Where and when Judaism began, and what its followers believe and practice

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   The Torah, the Mishnah and the Talmud (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, the Hebrew Bible: its three parts are the Torah (the first five books), the Prophets and the Writings. Followers believe the Torah holds God's teaching to the people of Israel. Card B, the Shema: a verse from the book of Deuteronomy in the Torah that begins "Hear, O Israel". It says the Lord is one, and followers say it in daily prayer. Card C, the Mishnah (about 200 CE): teachers called rabbis wrote down teachings that had been passed on by word of mouth. Followers call these teachings the Oral Torah. Historians often explain that Jewish communities lived in many lands and teachers wanted to keep the teachings from being lost. Card D, the Talmud: it joins the Mishnah to the Gemara, later rabbis' discussions of the Mishnah, and it records disagreements between teachers. The Jerusalem Talmud was completed about 400 CE and the Babylonian Talmud about 500 CE. Tradition counts 613 commandments in the Torah: 248 "do" and 365 "do not".

2. 1.

   Which sentence about the Shema in card B describes a belief the way a history class does, Ari asks?

   • The Lord is one, which the verse shows is a confirmed fact for any reader
   • Followers believe the Lord is one, and they say this verse in daily prayer
   • The verse comes from the Mishnah and lists the 613 commandments one by one
   • Followers believe the people of Israel are one, which is the whole message here
3. 2.

   The Mishnah is dated about 200 CE and the Babylonian Talmud about 500 CE. How many years apart, Bo asks?

   • About 700 years, as if the Mishnah were dated 200 BCE
   • About 300 years, since 500 minus 200 is 300
   • About 200 years, the gap to the Jerusalem Talmud at about 400 CE
   • About 30 years, from taking 20 away from 50
4. 3.

   Why were teachers writing down the Oral Torah in the Mishnah, as card C explains, Esme asks?

   • Teachers wanted a shorter book to replace the Torah, which communities no longer used
   • A king ordered the rabbis to collect the laws of his empire, and the Mishnah followed
   • Communities lived in many lands, so teachers wrote the teachings down to keep them from being lost
   • The Talmud was already complete, so teachers needed a short list of its rulings in writing for students
5. 4.

   A student says, "The Talmud and the Torah are the same book." How do cards A and D answer, Jun asks?

   • Yes: both are called the Oral Torah, so they are one and the same book
   • No: the Torah is the discussion of the Mishnah, and the Talmud is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible
   • No: the Talmud is older, since it explains the Mishnah and the Torah together
   • No: the Torah is the first five books, while the Talmud joins the Mishnah to later discussion
6. 5.

   According to card C, who wrote down the Mishnah, and what were they doing, Kira asks?

   • Prophets, who wrote down visions for the Hebrew Bible
   • Modern historians, who collected sayings from several old books
   • Rabbis, recording teachings that had been passed on by word of mouth
   • Later rabbis, who were explaining an earlier Gemara in writing
7. 6.

   Why does the Talmud in card D record disagreements between teachers, Milo asks?

   • The writers could not agree, so the book was left unfinished
   • To show that rabbis had no shared way of reading the Torah and so could not agree
   • To show that a single teacher in each case was correct and the rest wrong
   • So students can study the reasons behind each opinion, not just the final ruling
8. 7.

   Card D says tradition counts 248 "do" and 365 "do not" commandments. How many more "do not" than "do", Pia asks?

   • 613 more, the total number of commandments in the tradition's count
   • 248 more, the number of "do" commandments on the card
   • 117 more, since 365 minus 248 is 117
   • 127 more, from forgetting to take one from the tens when regrouping
9. 8.

   A history class writes, "Followers believe the Torah holds God's teaching." What does the wording "followers believe" do, Ren asks?

   • It says the belief is a proven fact that students must accept
   • It states one tradition's view as the single way to read the Torah
   • It reports the belief fairly and leaves the question of truth to each person
   • It hints the belief is doubtful, since a careful historian is meant to disagree
10. 9.

    A student says, "The Mishnah was written about 200 CE, so Jewish teaching began about 200 CE." How strong is that claim, Tala asks?

    • Strong: teaching by word of mouth cannot count until it is written down
    • Strong: no card names earlier Jewish writings, so there were no writings before 200 CE
    • Weak: card C says the Mishnah wrote down teachings already passed on by word of mouth
    • Strong: the Talmud grew from the Mishnah, so later teaching traces back to it
11. 10.

    Which new find would best show how students used the Mishnah around 200 CE, Zee asks?

    • A student's notebook from the 200s CE that copies sayings from the Mishnah
    • A 2020 textbook page that lists the six orders of the Mishnah and describes each one
    • A coin from 200 BCE with a king's name on it, found in a distant city
    • A Talmud page from about 500 CE that names later rabbis