Torah

Torah functions within Judaism as scripture, law, narrative, covenantal teaching, and a central object of communal study.[6] In its most immediate sense, it refers to the Five Books of Moses: Genesis (Bereshit), Exodus (Shemot), Leviticus (Vayikra), Numbers (Bamidbar), and Deuteronomy (Devarim). These books are also called the Chumash or Pentateuch.[2]

Together the five books contain 187 chapters, 5,845 verses, and 304,805 letters. Genesis has 50 chapters, Exodus 40, Leviticus 27, Numbers 36, and Deuteronomy 34.[6] In broader usage, Torah can encompass the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Torah, the Talmud, and the continuing tradition of Jewish learning and halakhic interpretation.[6]

Torah study has traditionally been one of the principal ways Jews express Jewish identity and seek to understand the will of God.[6] One constitutional interpretation describes Torah as the foundational constitution of the Jewish people, with later works such as the Mishnah, Gemara, legal codes, and Shulchan Arukh serving as interpretive referents in later eras.[7]

The Hebrew root y-r-h, from which Torah is derived, means “to teach” in its causative form. The term therefore conveys teaching, doctrine, or instruction. Within the Pentateuch, torah can denote laws governing a particular subject, the wider legal corpus, or the Pentateuch itself.[1]

Kaufmann Kohler’s historical-theological account describes early Torah as priestly instruction on ritual and juridical matters, with written laws developing from such instruction and being collected into codes.[8] He presents Ezra’s promulgation of a complete code as the culmination of a post-exilic religious transformation in which institutions of public instruction replaced “the former priestly Torah by the Torah for the people.”[8]

The Torah’s narrative extends from creation through the development of Abraham and Sarah’s family, Israel’s enslavement and redemption from Egypt, the wilderness journey, and the covenant with God. It also sets out rules for worship and a just society. Genesis covers creation and the patriarchs; Exodus recounts enslavement, redemption, Sinai, and the sanctuary; Leviticus addresses sacrifice, diet, purity, and holiness; Numbers follows the wilderness generation; and Deuteronomy presents Moses’ final teaching and the transfer of leadership to Joshua.[2]

A constitutional interpretation presents the Pentateuch as a comprehensive document: the first four books establish Israel as a people through the Abrahamic and Sinaitic covenants, while Deuteronomy restates earlier teaching for settled life in the land of Israel. It identifies four paradigmatic covenants — with Noah, Abraham, Israel at Sinai, and Israel on the plains of Moab.[9] Deuteronomy is presented within the text as Moses’ farewell teaching, with repetition serving a pedagogical and mnemonic purpose.[9]

In the biblical narrative, revelation at Sinai follows the Exodus from Egypt.[2] Deuteronomy 31 presents Moses as writing down the Torah and directing that it be read every seventh year before an assembly including men, women, children, and resident strangers. The chapter also describes the completed book as being placed beside the Ark of the Covenant as a witness.[10]

The Torah, Prophets (Nevi’im), and Writings (Ketuvim) form the Tanakh, whose name is an acronym of those three divisions.[2] The Tanakh contains 24 books in the traditional Jewish count, or 39 when combined works are divided into separate books.[11]

The British Library manuscript Or. 4445 contains the Pentateuch with Tiberian vocalization and Masoretic notes. Its main portion dates to the ninth century and has been used in reconstructing the Torah text of the Aleppo Codex; missing portions were completed by a Yemenite scribe in 1539.[12]

The Torah combines an account of Israelite origins with commandments, social regulations, theological teaching, worship instructions, and provisions concerning the priesthood.[11] One modern educational interpretation reads the creation narrative as teaching that the universe has order and life has purpose, and the Exodus as expressing the equal sanctity of human life and opposition to enslavement.[6]

Genesis presents creation, the patriarchs, and Jacob’s family in Egypt. Exodus covers redemption, Sinai, and the Tabernacle; Leviticus focuses on sacrifice, purity, holiness, and festivals; Numbers recounts wilderness journeys and rebellion; and Deuteronomy contains Moses’ final speeches, repeated commandments, blessings, and death.[2]

The Jewish Encyclopedia associates the Torah’s fivefold division with the physical limitations of ancient scrolls rather than a fundamental division of content. It records 669 internal sections — 290 open and 379 closed — and distinguishes the annual Babylonian cycle of 54 sidrot from a Palestinian triennial cycle of 155.[3] Because Torah laws often state obligations without explaining their reasons, interpretation has remained central to Jewish legal and theological reflection.[6]

A constitutional reading also describes three domains or “crowns”: keter Torah, concerning the communication of divine teaching; keter kehunah, concerning priestly service and worship; and keter malkhut, concerning civil government. The domains are presented as distinct but interdependent.[9]

Jewish sources distinguish the Written Torah (Torah she-bi-khetav) from the Oral Torah (Torah she-be-al peh).[1] Usage varies: some sources apply “Written Torah” primarily to the Pentateuch, while others use it for all 24 books of the Tanakh.[2][4] The Oral Torah encompasses rabbinic interpretation that explains, expands, and applies the written text, especially in the Mishnah and Gemara, which together form the Talmud.[4]

Traditional Jewish teaching holds that both written and oral Torah were revealed at Sinai. In this account, the Oral Torah was transmitted orally until concern over its loss after the destruction of the Second Temple led to its being written down.[4] Pirkei Avot expresses the traditional chain of authority: “Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly.”[4] An Israeli Ministry of Education resource states that Rabbi Judah the Prince and his court gathered oral legal traditions into the Mishnah about 150 years after the Temple’s destruction.[13]

Oral interpretation supplies practices not explicit in the biblical text. It identifies the biblical “signs” bound on the body as particular verses placed in boxes and attached with leather straps to form tefillin. It also develops the prohibition against boiling a kid in its mother’s milk into rules separating meat and dairy, including separate utensils and waiting periods.[4]

Rabbinic law distinguishes d’oraita rules derived from Torah verses from d’rabbanan enactments. The latter include gezerot, protective “fences” against transgression, and takkanot, enactments intended to remedy legal or communal problems.[4] A Maimonidean framework described in an Orthodox source identifies five components of Oral Torah: Sinaitic interpretations, laws transmitted outside the written text, hermeneutical principles, rabbinic safeguards, and rabbinic enactments.[14]

The Amoraim interpreted the Mishnah, and their discussions were collected in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. Later authorities — the Geonim, Rishonim, and Aharonim — continued applying Talmudic discussions in legal works and practical rulings.[13]

A Torah scroll, or sefer Torah, is handwritten on parchment by a specially trained scribe called a sofer and is kept in a synagogue ark.[2][15] On Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, a scroll is removed and a portion is chanted before the community.[15] The Torah is divided into 54 weekly portions, or parashot, which form the centerpiece of the Sabbath morning service; each is paired with a prophetic reading called a haftarah.[2]

Communities follow annual or triennial reading cycles, and special passages are read on holidays in connection with their themes.[5] Public Torah reading requires a minyan, a quorum of ten Jewish adults, although denominations differ over whether only men or all adults are counted.[5] At a Bar Mitzvah, a boy is traditionally called to read the Torah portion and accompanying prophetic reading, marking his entry into adult Jewish obligation.[16]

The Torah mentions the Sabbath, Rosh ha-Shanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Passover is associated with the Exodus, Shavuot with the giving of the Ten Commandments, and Sukkot with the harvest. Hanukkah and Purim commemorate later events and do not appear in the Torah.[5]

Worn Torah scrolls and other sacred writings are treated with reverence. Traditional rules prohibit casually discarding sacred books, and a Torah scroll unfit for use may be placed in an earthenware vessel and buried in a genizah, a place for preserving or concealing sacred writings and ritual objects.[11]

Talmud Torah, the study of Jewish traditions, literature, law, ritual, history, and other fields of life, is traditionally regarded as a lifelong obligation.[11] Traditional formulations call for regular study by rich and poor, healthy and suffering, young and old, during both day and night. Rabbinic teaching also holds that study is great because it leads to action.[11]

Torah study involves close reading, comparing verses, testing arguments, using primary sources, and repeatedly interpreting texts. It is therefore presented as an ongoing search for truth rather than the passive absorption of a fixed body of information.[11] In chevruta study, partners or small groups question and challenge one another, making argument and reinterpretation part of the learning process.[11]

Torah learning is often divided between halakhah and aggadah. Halakhah concerns legal material and norms of conduct, while aggadah includes stories, legends, philosophical inquiry, and reflection on life’s meaning. The two are complementary: one supplies norms for action and the other religious vision and interpretation.[11]

Torah is traditionally described as an inheritance open to every Jew. A passage attributed to Maimonides contrasts the hereditary crowns of priesthood and royalty with the crown of Torah, which may be claimed by anyone who desires it.[11] Study and synagogue reading complement prayer as approaches to God, while the prayer book itself includes biblical and rabbinic passages that provide further opportunities for learning.[11]

The Jewish Encyclopedia describes the Torah as an ethical work rather than merely a legal code: it combines historical narratives with laws concerning human life, and presents its laws in ethical as well as legal form.[3] Its Hebrew name, meaning “instruction,” encompasses teaching as well as commandment.[1]

One constitutional interpretation contrasts Torah as a source of foundational principles with Torah as a detailed code. In this view, later works including the Mishnah, Talmud, legal codes, and Shulchan Arukh explicate and apply its principles under changing historical conditions.[7]

An Israeli government description presents Jewish sacred texts as part of the Jewish people’s historical, cultural, and social heritage and as spiritual, moral, and practical guides in Israel.[17] More broadly, Torah study has remained a principal expression of Jewish identity and an effort to understand divine intent.[6]

Traditional Jewish belief regards the Torah’s narratives and commandments as divinely communicated to Moses. The traditional position holds that the Torah was given permanently and written by Moses through divine dictation.[3] Rabbinic authorities nevertheless debated whether Moses or Joshua wrote the final eight verses describing Moses’ death and whether the Torah was given in stages or all at once.[3]

Modern historical-critical scholarship challenges complete Mosaic authorship. Historians and literary critics have identified repetitions, historical difficulties, and evidence of a composite text drawing on sources associated with several periods, including the eras of David and Solomon, Josiah, and the Babylonian exile.[2] The Documentary Hypothesis conventionally labels four proposed sources J, E, P, and D, although later scholarship has complicated that model.[18]

Deuteronomy is a particular focus of debate. Many scholars have proposed compilation during Josiah’s seventh-century BCE reign and possible identification with the book found in the Temple in 2 Kings 22. Other views connect it with Samuel’s eleventh-century BCE law of kingship or maintain that its core is Mosaic.[9]

Modern Jewish theology also debates the nature of revelation. One model treats Moses as a secretary recording divine dictation; a “participatory” model emphasizes human interpretation of divine presence. The latter is associated with Abraham Joshua Heschel’s phrase “a minimum of revelation and a maximum of interpretation.”[18] Related scholarship argues that writing in ancient Israel operated within a wider oral tradition and that the boundary between Written and Oral Torah was historically porous.[18]

Jewish communities differ over the nature and authority of Oral Torah. The ancient Sadducees rejected oral traditions, and the modern Karaite community relies on the Written Torah alone.[4]

Orthodox Judaism treats Oral Law as binding and divinely authorized. Conservative Judaism officially accepts the authority of oral tradition while granting modern rabbis greater flexibility to adapt halakhah. Reform Judaism generally rejects halakhah as binding and views Oral Law as a human product of particular historical circumstances.[4]

An Orthodox account describes each generation’s rabbis as applying Torah principles to new situations through inherited interpretive methods. It also presents hatimat ha-Talmud as barring later authorities from overturning matters settled by the earlier Sages and defines Masora as the teacher-student chain preserving Torah tradition.[14] These approaches differ over revelation, authorship, legal authority, and the status of later interpretation.