The midterm will be administered in class on Friday, February 6. Please bring a blue book (available at the UCR Bookstore, main floor).
The midterm will be made up of various short answer format questions (multiple choice, true false, fill-in-the-blank) as well as some longer format questions (identification, short analysis). At the end of this page, you will find a list of significant terms (persons, places, things, events) that you should be able to identify, as well as a list of primary sources (from the Blackwell Reader in Judaism and the online reading) that you may be asked to identify and answer some questions about.
Your best strategy for studying for the midterm is to start with the "big picture" and work your way down to the details using your course notes and the chapters from Scheindlin's Short History. Make sure you know how the primary readings (from the Blackwell Reader and online) fit into this big picture.
For example: when considering "Judaism in antiquity," start with the "big picture" of the history of Judaism (biblical history, First Temple Period, Second Temple Period); for this, you might want to consult the (simplified) "Timeline of Jewish History" I use with my lower division "Western Religions" class. Then start to get more detailed (ancient Israel, Babylonian Exile, Persian Empire, Greek kingdoms, Hasmonean Independence, Roman Empire, First Jewish War, destruction of Temple); for this, start consulting the "Timeline" prepared for this class. Then fit in the various readings: Where do the primary readings (from the Tanak, from Philo and Josephus, the Dead Sea Scrolls) fit in to this overall picture? What does Philo tell us about hellenism, what do the Dead Sea Scrolls tell us about sectarianism, what does Josephus' account about Masada tell us about resistance to the Roman Empire?
You will be responsible for knowing significant dates and places. To determine what is "significant," use your judgment (as well as the list of terms below): is the destruction of the First and Second Temple "significant"? (Hint: yes.) Is the date of Emperor Joseph II's emancipation of Prussian Jews (later rescinded)? Probably less so. Regardless, you should have a sense of the order of events: which came first? Which followed?
You should also have a sense of geography, the ability to identify significant places on a map and also place significant events on a map. You may consult the series of maps prepared for the lower division "Western Religions" class (beginning here), as well as the maps in Scheindlin's Short History (each chapter contains several maps). Again, use your judgment (and the list of terms below): is "Babylon" significant? (Hint: yes.) Is Memphis, Egypt or Savannah, Georgia? Probably less so.
Important Terms
You should be able to define these terms and also explain their significance for the history of Judaism. Some terms you may be asked to define in one or two sentences ("What is hellenism?"); other terms you may be asked short questions about ("True or False: Hellenism was the cultural ideal of Cyrus the Great?" [hint: false]).
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Abraham accommodation Ashkenazim assimilation Babylonian Exile Baghdad Balfour Declaration blood libel covenant Dead Sea Scrolls dhimmi Emancipation |
ghetto Hebrew hellenism Israel Jerusalem Josephus Judah/Judea Kabbalah Karaites Maimonides (RAMBAM) Masada Moses Mendelssohn |
messiah Moses Nahmanides Persia Pharisees Philo of Alexandria rabbinism Rashi Reform Judaism resistance Roman Empire sect/sectarianism |
Sephardim Shoah synagogue Tanak Targum Temple Torah YHWH (Yahweh) Yiddish Zionism Zohar |
Important Primary Sources
You should be able to identify the author and setting (time, place, cultural context) of these following primary sources we have read in class. Excerpts will be designed to be "obvious" enough that you shouldn't need to guess. If you know the general thrust of these readings (for example: "a philosophical interpretation of Abraham" or "a scene from a play with a stereotypical medieval Jewish character"), you shouldn't have a problem. These readings have been chosen because they connect with major themes we have discussed in the course of the history of Judaism, which you may be asked about (e.g., "What does this reading tell us about Jews under Islam" or "Jews and hellenism" and so forth).
Blackwell Reader in Judaism, 2D (Exodus 20:1-14), pp. 22-23
Blackwell Reader in Judaism, 3C (Philo, On the Migration of Abraham, 1-5 [1-25]), pp. 35-39
JosephusÂ’ account of the fall of Masada (online reading)
Pact of Umar (online reading)
Blackwell Reader in Judaism, 9E (Solomon bar Simson on the Mainz Martyrs), p. 117
The Merchant of Venice Act 1, Scene 3 (online reading)
The Balfour Declaration” at MidEastWeb (online reading)
Feel free to contact the professor with any specific or general questions; you may also post questions to the Blackboard site (log in to this class and click on "Discussion"), where you can also form study groups with your classmates.