12.  

  12. What is the Magen David?

    13.  

  13. How can a gentile (a non-Jew) be equal to the high preist?

    14.  

  14. What was found at Dura-Europos in northeastern Syria?

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  15. How is God often depicted in synagogue art?

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  16. Of what does the destruction of the Temple in 70CE mark the beginning?

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  17. When were the five scrolls of the Torah completed?

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  18. To which Jewish scholar is the "golden rule" attributed?

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  19. On what did the Rabbis at Yavneh decide in about 90CE?

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  20. What is the source of the name of the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh? (*)

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  21. What are the Midrash?

    22.  

  22. Who was Lilith, according to the Midrash?

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  23. According to rabbinic exegesis (that is, explanation of a text), do Biblical passages have a single authoritative interpretation?

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  24. What are the Mishnah and the Talmud? (*)

    25.  

  25. What was the Pharisees’ pretext for taking over the reins of government from the priests?

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  26. What are the two gemarah? Where do they come from? (*)

    27.  

  27. What is Aramaic?

    28.  

  28. Which Talmud became the more authoritative before the 7th Century CE?

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  29. What is the distinction between halakah and agadah?

    30.  

  30. Where was the center of intellectual Jewish life from the fourth to the ninth centuries CE?

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  31. Who were the gaonim?

    32.  

  32. What was Karaism?

    33.  

  33. Who was Rashi and how was this name derived?

    34.  

  34. What was the Torah before it became the religious law of rabbinic Judaism?

    35.  

  35. What is the Jewish answer to the question of abortion?

    36.  

  36. What does kosher mean?

    37.  

  37. What was the purpose of total immersion baptism in the mikveh, or ritual bathhouse?

    38.  

  38. Do Jews believe that the correct performance of rites guarantees atonement with God?

    39.  

  39. What are the four stages of repentance?

    40.  

  40. What is Yom Kippur?

    41.  

  41. Does rabbinic Judaism have any place for divine grace?

    42.  

  42. How does Segal characterize rabbinic law?

    43.  

  43. How many mitzvot (commandments) were traditionally thought to have been given at Sinai?

    44.  

  44. What is "associationism" according to Jews and Muslims?

    45.  

  45. Do Jews accept converts?

 

Additional Notes: