| Sponsored listings for Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica |
 The
term Torah (Hebrews: תּוֹרָה,
"teaching" or "instruction", or "law"),
also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: penta [five] and teuchos [tool,
vessel, book]),[1] refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety
of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts.[2][3] A "Sefer
Torah" (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה,
"book of Torah") or Torah scroll is a copy of the Torah
written on parchment in a formal, traditional manner by a specially
trained scribe under strict requirements.The Torah is the first of three parts of the Tanakh (i.e. Hebrew Bible), the founding religious document of Judaism,[4] and is divided into five books, whose names in English are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, in reference to their themes (their Hebrew names: Bereshit, בראשית, Shmot שמות, Vayikra ויקרא, Bamidbar במדבר, and Dvarim דברים, are derived from the wording of their initial verses). The Torah contains a variety of literary genres, including allegories, historical narrative, poetry, genealogy, and the exposition of various types of law. According to rabbinic tradition, the Torah contains the 613 mitzvot (מצוות, "commandments"), which are divided into 365 negative restrictions and 248 positive commands.[5] In rabbinic literature, the word "Torah" denotes both the written text, "Torah Shebichtav" (תורה שבכתב, "Torah that is written"), as well as an oral tradition, "Torah Shebe'al Peh" (תורה שבעל פה, "Torah that is oral"). The oral portion consists of the "traditional interpretations and amplifications handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation," now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash.[6] Jewish religious tradition ascribes authorship of the Torah to Moses through a process of divine inspiration. This view of Mosaic authorship is first found explicitly expressed in the Talmud, dating from the 1st to the 6th centuries CE, and is based on textual analysis of passages in the Torah and the subsequent books of the Hebrew Bible. The Zohar, the most significant text in Jewish mysticism, states that the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, and that it was used as the blueprint for Creation.[7] According to dating of the text by Orthodox rabbis, though some place it earlier, the revelation of the Torah to Moses occurred in 1312 BCE at Mount Sinai.[8] Contemporary secular biblical scholars date the completion of the Torah, as well as the prophets and the historical books, no earlier than the Persian period (539 to 334 BCE).[9] Scholarly discussion for much of the 20th century was principally couched in terms of the documentary hypothesis, according to which the Torah is a synthesis of documents from a small number of originally independent sources.[10] |
Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica Map to Aharon's Jewish Books and Judaica Store Hours Monday
through Thursday 9 AM to 8 PM |
|
|
|
|