Torah
The Law; teaching. The word Torah can be used in a narrow sense to mean the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (The Five Books of Moses) and also in a wider sense to include the whole of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. is considered by Jews to be the holiest part of the The collected 24 books of the Jewish Bible. There are three sections: Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim (TaNaKh). May also be spelled Tenakh. . It was given by God to The man chosen by God to save the Jews from slavery and take them to the promised land. In the Qur'an he is a messenger chosen by God to give the revelation of the Torah to the Israelites. on A mountain in the Sinai desert, believed to be where Moses received the Ten Commandments.. Because of this, many Jews see it as the direct word of God.
The Torah contains the five books of Moses:
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
How the Sefer Torah is made
Printed book versions are widely available of the Torah, often combined with the Tenakh as well. However, every synagogue has a Sefer Torah. The The Torah scroll, handwritten on vellum (the skin of an unborn calf). These are kept in the synagogue and are treated with the utmost respect. is the Torah scroll, which are is handwritten by a specially trained scribe onto vellum (a prepared animal skin). This is treated with the utmost respect. It is an honour to be asked to read from it at a service in the Building for Jewish public prayer, study and assembly., and importantly no one is allowed to touch it with their bare hands. Instead, a pointer called a Hand-held pointer used in reading the Torah. is used to follow the words. which is a handwritten copy of the Torah on a scroll.
The significance of the Torah for Jews today
The Torah plays a big part in the lives of Jews today as it is believed to be the word of God. All Jews use the Torah to help guide them in their lives, but some Jews use the Torah more strictly than others. For example, some Jews who live by the Torah and rabbinic law (halakhah) and who only accept changes that can be supported by the Torah. believe that it is important to follow every single rule in the Torah. However, Jews who have adapted their laws and practices as modern life has changed. tend to follow the rules they feel are most important and disregard some rules they see as outdated.
The significance of the Torah is seen in many ways:
- It is read aloud weekly at the synagogue. It takes a year to recite the whole Torah.
- The festival of A Jewish festival which gives thanks for the Torah, remembering when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. celebrates God’s revelation of the Torah to Moses.
- The commandments in the Torah shape the way that Jews live their lives today.
Question
The importance of the Torah to Jews
The Torah was given to Moses by God. It contains the mitzvot, which are commandments. The Torah is the most important part of the Tenakh. The Torah shows Jews how to live a life that pleases God. The Torah is read aloud weekly at the synagogue.