Torah
Torah (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning "teaching," "instruction," or "law." It is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, but the term is sometimes also used in the general sense to also include both of Judaism's written law and oral law, encompassing the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the midrash, and more.
The five books and their names and pronounciations in original Hebrew are as follows:
- Genesis (בראשית, Bereishit: "In the beginning...")
- Exodus (שמות, Shemot: "Names")
- Leviticus (ויקרא, Vayikra: "And he called...")
- Numbers (במדבר, Bamidbar: "In the wilderness..."), and
- Deuteronomy (דברים, Devarim: "Words", or "Discourses")
(The Hebrew names are taken from initial words within the first verse of each book. See, for example, Genesis 1:1.)
The Torah is also known as the Five Books of Moses or the Pentateuch (Greek for "five containers," which refers to the scroll cases in which books were being kept). Other names include Hamisha Humshei Torah (חמשה חומשי תורה, "[the] five fifths/parts [of the] Torah") or simply the Humash (חומש "fifth"). A Sefer Torah is a formal written scroll of the five books, written by a Torah scribe under exceptionally strict requirements.
For Jews, the Torah was traditionally acceptd as the literal word of God as told to Moses, a very difficult notion for those who are not connected to that type of thinbking. For many, it is neither exactly history, nor theology, nor legal and ritual guide, but something beyond all three. It is the primary guide to the relationship between God and man, and the whole meaning and purpose of that relationship, a living document that unfolds over the generations and millennia.
Structure
The five books do not contain a complete and ordered system of laws (which is found in the Talmud), but rather, a general philosophical basis, a historical description of the beginnings of Judaism, and 613 distinct commandments, called mitzvot. The five books (particularly Genesis, the first part of Exodus, and much of Numbers) are, primarily, a collection of parables rather than a continuous list of laws; moreover, many of the most important concepts and ideas from the Torah are found in these stories. The book of Deuteronomy is different from the previous books; it consists of Moses' final speeches to the Children of Israel at the end of his life.
Many Jewish laws 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).
Production and usage
A Torah can be written for ritual purposes (i.e. religious services) on a scroll, called a Sefer Torah ("Book [of] Torah"). These are written using a painstakingly careful methodology by highly qualified scribes, and copies of the text that are centuries or millennia old have come down to us with almost unchanged wording as a result of this system. The reason for such care is it is believed that every word, or marking, has divine meaning, and that not one part may be inadvertantly changed lest it lead to error. The text of the Torah can also be found in books, which are mass-printed in the usual way for individual use, often containing both the Hebrew text and a translation in the language of publication (English, French, Russian etc). For more details on production of ritual scrolls, see the article Sefer Torah.
Printed versions of the Torah are known as a Chumash (plural Chumashim) ("[Book of] Five or Fifths"). They are treated as respected texts, but not anywhere near the level of sacredness accorded a Sefer Torah, which is often a major possession of a Jewish community. A chumash contains the Torah and other writings, usually organised for liturgical use, and sometimes accompanied by some of the main classic commentaries on individual verses and word choices, for the benefit of the reader.
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 Jewish tradition, these books were revealed to Moses by God; some of it is said to have been revealed at Mount Sinai in 1280 BC. Classical rabbinic writings offer 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, or decorative markings, or repeated words, were 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 135 CE, 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 even apparently contextual text "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, and absoluetly none in Haredi Judaism and Hasidic 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.
The Torah and the oral law
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 ancient rabbis began to write down their oral traditions. Around 200 CE, 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.
Christian view of the Torah
Traditional Christianity also affirms that the Torah is the word of God in which the Torah's quotes from God are understood literally as quotes from God Himself and the rest of the text, ]], in contrast, tends to accept the documentary hypothesis or similar reconstructions that deny any role to Moses in the construction of the Pentateuch and takes a less definite view of its divine inspiration.
Christians hold that not all of the laws of the Torah apply directly to themselves as Christians. The New Testament indicates that Jesus Christ established a new covenent relationship between God and his people (Hebrews 8; Jeremiah 31:31-34) and this makes the Mosaic covenant in some senses obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). A change of covenant can imply a change of law. Mark deduced from Jesus' teaching that the pentateuchal food laws no longer apply to Christians ("thus he declared all foods clean" -- Mark 7:19). The writer of Hebrews indicates that the sacrifices and the Levitical priesthood foreshadowed Jesus Christ's offering of himself as the sacrifice for sin on the Cross and that once the reality of Christ has come, the shadows of the ritual laws cease to be obligatory (Heb 8:5; 9:23-26; 10:1). On the other hand, the New Testament repeats and applies to Christians a number of Old Testament laws, including "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18; compare the Golden Rule), "Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and strength" (Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema) as well as every commandment of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments (Exod 20:1-17) except the Sabbath commandment.
This has led to a variety of theological systems to explain which laws do and which do not apply to Christians. While some Christians from time to time have deduced from statements about the law in the writings of the apostle Paul that Christians are under grace to the exclusion of all law (see antinomianism), this is not the usual viewpoint of Christians. One common approach is found in the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) which divides the Mosaic laws into three categories: moral, civil, and ceremonial. In the view of the Westminster divines, only the moral law such as most of the Ten Commandments directly applies to Christians today. Others limit the application of the Mosaic laws to those commands repeated in the New Testament. In the 1970s and 1980s a movement known as Christian Reconstructionism (Theonomy) argued that the civil laws as well as the moral laws should be applied in today's society as part of establishing a modern, theocratic state. Others are content to grant that none of the Mosaic laws apply as such and that the penalties attached to the laws were limited to the particular historical and theological setting of the Old Testament, and yet still seek to find moral and religious principles applicable for today in all parts of the law. The topic of Paul and the law is still frequently debated among New Testament scholars.
Islamic view of the Torah
Islam affirms Torah as the word of God. However, it is believed that the present versions of Torah have been modified over time by some waywards preachers of judaism. According to Islam, the present Jewish scriptures (including the Torah) are not the original divine revelations given to Moses. The Muslims scriptures pronounce and refer Torah as Tawrat. Muslims also believe the Torah was changed because of the coming of Jesus to guide the "Lost sheep of Israel" (Matthew 15:24) back to the right path and that Jesus' story was incomplete from a revelation aspect (and depends upon human witnesses and hearsay). As a result, Muslims believe the Qur'an is the final revelation from Allah and a completion of the previous books.
Samaritans
The Samaritans have their own version of the Torah, which contains many variant readings. Many of these agree with the Septuagint against the Masoretic Text, leading many scholars to believe that parts of the Samaritan text may have once been common in ancient Sumaria, but rejected by the Masoretes.
Secular view of the Torah
There is no scholarly consensus on the dates of the writing and canonization of the Torah, and estimates range from the 10th to the 6th centuries BC. Several professors of archeology claim that many stories in the Hebrew Bible, including important chronicles about Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and others, were actually made up for the first time by scribes hired by King Josiah (7th century BC) in order to rationalize monotheistic belief in God. Others claim that the foremost motivation behind the text is political and has to do with the division between the southern kingdom and the northern kingdom.
The prevailing theory amongst secular scholars holds that the text of the Torah appears to be redacted together from a number of earlier sources; this is known as the documentary hypothesis (DH), sometimes called the "JEDP" theory. This theory affirms that the Pentateuch was completed around 400 BC. See the documentary hypothesis page for the arguments of its proponents and opponents.
Evidently, the extensive written records of neighboring countries such as Egypt, Assyria, etc., do mention some of the stories of the Bible and its main characters before 650 BC. See the book references below.
See also
- Bible
- Moses
- Sefer Torah
- Tanakh
- Torah reading
- Judeo-Christian tradition
- Comparing and contrasting Judaism and Christianity
References
- William G. Dever, Who Were the Early Israelites?, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI (2003).
- Neil A. Silberman et al., The Bible Unearthed, Simon and Schuster, New York (2001).