Sadducees

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/sadducees

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the active era?Second century BCE to 70 CE
2. What is the geographic focus?Judea, with central involvement in Jerusalem and the Second Temple
3. Who were the Sadducees and what did they do?They were a group of Jewish leaders who took care of the big Temple in Jerusalem. They were part of the rich and priest families and helped run the daily work and sacrifices.
4. Why did the Sadducees think differently from the Pharisees?They only followed the written Torah and did not believe in angels, spirits, or the afterlife. The Pharisees liked oral traditions and believed in those ideas.

Sanhedrin: The supreme Jewish court and legislative body in ancient Jerusalem, composed of elders and priests.
Oral Law: Interpretations and traditions of Jewish law not explicitly written in the Torah, accepted by groups like the Pharisees.
Second Temple Period: The historical era from the rebuilding of the Temple around 516 BCE to its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE.
Josephus: A first-century Jewish historian whose writings provide valuable information about this period.