Formative Judaism

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The patriarch who is acknowledged as a special early figure in the histories and folklore of Judaism. Presumed to have lived sometime in the period 2000-1700 B.CE; father of Ishmael by Hagar and of Isaac by Sarah. Considered the first Jew.

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Abraham

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A Semitic language known since the ninth century B.CE, and used extensively in southwest Asia and by the Jews after the Babylonian exile. Today _______ is spoken by only a few groups near the region of modern Kurdistan.

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Aramaic

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Jewish folk hero around 1000 B.CE, to whom many biblical psalms are attributed and who is credited with politically and militarily uniting the ancient Israelite amphictyony into a centralized kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital. David is said to have planned for the Temple that his son and successor Solomon built.

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David, King

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The event of the Israelites leaving Egypt.

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Exodus

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The crescent-shaped region stretching along the Mediterranean coast from Asia to southern Palestine. It includes parts of what is today Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.

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Fertile Crescent

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(ca. 850 - 586 B.C.) Ended with destruction of the First Temple and exile of the Israelites to Babylonia.

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First Temple Period

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The period in which early Judaism develops, between about 400 B.CE (the traditional end date for the Jewish Bible) and the 1st century CE (composition of the Christian “New Testament”). The Jewish intertestamental literature includes the Apocrypha (mostly preserved in Greek) and the Pseudepigrapha (works from this period ascribed to ancient authors like Enoch, the patriarchs, and Moses).

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Intertestamental Period

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From the Hebrew name of the patriarch Judah, whose name also came to designate the tribe and tribal district in which Jerusalem was located. Thus, the inhabitants of Judah and members of the tribe of Judah come to be called “Judahites” or, in short form, “Jews.” The religious outlook associated with these people after about the 6th century B.CE comes to be called “Judaism,” and has varying characteristics at different times and places.

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Judaism, Jew

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The great biblical personality (c. thirteenth century B.CE) who is credited with leading the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage and teaching them the divine laws at Mt. Sinai. He is also described as first of the Jewish prophets.

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Moses

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(965-930 BCE) son of King David. He further strengthened the kingdom, built many new towns and erected the Temple in Jerusalem.

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Solomon, King

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A relatively modern acronym for the Jewish Bible, made up of the names of the three parts of the Torah (Pentateuch or Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).

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TaNaKh (Tanakh)

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In the ancient world, ______ were the centers of outward religious life, places at which public religious observances were normally conducted by the priestly professionals. In traditional Judaism, the only legitimate ______ was the one in Jerusalem, built first by King Solomon around 950 B.CE, destroyed by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar around 587/6 B.CE, rebuilt about 70 years later, and again destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE The site of the ancient Jewish ______ is now occupied, in part, by the “Dome of the Rock” Mosque. In recent times, “______” has come to be used synonymously with synagogue in liberal Jewish usage.

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Temple

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An area of roughly 40 acres on Mount Moriah on which the Jewish Temple was built in 950 B.CE. The Temple was destroyed in 586 B.CE by the Babylonians and rebuilt 70 years later. It was razed by the Romans in 70 CE. The Muslims subsequently built the mosque known as the Dome of the Rock on a plaza above the Western Wall in 691 and added a second mosque, El-Aqsa, 20 years later.

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Temple Mount

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The sacred name of God in Jewish scriptures and tradition; also known as the tetragrammaton. Since Hebrew was written without vowels in ancient times, the four consonants ____ contain no clue to their original pronunciation. They are generally rendered “_a__e_” in contemporary scholarship. In traditional Judaism, the name is not pronounced, but Adonai (“Lord”) or something similar is substituted. In most English versions of the Bible the tetragrammaton is represented by "LORD".

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YHWH (Yahweh)