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Structure of the five books
The five
books do not contain a complete and
ordered system of legislature (which is
found in the Talmud), but rather, a
general philosophical basis, a historical
description of the beginnings of Judaism,
and
613 specific laws. Much of the five
books (particularly Genesis, the first
part of Exodus and much of Numbers) are
actually stories rather than lists of
laws, but many important concepts and
ideas are found in these stories. The book
of Deuteronomy is different from the
previous books; it consists of Moses'
final speeches to Israel at the end of his
life, and reiterates many laws mentioned
previously.
Many laws
of Judaism are not directly mentioned in
the Torah, but are derived from textual
hints, which were expanded orally, and
eventually written down in the Talmud and
Mishnah. According to the Jewish view, the
stories in the Torah are not always in
chronological order, and sometimes they
are ordered by concept (Talmud tractate
Pesachim 7a).
Jews
believe that every single word, and even
letter, in the Torah is significant and
has a reason for appearing there.
Jewish
view of the Torah
The Torah
is the primary document of Judaism, and is
the source of all Biblical commandments,
in an ethical framework. According to a
well-accepted rabbinic tradition cited in
the Talmud (tractate Makkoth 23b), the
Torah contains 613 mitzvot [מצוות].
 According
to Jewish tradition, these books were
revealed to Moses by God; some of it is
said to have been revealed at Mt. Sinai.
Classical rabbinic literature offers
various ideas on when the entire Torah was
revealed. Some sources state that the
entire Torah was given all at once on
Mount Sinai. In the maximalist view, this
dictation included not only the "quotes"
which appear in the text, but every word
of the text itself, including phrases such
as "And God spoke to Moses...", and
included God telling Moses about Moses'
own death and what would happen afterward.
Other classical sources hold that the
Torah was revealed to Moses over many
years, and finished only at his death.
Another school of thought holds that
although Moses wrote the vast majority of
the Torah, a number of sentences
throughout the Torah must have been
written after his death by another
prophet, presumably Joshua. All classical
views, nonetheless, hold that the Torah
was entirely or almost entirely Mosaic and
of divine origin.
The
Rabbis hold that not only are the words
giving a Divine message, but indicate a
far greater message that extends beyond
them. Thus they hold that even as small a
mark as a kotzo shel yod (קוצו של יוד),
the serif of the
Hebrew letter yod, the smallest
letter,
י
was put there by God to teach scores of
lessons. This is regardless of whether
that yod appears in the phrase "I am the
Lord thy God," or whether it appears in
that oft repeated "And God spoke unto
Moses saying." In a similar vein, Rabbi
Akiva, who died in AD 135, is said to have
learned a new law from every et (את) in
the Torah (Talmud, tractate Pesachim 22b);
the word et is meaningless by itself, and
serves only to mark the accusative case.
In other words, the Orthodox view is that
"And God spoke unto Moses saying..." is no
less important than the actual statement.
One
kabbalistic interpretation is that the
Torah constitutes one long name of God,
and that it was broken up into words so
that human minds can understand it. While
this is effective since it accords with
our human reason, it is not the only way
that the text can be broken up.
There is little support for higher
biblical criticism in Orthodox Judaism.
Applying the techniques of higher
criticism to books of the Bible other than
the Torah is frowned upon, but applying
these techniques to the Torah itself is
usually considered to be both mistaken and
heretical. As such, the overwhelming
majority of Orthodox Judaism views the
documentary hypothesis to be heretical.
Orthodox rabbis well-known for taking
issue with documentary hypothesis include
Meir Leibush Malbim and Samson Raphael
Hirsch.
Translations
Torah translations have existed for over
2000 years. An early example is the
Septuagint, which the Talmud says was
produced at the instigation of a king or
pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
The best-known translation of antiquity is
probably the Targum of Onkelos the
Proselyte, who based his translation on an
oral tradition and is still used as a tool
for Torah study. It is quoted extensively
by Rashi in questions on etymology.
The Torah and the oral law
Rabbinical Judaism (i.e. Orthodox Judaism)
holds that the Torah has been transmitted
in parallel with an oral tradition. They
point to the text of the Torah, where they
believe many words are left undefined, and
many procedures mentioned without
explanation or instructions; they believe
the reader is assumed to be familiar with
the details from other, oral, sources.
This parallel set of material was
originally transmitted orally, and came to
be known as the oral law. At the time, it
was forbidden to write and publish the
Oral Law, as any writing would be
incomplete and subject to
misinterpretation and abuse. However,
after great debate, this restriction was
lifted when it became apparent that it was
the only way to ensure that the law could
be preserved.
To prevent the material from being lost,
the Rabbis began to write down their oral
traditions. Around AD 200, Rabbi Judah
haNasi took up the redaction of a written
version of the oral law; it was compiled
into the first major written work of
rabbinic Judaism, the Mishnah. Other
writings from the same time period which
record details of the Oral Law are called
"Baraitot" (external teaching), and
include the Tosefta. Over the next four
centuries this body of law, legend, and
ethical teachings underwent debate and
analysis in both of the world's major
Jewish communities (in Israel and
Babylon). These commentaries on the
Mishnah, called gemara, eventually came to
be edited together into compilations known
as the Talmuds.
Most Jews follow the traditional
explication of these laws that can be
found in this later literature. Karaites,
who reject the oral law, and adhere solely
to the laws of the Torah, are a major
exception. |
