Torah: meaning, origin and history

The Torah composes the first 5 books of the holy book of the Jewish religion and has its origin in the Hebrew term Yará, which means teaching, instruction or law.

É considered a guide for the Jews, with 613 commandments that teach how they should or should not act, whether in social, family or religious relationships, for example.

The Torah tells from the story of God's creation of the world, to the arrival of the Jewish people in Israel and the death of Moses on Mount Nob. It consists of five books and are equivalent to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the christian bible. Are they:

• bereshit, also known as Genesis;
• Shemot, also known as Exodus;
• vayikrah, also known as Leviticus;
• Bamidbar, also known as Numbers;
• Devarim, also known as Deuteronomy.

They exist twotypes of Torah: written, which contains the 613 written commandments, and oral, which is the set of instructions that teach how to fulfill the commandments of the written Torah.

Among these 613 commandments, 248 are considered the positive teachings, which guide the Jewish people to what

must be done and the other 365 are teachings considered negative, which instruct them to must not be done

Jews consider that Moses wrote the Torah through the teachings of the God of Israel, passed directly on to him. This revelation from God to Moses took place 50 days after the liberation of the Jewish people from the slavery they suffered in Egypt.

Upon leaving Egypt, the Jews wandered for forty years through the desert towards the so-called Promised Land, where Israel is located.

During this time, Moses was responsible for transcribing the teachings received by God and transmitting them to the prophets of the time and to the Jewish people. Therefore, the Torah is also called by the Jews as Torat Moshe, the Law of Moses, considered the greatest prophet by Jewish tradition.

For public Torah readings, Jews divide the books into small sections and begin reading in order, starting with Genesis and ending with Deuteronomy.

When dividing the book, the short excerpts are read three times a week, inside the Synagogues, on specific days:

• on Mondays and Thursdays small sections are read,
• and the main reading takes place on Saturday mornings, a holy day for the Jews, called by Jewish tradition the Shabbat.

These Torah scrolls, distributed on parchments, are called Sefer Torah and they are the most sacred objects of Judaism.

Jew reading a Sefer Torah.

The origin and history of Torah

The teachings that make up the Torah, were sent by God to Moses on top of Mount Sinai, during the exodus of the Jewish people, which took place between 1300 and 1250 BC. Ç.

For about 400 years, the Hebrews (ancestors of the Jews) were enslaved in Egypt and freed with the help of Moses, wandered in the desert towards the Promised Land of God, where they would build their nation, which would be called Israel.

According to Jewish tradition, God spoke directly to Moses when he climbed to the top of the so-called Mount Sinai, where he stayed for 40 days and 40 nights receiving the new teachings that God wanted to pass on to the people Jewish.

For the Jews, Moses was the prophet chosen by God to transmit these teachings to other prophets, such as Joshua, and to all the people of Israel. For this reason, he is considered the greatest prophet for Judaism.

The content of the Torah

The five books that make up the Torah tell the story from the creation of the world by God until the death of the prophet Moses. The structure of the Torah is divided as follows:

First book: Genesis

The first book of the Torah, entitled bereshit, has its story divided into four parts. The first tells about the creation of the world by God, the first beings on earth, until the call of the prophet Abraham by God.

The second part develops the story of Abraham, how he fulfilled his calling by God and became known as one of the greatest prophets. The third and fourth part of the story develops the narrative of Jacob, until his son Joseph went to Egypt, where he became governor.

The end of the book of Genesis focuses on presenting the trajectory of the Jewish people to the Egyptian lands, where they would later be enslaved.

Second book: Exodus

Shemot, the second book, is divided into three main parts. The first one tells about the liberation of the Jews, who were enslaved for over 400 years in Egypt. This deliverance was made through Moses who interceded for the people, through a call from God.

After leaving Egypt, the second part of the book describes when Moses climbed to the top of Mount Sinai and received the teachings of God, called the The 10 Commandments or The 10 Sayings. Are they:

1. I am the Eternal your Gd who brought you out of Egypt.
2. You will have no other gods and statues before Me.
3. Thou shalt not swear in the name of Gd in vain.
4. You will remember and respect the day of Shabbat.
5. You will honor your father and your mother.
6. You will not kill.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. You will not bear false witness.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

The Jews believe that God himself wrote with his fingers on the concrete tablets that Moses took to present to the people.

After receiving these commandments, the third and last part of the book tells the beginning of the pilgrimage of the Jewish people in the desert, towards the Promised Land by God.

Read more about the 10 Commandments of God.

Third Book: Leviticus

vayikrah, the third book, talks about the construction of a tabernacle, a mobile temple, which was made by the people with the help of Moses, to worship God during the pilgrimage in the desert.

The book also tells about God's call to Moses to repeat his 10 Commandments to the people, making a new covenant with the Jews. In addition to new teachings on how to behave in the temple and how to make offerings in the tabernacle.

Fourth book: Numbers

The book Bamidbar tells the story of the new covenant made with God with the Jews and the preparation for the new direction to the Promised Land.

However, along the way, the people complained to God about the conditions to reach the Earth and, upon hearing the stories that the spies told about the conditions and the inhabitants of the place, gave up to take over the Earth Promised.

Therefore, God condemns the people to suffer in the desert until a new generation arises and can take over Israel at once.

Fifth book: Deuteronomy

Devarim, the last book of the Torah, talks about Moses' last sermons to the Jewish people. It tells how Moses reviewed the entire pilgrimage of the people in the desert until they reached the Promised Land.

Moses also reminds the people about The 10 Commandments and the importance of following them to conquer the Earth and about God's mercy to the people, even in the face of disobedience.

In the last few chapters, the Promised Land is conquered by the new generation of Jews. Moses then dies on Mount Nebo and is succeeded by the prophet Joshua, chosen by God to guide the Jews in his place.

See also the meaning of Judaism.

The difference between the Talmud and the Torah

While the Torah composes God's teachings to the people, the Talmud is a Jewish book made up of sermons, debates and discussions among the rabbis, leaders of the Jewish religion, regarding the teachings that were given in the Oral Torah.

While the Torah is the instructions and laws followed by the Jews, the Talmud helps in understanding and interpreting these teachings..

The Talmud was created because the teachings were passed on to the Jewish people through oral Torah. And when discussing these instructions, the rabbis feared that the content of these conversations would be lost. Therefore, they decided to write them, forming the Talmud.

The content of the Talmud

The Talmud quotes and explains in depth all 613 commandments contained in the Written Torah. These explanations are made from the discussion of different opinions of the rabbis.

These debates address religious, business, family and social issues and are organized into questions and answers, so that learning takes place through questioning.

It is the most studied book in yeshiva, study houses where Jews usually spend up to 15 hours a day dedicated to readings and discussions on Jewish teachings.

Book of the Talmud.

What is the relationship between the Torah and the Christian Bible?

The five books that make up the Torah are part of the Hebrew Bible and are also present in the Christian Bible. However, in the Christian Bible it is named Pentateuch, making reference to the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Are they:

• Genesis;
• Exodus;
• Leviticus;
• Numbers;
• Deuteronomy.

The Torah is written in Hebrew with some passages in Aramaic, the native language of the Jews. The Christian bible has already been fully translated from Hebrew and Greek into more than 400 languages.

Jews consider this translation to be inaccurate, altering the content of the texts in some way.

The New Testament of the Christian Bible is not accepted by Judaism. That's because this part of the Christian bible tells the story of Jesus Christ, who for Christians is considered the promised messiah by God.

For Judaism, Jesus Christ is a false messiah, as the Jewish people still await the coming of God's promised messiah.

Therefore, for the Jews, the holy bible even having its similarities with the books of the Torah, is just the book of another religion.

read all about judaism.

See also the meaning of:

• kosher;
• bar mitzvah;