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Torah, (תורה) is
a Hebrew word meaning "teaching",
"instruction", or especially "law". It
primarily refers to the first section of the
Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew
Bible,
or the Five Books of Moses, but can also be
used in the general sense to also include both
the Written and Oral Law.
The five books of the
Bible are:
Genesis (Bereishit בראשית),
Exodus (Shemot שמות),
Leviticus (Vayikra ויקרא),
Numbers (Bemidbar במדבר) and
Deuteronomy (Devarim דברים) .
Collectively they are also known as the
Pentateuch (Greek for "five containers", where
containers presumably refers to the scroll
cases in which books were being kept), Hamisha
Humshei Torah (חמשה חומשי תורה) (Hebrew for
"the five parts of the Torah", or just (C)Humash
(חומש "fifth" for short).
A Torah is a specially written scroll of the
five books, a Sefer Torah. Jews also use the
word Torah, in a wider sense, to refer to the
entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish
religious teachings throughout history. In
this sense it might include the entire Tanakh,
the Mishnah, the Talmud and the midrashic
literature.
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 (י), the smallest letter,
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. |
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