Judaism
110 flashcards by MentisLibrary
Torah and Talmud, Shabbat and kashrut, the festival cycle from Rosh Hashanah to Tisha B'Av, and the movements from Orthodox to Reform. What Jewish practice actually involves and why.
- Tanakh
- The Hebrew Bible, an acronym for its three parts: Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim.
- The three parts of the Tanakh
- Torah, the teaching; Nevi'im, the prophets; and Ketuvim, the writings.
- The Five Books of Moses
- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
- The Hebrew names of the five books
- Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Bamidbar, and Devarim.
- Torah scroll
- A handwritten parchment scroll of the Five Books, produced by a trained scribe and kept in the synagogue ark.
- Parashah
- The weekly Torah portion read in the synagogue, so that the whole Torah is completed over a year.
- Simchat Torah
- The festival marking the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle and its immediate restart.
- Haftarah
- A reading from the prophets that follows the weekly Torah portion.
- Oral Torah
- The tradition of interpretation and application that rabbinic Judaism holds was given alongside the written Torah and transmitted through the generations.
- Mishnah
- The earliest major compilation of the Oral Torah, organized by subject and redacted around 200 CE.
- Gemara
- The later rabbinic discussion and analysis of the Mishnah.
- Talmud
- The central rabbinic work combining the Mishnah with the Gemara's debates, stories, and legal reasoning.
- Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud
- Two compilations, the Babylonian, completed later and more extensive, and the Jerusalem, produced in the land of Israel.
- The six orders of the Mishnah
- Zeraim on agriculture, Moed on festivals, Nashim on marriage, Nezikin on damages, Kodashim on offerings, and Tohorot on purity.
- Rashi
- An eleventh century French commentator whose concise explanations of the Torah and Talmud are printed alongside nearly every edition.
- Tosafot
- Medieval commentaries on the Talmud produced by scholars in France and Germany, printed opposite Rashi's commentary.
- Midrash
- Rabbinic interpretation that fills gaps in the biblical narrative or draws out legal and ethical meaning.
- Halakhah
- Jewish law, the body of practice derived from Torah, Talmud, and later rulings.
- Aggadah
- The non legal material of rabbinic literature: stories, ethics, theology, and parable.
- The 613 mitzvot
- The traditional count of commandments in the Torah, comprising 248 positive and 365 negative.
- Mitzvah
- A commandment, and by extension a good deed done in fulfillment of one.
- Maimonides
- A twelfth century philosopher, physician, and legal codifier who lived in Spain, Morocco, and Egypt.
- The Mishneh Torah
- Maimonides's comprehensive code of Jewish law, organized topically and written in clear Hebrew.
- Maimonides's thirteen principles of faith
- A list of core beliefs including God's unity and incorporeality, the truth of prophecy, divine reward and punishment, and the coming of the messiah.
- The Shulchan Aruch
- Joseph Karo's sixteenth century code of Jewish law, which with Moses Isserles's glosses became the standard reference for practice.
- Responsa
- Written answers by rabbinic authorities to submitted questions of law, forming a continuous legal literature.
- Shabbat
- The seventh day of rest, from sunset Friday to nightfall Saturday, observed with prayer, meals, and abstention from creative work.
- The 39 melachot
- The thirty nine categories of creative work traditionally prohibited on Shabbat, derived from the labors of building the Tabernacle.
- Candle lighting on Shabbat
- The lighting of at least two candles shortly before sunset on Friday, traditionally done by the woman of the household.
- Kiddush
- The blessing recited over wine to sanctify Shabbat and festivals.