The Torah For Dummies

Arthur Kurzweil

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781118051832
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Jewish Theology

An easy-to-understand introduction to Judaism's most sacred text

The foundation of Hebrew and Jewish religion, thought, law, and society is the Torah-the parchment scroll containing the text of the Five Books of Moses that is located in every synagogue. This accessible guide explains the Torah in clear language, even to those who were not raised in the Jewish religious tradition. Christians who want to know more about the Jewish roots of Christianity need to understand the Torah, as do followers of Islamic tradition and those interested in the roots of Abrahamic faiths. The Torah For Dummies explains the history of the Torah, its structure and major principles, and how the Torah affects the daily lives of people who follow the Jewish way of life.

Part I

The Torah 101

In this part . . .

Even though you can begin reading any chapter in this book first, you may want to get some of the basics under your belt. In this part, I cover some of the fundamental elements found in the Torah itself, such as its setup and laws. I also give you a quick overview of the contents of the Five Books of Moses. Perhaps most importantly I devote an entire chapter to God, who is the ultimate author of the Torah; in fact, God is the author of the universe and everything that exists.

Chapter 1

Beginning with Torah Basics

In This Chapter

Meeting the Torah’s author — God

Discovering the most important elements of the Torah

Glimpsing each of the Five Books of Moses

Understanding how to live a righteous life according to the Torah

Seeing how the Torah guides the lives of the Jewish people

The Torah, also known as the Five Books of Moses, is the most sacred object and the most important text of the Jewish people. As a sacred scroll found in every synagogue throughout the world, it’s referred to as a sefer Torah (say-fehr toe-rah; Torah scroll); as a bound book, it’s referred to as a chumash (khuh-mahsh; five).

The Torah is more than a text, though; it’s also the spiritual tradition of the Jewish people, communicated by God (the Creator and Master of the universe) to Moses (the greatest prophet of the Jewish people) on Mount Sinai in 1280 BCE and handed down from generation to generation.

You can understand the word “Torah” in a third way as well. Torah is the vast and constantly growing body of teachings and wisdom of Judaism, and in this sense it even includes what a qualified Jewish teacher will teach tomorrow. The “study of Torah” is not necessarily the same as the “study of the Torah.” “The Torah” usually means the Written Torah, the Five Books of Moses, whereas “Torah” is Torah studies in the more general sense.

In this chapter, I introduce you to various aspects of the Torah, such as its structure, teachings, and study. I invite you to explore this chapter and discover some basics about this unique document of documents that has taught the world about charity; love; the importance of educating children; honesty in the marketplace; the concepts of bankruptcy, courts, and witnesses; and so many other aspects of modern experience that are embedded into the fabric of our lives.

Introducing God, the Torah’s Author

Even though the Torah is mainly about God, it’s also important to remember that the Torah’s author is God. Although the first line of the Torah says, “In the beginning of God’s creation of heaven and earth . . .,” it’s God who is speaking. God chose Moses to receive and write down a divine message, which is why the Torah is also known as the Five Books of Moses, but the Torah emanates from God. God reaches into the human world with the Torah.

Jewish tradition teaches that God didn’t create the world out of nothing. God’s creation is an emanation of divine light that God sculpted into all that exists. God is not just “in” everything. Rather, everything is God. This is, of course, a paradox. On the one hand, people live their lives feeling separate from God, but at the same time, Jewish tradition teaches that on the deepest level everything is God.

In studying the Torah, you’ll often encounter paradoxes. Many spiritual teachers teach that when you encounter a paradox, it usually means that you’re going in the right direction. The endless struggle to grasp and understand what is meant by God is both the most important activity of life and, at the same time, an impossible task. The study of Torah is the way in which Jews participate in this paradoxical struggle. Some of the ideas that students of the Torah struggle with include:

Humans are created in God’s image.

God has many names, but no name can possibly be adequate.

God exists.

God has no gender.

God is unique; nothing is like God is any way.

God is everywhere.

God is, was, and will be; God transcends time.

God is beyond human comprehension.

The Torah is mainly God’s communication to people about how to behave. Most of the Torah is directed toward the Jewish people, although it also contains instructions for all other peoples of the world. But for reasons that only God knows, the Jewish people are given extra burdens and responsibilities. God chose the Jewish people, but in no way does this status of being chosen by God imply superiority.

People have responsibilities to God and to each other, and the Torah is filled with instructions about how to fulfill both (see the later section “Living Life A...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : The Torah 101
• Part II : One by One: The Books of the Torah
• Part III : The Torah: An Operating Manual for Planet Earth
• Part IV : The Importance of the Torah in Judaism
• Part V : The Part of Tens
• Part VI : Appendixes