Test Your Jewish Knowledge

The correct answer is: 5. The Torah—also called the Five Books of Moses—comprises five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The correct answer is: 613. According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains 613 commandments. 248 positive commandments (do this), and 365 negative commandments (don’t do that).

The correct answer is: Commandment. The Hebrew word, "mitzvah (מצוה)," is usually translated as "commandment," but it also shares a root with the word "tzavat (צות)," to join, and “tzevet (צוות),” a team. Similar to a team, which is something you join, a mitzvah is an opportunity to connect and become closer to God.

The correct answer is: Instructions. The word “Torah” is Hebrew for “instructions,” and the Torah is also referred to as “Torat Chaim (תורת חיים),” which means “Instructions for Living.”

The correct answer is: 13. Huh? When you carefully analyze the Ten Commandments—which is also translated as the Ten Statements, or Ten Utterances—you’ll find 13 of the Torah’s 613 commandments embedded in the text.

The correct answer is: Amram and Yocheved. If you know Joseph and Mary’s child, but not Amram and Yocheved’s, you may need to bone up on your Jewish basics.

The correct answer is: Aaron and Miriam. Moses was the youngest of three siblings, Miriam being his older sister, and Aaron being the middle child.

The correct answer is: the Jewish people received the Torah. According to the book of Exodus, chapters 19 and 20, the Jewish people, en masse, heard God speak at Mount Sinai, and that’s where they received the Torah.

The correct answer is: 13. According to the Talmud (Avos 5:25), a Jewish boy is considered mature enough to be obligated in keeping the Torah’s commandments at age 13.

The correct answer is: 12. Women’s bodies (and brains) generally develop earlier than men’s, which is why Jewish girls become obligated in keeping the Torah’s commandments at age 12.

The correct answer is: Mishna and Gemara. The Talmud is a multivolume work that discusses the details of Jewish practices, philosophy, and belief (among many other things). The Mishna is the older work, and the Gemara discusses the Mishna’s meaning, composition, and application at length.

The correct answer is: Rabbi Judah the Prince. Rabbi Judah the Prince oversaw the process of compiling, editing, and redacting the text of the Misnha in the late second century of the common era.

The correct answer is: Aramaic. The Gemara was completed in what’s today Iraq in the fifth century, and was written in the lingua franca of the time, Aramaic.

Answer: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

The correct answer is: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s wives—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah—are the mothers of the Jewish nation.

The correct answer is: Hebron. The Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs—except for Rachel, who is buried elsewhere—are buried in a cave in the Israeli city of Hebron, the purchase of which is described in Genesis 23.

The correct answer is: 12. The 12 tribes of Israel are descended from and named after the 12 sons of Jacob, also known as Israel. Technically, it gets confusing because Joseph’s descendents split into two tribes, descended from and named for his two sons, Menashe and Ephraim.

The correct answer is: Zohar. The Zohar is the primary work of Kabbalah, and an important source text for most kabbalistic thought. Its authorship is attributed to the second century sage, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.