Download Jewish Terms and Concepts: A Comprehensive Glossary and more Quizzes World Religions in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 Aggadah DEFINITION 1 the stories of the Tanak and the Talmud that communicate spiritual truths. TERM 2 Amoriam DEFINITION 2 the generation of sages that created the Gemara (oral Torah). TERM 3 Bar/bat mitzvah DEFINITION 3 the rite of passage for boys whereby they become full members of the religion of Judaism who are able to read and interpret Torah; in modern times, a parallel rite for girls has been established in some forms of Judaism. TERM 4 Circumcision DEFINITION 4 the cutting of the foreskin of the penis as a sign of the covenant of Abraham. TERM 5 Covenant DEFINITION 5 the agreement between God and the people Israel whereby they are chosen to be Gods people; God agrees to guide and protect them; the people agree to follow Gods commandments (halakhah). TERM 6 Diaspora DEFINITION 6 the dispersion of religious people outside their geographic homeland, where they must live as a minority among others. TERM 7 Dual Torah DEFINITION 7 the scriptures of Rabbinic Judaism, composed of the written Torah (Tanak) and the oral Torah (Talmud). TERM 8 Gemara DEFINITION 8 commentary on the oral Torah (Mishnah). TERM 9 Gentile DEFINITION 9 anyone not Jewish. TERM 10 Halakhah DEFINITION 10 the commandments of God revealed in the Tanak and commented on in the Talmud; the word means to walk in the way of God by obeying his commands or laws. TERM 21 Shema DEFINITION 21 the essential declaration of monotheistic faith as found in Judaism: Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. TERM 22 Synagogue DEFINITION 22 a community centered on the study of Torah and prayer to God; the buildings used to house these activities also came to be known as synagogues. TERM 23 Talmud DEFINITION 23 the oral Torah, recorded in the Mishnah, and the commentary on the Mishnah called the Gemara. There are two Talmuds: the Bavli (Talmud of Babylonia) and the Yerushalmi (the Jerusalem Talmud); the former is considered the more comprehensive and authoritative. TERM 24 Tanak DEFINITION 24 the written Torah, or Hebrew Bible, made up of Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament from Genesis to Deuteronomy), Neviim (the prophets and historical writings such as Jeremiah and I and II Kings), and Ketuvim (the wisdom writings, such as Proverbs, Job, etc). TERM 25 Tannaim DEFINITION 25 the generation of sages, beginning with Hillel and Shammai, that created the Mishnah. TERM 26 Temple DEFINITION 26 a place to worship God or the gods in diverse religions; in Judaism, only one temple was allowed for the worship of God in Jerusalem, whereas each Jewish community would have a synagogue for study and prayers. TERM 27 Tisha B'Av DEFINITION 27 a day of mourning to commemorate tragedies affecting the Jewish people, particularly the fall of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. TERM 28 Tzaddik DEFINITION 28 in the Hasidic religion, a righteous man, as powerful as the rabbi in a traditional Talmudic community, but revered for mystical piety and devotion, not Talmudic scholarship. For the Hasidim, the Tzaddik was especially chosen by God as a direct link between heaven and earth, whose holiness was so powerful that, like Moses, he could intervene on behalf of the faithful and change the mind of God. TERM 29 Zionism DEFINITION 29 the desire to return to the land of Israel as a homeland; in modern times, the secular movement started by Theodor Herzl that led to the formation of the state of Israel. TERM 30 Zohar DEFINITION 30 the most important book of Jewish Kabbalism; The Book of Splendor.
