World Religions Ch 8 Judaism

Front 1

What happened in the two great spans of time before and after the destruction of the second temple?

Back 1

1st a landless people established a homeland in Israel and made Jerusalem the capital of it's kingdom.
-when the kingdom of Judah and its First Temple were destroyed by Babylonians (586 BCE)
- forcing the israelites into exile in Babylonia (present-day iraq) for almost 50 years
- it became clear to the exiled people that their religious law and history had to be put into written form in order for them to survive= Hebrew bible

2nd time span:
-includes the two thousand years of the development of Judaism in the common era
- divided into:
1st the evolution of rabbinical Judaism and traditional Jewish life from 100 CE to 1800 CE, the beginning of the modern period

2nd,

Front 2

The reform

Back 2

- about 200 years ago
-this movement questioned and modernized traditional Judaism
- began as a response to:
- new thinking of the European enlightenment
- the liberal thought of the American and french revolution
- the laws of Nepoleon- reaching far past france
- helped produce branches of Judaism existing today
- raised questions: what is Jewish identity? What is essential to judaism?

Front 3

Biblical Judaism vs rabinical Judaism

Back 3

- the development of rabinical Judaism was directly influenced by the Hebrew bible

Front 4

Hebrew bible

Back 4

- records roots of Judaism when the Hebrews or Israelites were landless
- who traced themselves to an ancestor named Abraham
- it presents a sacred history: the Israelites' view of their Gods relationship with them in the midst of historical events
- outlined the Ten Commandments and other ethical teachings
- establish major yearly festivals
- contains psalms that become everyday prayers for Jews

Front 5

Midrash

Back 5

The rabbis interpretation of biblical laws and practices

Front 6

The hebrew bible is divided into what three sections?

Back 6

1. The Torah- the teaching
2. The Nevi'im- the prophets
3. The Tanakh- or Tanak- an acronym made up of the first letters of the Hebrew names for the three sections: t, n, k

Front 7

Torah

Back 7

- the sacred core of the Hebrew bible
- includes stories of the creation; Adam and eve, Noah, and the Hebrew partiarvhs and matriarchs
- introduces Moses, the great liberator and lawgiver, and his brother Aaron, the founder of the priesthood
- laws about daily conduct and religious ritual
- made up of 5 books- sometimes called the Pentateuch (Greek for 5 scrolls)
- the word Torah, refers to all teachings, both written and orally transmitted- thought to be revealed by God

Front 8

Tanakh

Back 8

- the prophets- 2nd section
- named for the people who spoke in God's name to the Jewish people
- the former prophets are the books that focus on the history of the Israelite kingdom
- the latter prophets are the books that are strongly visionary and moral in tone
- the voices of priests are most frequent
- the writings- the 3rd section
- is like what we think is imaginative literature
- includes some late historical books
- primarily short stories, proverbs, reflections on life, hymn (psalms) lyrics, and poetry

Front 9

Abraham

Back 9

- the first Hebrew patriarch (Greek: father- source)
- introduced in ch 12 of Genesis
- at the point which the book becomes more seemingly historical
- he is commanded by God to leave his home for the land of Canaan
- he is from Ur (present- day iraq) and travels through Haran (in Turkey) to Canaan
- Canaan is the region that is now called Israel
- Abraham's journey is seen as an important pilgrimage because it leads to the claim of the land of the Israelites
- Abraham, his son Issac and his grandson Jacob all become patriarchs of Judaism
- after claiming land and many descendants, God makes a covenant, a contract, with Abraham
- the covenant is for Abraham and his male descendants to in return for God's gifts they must be circumcised as a sign of their exclusive relationship with God (Gen. 17)

Front 10

The matriarchs in Genesis

Back 10

Rachel, Leah, Sarah, And Rebecca

Front 11

Theopanies

Back 11

The stories in Genesis that tell of mysterious contacts with God, sometimes are friendly in nature, but at other times fierce and frightening

Front 12

Sabbath

Back 12

-service of worship, study, sermons, and psalms, performed in the synagogue

Front 13

The Seleucid Period

Back 13

- Israel was first controlled by Egypt
- which was ruled by the descendants of Alexander's general Ptolemy
-later, Israel was controled by Syria
-which was ruled by descendants of general Seleucus
- in 167 BCE a seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV took over the temple
-The Maccabees, a Jewish family led a revolt against ruler Antiochus and won back the rule of Israel

Front 14

Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes)

Back 14

- took over the Jewish temple
-goal: to introduce the worship of the Greek god, Zues
- he placed on the altar a dish of pork, knowing that this was a forbidden meat for the Jews
- he forbade circumcision
- caused Hebrew uproar

Front 15

Hanukkah

Back 15

- the joyous winter ceremony
-celebrating the winning back of Israel with the help of the Maccabees
-

Front 16

Jewish Culture

Back 16

- Jewish males were circumcised
-so easily identified in public baths or while exercising in gymnasiums
- the Jewish dietary restrictions
-forbidding eating pork and shellfish
- strict prohibitions against working on the Sabbath
-

Front 17

Hellinism

Back 17

-the sophisticated greek-speaking culture
- included Greek plays, history, medicine, and mathematics
- even popular after Roman take-over in entire Mediterranean area
- was most attractive to educated people
-
-- became widel po

Front 18

Sadducees

Back 18

-first faction and Hellinistic and Jewish culture
- members of the priestly families
-lived primarily in Jerusalem
-in charge of temples and its activities
--derived their living from temple worship

Front 19

Pharisees

Back 19

- the second faction of Hellinism and Judaism
- focus on preserving Hebrew piety through careful observation of religious laws and traditions
- later rabbinical Judaism would develope from and continue the work of Pharisees

Front 20

Zealots

Back 20

- third faction of Hellinism and Judaism
- opposed to foreign influences
-after 6 CE was opposed to Roman rule of Israel
- Romans called them "robbers"
- the name Zealots came from Greek word, zeal
-given to them when war started between Jews and Romans
- sometime used violence to achieve goals

Front 21

Essenes

Back 21

- the fourth fraction

Hint 21

- may have been a variety of Essenes
-a strict celibate group in Qumran called the Covenanters
-supported throughout Israel
- the essenes saw themselves as an advanced guard
-preparing for when God will end the old world of injustice and create the new one of mercy and peace
-described themselves as "sons of light" fighting against the "darkness"
-their center was no more than 15 miles from Jerusalem
-would have some contact with political current events
-may have shared some ideal with Zealots and Pharisees

Front 22

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Back 22

- scrolls or scroll fragments found betweeb 1947 and 1955 in caves near Qumran, above the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea
-it is possible that they originated from Essenes' library
-also possible to be from a general jewish library taken from Jerusalem for safekeeping during Rebellion against the Romans, beginning 66 CE.
- contains all or part of the nearly every book of the Hebrew Scriptures
- contains works that comment on the scriptural books
-gave details about organization and practices of Essenes
-spoke of a coming judgment and end of the world
-

Front 23

Sumer

Back 23

- between Iraq and Iran
- early city-states 2500 BCE
- organized religin, great structures and temples, specialized priesthood; elaborate rites; written scriptures; multiple gods

Front 24

Temple Religion

Back 24

- -staffed by exclusive priesthood
- serve a clientele instead of a permanent membership
- attending temple is but one part of an identity
o people went to temple, they didn’t belong to them
- congregations: communities of religious parties
- temple religion tended to serve ruling elites
o were totally subsidized state monopolies
o didn’t need popular support
o part of temple was open to public
o most rites took place in areas closed to public
o secret rites and rituals
o holiest place was only open to priesthood
- poetry, hymns and tablets of prayers
- gods considered to be like ordinary people but with special powers
- moral system tended to be collective, not individual
o failure to properly worship the gods led to punishment of all
- after life- improved by proper preparation and burial practices
o included goods, elaborate tombs, provisions of dead, servants and companions

Front 25

Priesthood

Back 25

-were highly trained in special roles and unique tasks….some fed the images, others bathed them, others performed sacrifices, and most lived on site
o holiest place was only open to priesthood

Front 26

Sumer leaders

Back 26

- most were concerned with their legacy
o so they built monuments in their honor