In order to give you a clear picture of what Torah is, it is necessary to first provide you with a little historical background and context.
We read in the Bible about a very special offer made by God to the Nation of Israel about two months after rescuing them from slavery in Egypt:
"You have seen what I did to Egypt, and that I have lifted you upon the wings of eagles and brought you to Me. And now, if you listen to Me and guard My covenant, you shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth. You shall be to Me a kingdom of noblemen and a holy nation." (Exodus 19:4)
The Jews answered:
" Everything that God has spoken we shall do..." (Exodus 19:8)
At this point, according to Jewish Tradition, a historic revelation takes place whereby G-d 'descends' onto Mt Sinai and seals the covenant by declaring the Ten Commandments to an awestruck nation. Moses then ascends the mountain for 40 days and is taught by G-d all that is now referred to as Jewish Law and Philosophy. Eventually Moses comes down and teaches what he has learnt to the whole Jewish Nation. At the end of his life, Moses writes the first Torah
Scroll (dictated to him word for word by God) containing exactly the words we find in the Torah scrolls presently kept in synagogues around the world (the content of this scroll is commonly referred to as the 'Five books of Moses' or the 'Chumash', in Hebrew).
The content of the Torah Scroll covers the time span from the creation of the World until Moses' death and includes both general statements of law and very selective excerpts of historical events from which we are to derive philosophical principles; the countless details of Jewish Law which were taught to Moses by God on Mt Sinai and yet not expressed explicitly in the 'Five Books' were all passed down by word of mouth until they too were recorded in the Talmud. The combination of the 'Written' and 'Oral' Law is what is generally referred to as 'Torah' - as opposed to the 'Torah Scroll' which is
simply the 'Five Books of Moses'.
lobel@torah.org |
