Torah (/ˈtɔːrə/; Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, Instruction, Teaching), or what is often translated into English as Pentateuch, is the central concept in the religious Judaic tradition. It has a range of meanings: it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty four books of the Tanakh, it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries in it, The term Torah means instruction and offers a way of life for those who follow it. It can mean the continued narrative from Genesis to the end of the Tanakh, and it can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture and practice.[1] Common to all these meanings, Torah consists of the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: their call into being by God, their trials and tribulations, and their covenant with their God, which involves following a way of life embodied in a set of religious obligations and civil laws (halakha). In rabbinic literature the word Torah denotes both the five books, Torah Shebichtav (תורה שבכתב, Torah that is written), and an Oral Torah, Torah Shebeal Peh (תורה שבעל פה, Torah that is spoken). The Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash.[2] According to rabbinic tradition, all of the teachings found in the Torah, both written and oral, were given by God to Moses, some of them at Mount Sinai and others at the Tabernacle, and all the teachings were written down by Moses, which resulted in the Torah we have today. According to a Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, and was used as the blueprint for Creation.[3] The majority of Biblical scholars believe that the written books were a product of the Babylonian exilic period (c. 600 BCE) and that it was completed by the Persian period (c. 400 BCE).[4]
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 22:41:57 +0000
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