Practice Question - History of Judaism

History of Judaism – Final (Prof. Dov Weiss)

Your Name: _____________________________

FORM A

Section I: Multiple Choice (40 points) - Please select the best answer to the following questions. Only one answer per question is correct. Answer all questions.  

1. Who was the first Israelite King?

1. Solomon
2. David
3. Saul
4. Moses
5. Elijah

1. In what year was the First Temple destroyed?

1. 1030 BCE
2. 930 BCE
3. 586 BCE
4. 450 BCE
5. 70 CE

1. What is the TaNakh?

1. The major writings of Rabbinic Literature
2. The Hebrew Bible
3. The Apocrypha
4. The New Testament
5. The Hebrew Bible and the Apocrypha

1. Who were the authority figures of Israel during the Biblical period?

1. Kings, Prophets and Rabbis
2. Kings, High Priests and Prophets
3. Prophets, Sadducees, and Pharisees
4. Rabbis, Kings, Tzaddikim, Levites
5. Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes

1. What does the Biblical notion of Mitzvah mean?

1. Commandment
2. Covenant
3. Love of God
4. Jewish Election
5. Grace

1. Which of the following best describes the Brit between God and Abraham?

1. A unilateral commitment on God’s part to provide Abraham’s progeny with a special land and many descendants
2. A conditional covenant where God promises to protect Abraham’s progeny so long as Israel obeys God commands
3. Abraham commits to the monotheistic belief that God is all-knowing and all-powerful.
4. A comprehensive, yet subtle, description of all the laws the Jews are to obey
5. A document that outlines for Abraham the essential features of a future Messiah.

1. Where does the name “Israel” come from?

1. It was a derogatory term coined by the Babylonians
2. An angel of God gave that name to Jacob
3. It comes from the tribe of Judah (4th child to Jacob)
4. It means love in Ancient Aramaic
5. No one knows

1. What is the Septuagint?

1. An Aramaic Translation of the Hebrew Bible
2. An Aramaic translation of the Apocrypha
3. A Greek Translation of  the Hebrew Bible only
4. A Greek Translation of the Hebrew Bible and Apocrypha
5. The central writing of the Dead Sea Scrolls

1. Which of the following is, or contains, the oldest manuscript(s) of the Hebrew Bible?

1. Codex Sinaiticus
2. Aleppo Codex
3. Vulgate
4. Septuagint
5. Dead Sea Scrolls

1.  Which one of the following books is not considered “sacred” for contemporary religious Jews?

1. Ben Sira
2. Genesis
3. Talmud
4.  Mishnah
5. Midrash

1. According to Josephus, which one of these Second Temple sects believed that an “oral law” was given to the Jews alongside the “written law?”

1. The Essenes
2. The Zealots
3. The Sadducees
4. The Pharisees
5. The Rabbis

1.  Where does the word “Messiah” come from?

1. It means Son of a Virgin woman
2. It comes from the Aramaic “Love of God”
3. It is a cognate for “Judge of the World”
4. It comes from the word “to anoint” in Hebrew
5. It means “king” in Hebrew

1. What does the Holiday of Passover commemorate?

1. Jews receiving revelation at Sinai
2. Israelite Exodus from Egypt
3. The day the Jews entered the Land of Israel
4. Victorious Israelite battle over the Amalekites
5. Jewish Sovereignty during the Second Temple Period

1. Which of the following accurately describes Talmudic law as it relates to divorce?

1. Only a woman can initiate a divorce
2. There is no legal Talmudic notion of divorce (only annulment)
3. Only a man can initiate a divorce
4. Every divorce must be mutually agreed upon by husband and wife
5. The divorce document is called the “Ketubah”

1. According to the Talmud, how many times daily should a Jewish man pray?

1. One
2. Two
3. Three
4. Four
5. Five

1.  Which one of the following rabbinic documents is considered the oldest?

1. Babylonian Talmud
2. Midrash
3. Jerusalem Talmud
4. Mishnah
5. TaNaKH

1. According to Rabbinic Judaism, who authored the Torah?

1. Moses
2. Abraham
3. Jacob
4. Joshua
5. God

1. According to Rabbinic Judaism, what do the two names of God, Elohim and YHWH, connote?

1. God’s love and grace
2. God’s anger and hubris
3. God’s jealousy and sympathy
4. God’s mercy and justice
5. God’s ambivalence and charisma

1. According to scholars, who authored the Babylonian Talmud?

1. An anonymous editor who collected many rabbinic opinions
2. Jesus after he was crucified
3. The Angel Gabriel
4. Rabbi Akiva
5. Rabbi Gamliel

1.  Why was Rabbi Judah, the redactor of the Mishnah, referred to as a “prince”?

1. He was a Kohen
2. He was the political representative of Rabbinic Jewry to the Roman Empire
3. He was the smartest Rabbi of the period
4. Because his ancestor was one of the Israelite Kings
5. He was branded “prince” by the Romans to mock the fact that Jews have no power

Section II: Identification (30 points) – Choose 10 to answer (in two or so sentences)

TaNaKH: is the canon of the Hebrew Bible. It is also known as the Masoretic Text acronym of the first Hebrew letter of each of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings")