Download 1. Scripture in Judaism

John Corrigan, et. al. Jews, Christians, Muslims
Chapter 1 Scripture and Tradition in Judaism
Be able to discuss briefly the following terms.
canon
ketuvim and nevi’im.
Septuagint
Avot
Mishna
halakha
aggadah
Be able to identify the importance of the following individuals and know the half
century in which they worked or died..
Abraham
Ezra and Nehemiah
Josephus
Judah the Patriarch
Anan ben David
Be able to answer the following questions.
The text begins with an assertion as to what the Hebrew Bible is, and what it is not. It is
________, but it is not __________ (see p. 3).
Abraham’s principal virtue, as interpreted by the textbook, was the virtue of _______.
What turns a piece of writing into “sacred scripture”? Before a piece of writing becomes
“scripture”, it is first _______. Once a writing becomes sacred scripture, if it conflicts
with modern notions, it cannot be rewritten or revised; it must instead be __________.
Abraham lived perhaps in the 18th century BCE. Rabbinic tradition says that the
Abraham stories in the book of Genesis were dictated by God to Moses and written down
by Moses around in the 14th century B.C.E. Much scholarly opinion, however, is that
Genesis could not have reached its current form until the ________ century BCE. What
is the position of the chapter as to whether Abraham actually existed historically. The
text denies that the events in Genesis, Exodus, and the rest of the Torah are historical
events. It states rather that these events are ___________.
Where does the chapter claims that Judaism probably originated? Who were the rulers at
that period? When did the birth of Judaism occur? The chapter labels the scriptures –
more specifically, the Abraham accounts – as “a remarkable act of historical
imagination.” (Note from Prof. Murray: that’s a sugar-coated way of saying that they
are works of fiction.) What was, according to the chapter, the guiding purpose of those
later religious authorities who wrote down and enshrined as scripture the Abraham
accounts?
What are the three subdivisions of the Hebrew Bible? There were multiple covenants
between God and the patriarchs. What were the two promises made by God to the
patriarchs? The covenants were at first ______; they later became _______.
What were the two nations into which the Israelites eventually split? Which two
invading empires conquered the Jews. Why (acc. to the Bible) did the Jews get
conquered? Why did God give them back their land? The Hebrew Bible is described as
“a drama in three acts”. What are the three acts, and what is the major event that takes
place in each act.
The claim is made that the “core narrative of the Hebrew Bible” was conceived only after
the return of a small number of Jewish exiles from Babylon. In which century and in
which approximate year did this return occur? Which ruler precipitated the return?
The text draws an interesting parallel between the migration of Abraham and the return of
the Jews to Israel. What is the parallel? How was the Abraham story shaped to reflect a
message from religious authorities to those returning from the Babylonian exile?
Note: the text claims that Judaism really began after 539 BCE among a “small group of
Judean exiles” who returned home to Judea. They built a Temple that served two
functions. Which functions? The text claims that they then wrote to Bible in order to
form a “coherent national history”. What was their source material? What two groups
led this process of creating a religiously based national history?
When was the “Persian period” of Jewish history? How much do we know about it?
What role did it play in the emergence of Judaism? What did the priests and scribes of
the returned Babylonian Jews do in order to create theological reasons for their authority?
What was their purpose in creating the account of the giving of the Law on Sinai? What
is the most constantly reoccurring theme in the Hebrew Bible?
Give examples of the theme of rebellious behavior? How does the Torah end?
Where did most Jews live during the Persian period? What kept them together? Was
there a Torah that unified them?
Study the time chart on p. 14. Know the dates for the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman
periods. In what time period is it suggested that the “Torah of Moses” was composed?
When did an officially recognized Jewish Canon of sacred scriptures coalesce from
scattered writings? What group of people probably brought the canon together?
What was it about the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70 CE that most
affected Judaism? What had been the principal means of drawing down divine blessing?
What were the most important blessings? In the revised variant of post-Temple Judaism,
what was the major new form of drawing God’s blessing. From which of the Jewish
factions did the Rabbis of the new order come? What source, beside the written Torah,
served as the basis for rabbinic Judaism?
What is the “fence” that the Rabbis built around the Torah? What is believed to have as
much divine origin and authority as the written Torah? How was this other source of
teaching preserved and transmitted.
“Halachah” deals with laws. “Aggada” is commentary and explanation and folklore.
The most revered classic of rabbinic teaching among observant Jews is ____. Under the
guidance of the Rabbis, the ancient religion focused on animal sacrifice had been
transformed into a religion focusing on a system of ______________.
What was the central claim of the anti-rabbinic Jewish movement known as Karaism?
Where did Karaism begin?
What does Kabbala speculate on? Where did it originate? Kabbala tries to find secret
meanings hidden inside the ____________.