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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
- Sprache: Englisch
An accessible and fascinating exploration of the Torah
The Torah For Dummies, 2nd Edition is an easy-to-follow and insightful guide to the first five books of the Hebrew bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. This helpful resource walks you through the foundations of Jewish tradition, religion, and theology, explaining Judaism's rich and ancient history and how its interpreted by modern Jews.
You'll also find discussion on translations of ancient writings, as well as explorations of the resources that preserve and expand Jewish texts and archeological discoveries that shed additional light on old doctrines.
Inside:
- Understand how the Torah is structured
- Discover how the Torah informs the lives of followers
- Explore interpretations, commentaries, and more.
Perfect for practicing Jews who want to better understand their own faith, Christians wanting to know more about the Jewish roots of Christianity, followers of Islamic tradition, and those interested in the roots of Abrahamic faiths, The Torah For Dummies is a can't-miss resource for anyone interested in one of the world's oldest and most fascinating religions and cultures. It's packed with trustworthy information about the laws, teachings, and stories that guide the lives of people of faith all over the world.
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Seitenzahl: 614
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025
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The Torah For Dummies®
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1: The Torah 101
Chapter 1: Beginning with Torah Basics
Introducing God, the Torah’s Author
Examining the Torah’s Important Elements
Taking One Torah Book at a Time
Living Life According to the Torah
Connecting the Torah to Judaism
Chapter 2: Encountering God, the Ultimate Author
Enter God, Stage Center: Creating a New World (and People to Fill It)
Calling God by Many Names in the Torah
Getting to Know the Nature of God through the Torah
Growing Closer to God with the Torah’s Help
Communicating Directly with God
Chapter 3: Examining the Treasures of the Torah
A Little History: Moses and the Torah
Understanding the Torah’s Structure
Getting a Grip on What the Torah Isn’t
Considering the Torah’s Commandments
Part 2: One by One: The Books of the Torah
Chapter 4: “In the Beginning”: The Book of Genesis
Before You Begin: Approaching the Story of Creation
Get Going: God Creates the World
It Takes Two: Adam and Eve
Sibling Rivalry: Cain and Abel
When It Rains, It Pours: Noah and the Flood
Reach for the Sky: The Tower of Babel
Father Figure: The Story of Abraham
The Birth and Binding of Isaac
The Story of Jacob
Introducing Joseph, Jacob’s Favorite Son
Chapter 5: “These Are the Names”: The Book of Exodus
The Rise of a New Pharaoh and the Early Life of Moses
Get Moving! The Exodus from Egypt
What a Trip: Journeying through the Wilderness
Arriving at Mount Sinai
Aaron and the Incident of the Golden Calf
Building a Movable Worship Tent
Chapter 6: “And He Called”: The Book of Leviticus
Drawing Near to God: The Laws of Sacrifices
Surveying the Priestly Duties
The Laws of Purity and Impurity
Chapter 7: “In the Wilderness”: The Book of Numbers
Counting the Children of Israel
Looking at a Few Important Laws
Witnessing Some Wild Events in the Desert
Chapter 8: “Words”: The Book of Deuteronomy
The First Discourse of Moses
The Second Discourse of Moses
The Final Discourse of Moses
Part 3: The Torah: An Operating Manual for Planet Earth
Chapter 9: Keeping Your Personal Behavior in Line with the Torah
Defining the Essence of the Torah
Be a Mensch: Some Basic Torah Principles About Personal Behavior
Look Sharp! Dressing Appropriately
Everything Is Relative: The Torah’s Family Rules
All You Need Is (a Lot More than) Love: Treating Everyone Fairly
Showing Kindness to Furry Friends
Chapter 10: Living by the Word of the Torah in the Community
It’s Universal: The Seven Laws of the Sons of Noah
Doing Better Business
Property Rights: What’s Mine Is Mine, What’s Yours Is Yours
Order in the Court — The Torah Way
Part 4: The Importance of the Torah in Judaism
Chapter 11: Observing the Holy Days in Torah Time
Breaking Down Time According to the Torah
Shabbat: Observing the Holiest of Holy Days
Celebrating Holy Days Appearing in the Torah
Chapter 12: Following Jewish Customs According to the Torah
Torah Traditions Related to the Cycle of Life
It’s a Sign! Surveying Some Well-Known Jewish Symbols
But Is It Kosher? Jewish Eating Practices
Chapter 13: Walking through the Torah Synagogue Service
Understanding the Basic Customs of Torah Readings
Preparing for the Torah Service
Taking the Torah Scroll from Its Holy Closet
Following the Torah Scroll Procession
Undressing the Torah Scroll
Receiving the Honor of Blessing the Holy Words
The Big Event: Reading the Torah Out Loud
Concluding the Torah Service
Chapter 14: The Final Commandment: Writing a Torah Scroll
God Said So! The Law Behind Writing a Torah Scroll
Decisions, Decisions: Hiring a Scribe Versus Completing a Torah Yourself
Buying a Torah: You Get What You Pay For
Understanding the Ground Rules of Torah Writing
Steps in Writing a Torah Scroll
Using the Right Torah Writing Supplies
A Little TLC: Proper Torah Care, Repair, and Burial
The Modern Computer Meets the Ancient Torah Scroll
Chapter 15: Always Up for Discussion: Analyzing the Torah
Grasping the Infinite Possibilities of Interpreting the Torah
Entering the Garden of Torah Interpretation
Examining the “Bible Codes”: Are They Legit?
Chapter 16: Studying the Torah with Translations, Commentaries, and Other Resources
Reading a Translation of the Torah
Getting Help from Great Classic and Contemporary Commentators
Using Other Resources to Study the Torah
Part 5: Do You Dig Archaeology?
Chapter 17: The Science of Biblical Archaeology
Modern Archaeology
Did the Patriarchs Really Exist?
Controversial Archaeological Discoveries Related to the Five Books of Moses
Chapter 18: Biblical Archaeology: True or False?
Biblical Archaeological Discoveries: Contradictions and Corroborations
Seven Archaeological Discoveries That Contradict Details in the Five Books of Moses
Eleven Archaeological Discoveries That Corroborate Details from the Five Books of Moses
Changing Understanding Through New Discoveries
Part 6: The Part of Tens
Chapter 19: Ten Frequently Misunderstood Quotes from the Torah
“And God Said, Let Us Make Man in Our Image, After Our Likeness”
“Am I My Brother’s Keeper?”
“Two by Two They Came to Noah into the Ark, Male and Female”
“God Is a Man of War”
“An Eye for Eye, a Tooth for Tooth”
“You Shall Not Lie with a Man as with a Woman: It Is an Abomination”
“You Shall Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”
“For the Lord Thy God Is a Jealous God”
“For You Are a People Holy to the Lord Your God”
“You Must Not Make Your Brother Pay Interest”
Chapter 20: The Ten Commandments According to the Torah
“I Am the Lord Your God”
“You Shall Not Recognize Other Gods Before Me”
“You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord Your God in Vain”
“Remember the Sabbath Day, to Keep It Holy”
“Honor Your Father and Your Mother”
“You Shall Not Murder”
“You Shall Not Commit Adultery”
“You Shall Not Steal”
“You Shall Not Bear False Witness Against Your Neighbor”
“You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House”
Appendix: A Glossary of Torah Terms and Names
Index
About the Author
Connect with Dummies
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 1
TABLE 1-1 The Five Books of Moses
TABLE 1-2 Key Life Events and Corresponding Jewish Customs
Chapter 3
TABLE 3-1 The 54 Weekly Torah Portions
Chapter 11
TABLE 11-1 Sampling of Jewish Holy Days
List of Illustrations
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3-1: A sample page from the Talmud.
Chapter 4
FIGURE 4-1: Abraham’s family tree.
Chapter 7
FIGURE 7-1: The arrangement of the Tabernacle.
Chapter 13
FIGURE 13-1: The layout of a synagogue, including the holy closet.
FIGURE 13-2: The parts of a Torah scroll.
FIGURE 13-3: The lifting of the Torah scroll.
Chapter 14
FIGURE 14-1: The Hebrew alphabet.
FIGURE 14-2: A sample from a tikkun sofer of a small part of a Torah scroll.
Chapter 15
FIGURE 15-1: The different values of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet (includ...
Chapter 16
FIGURE 16-1: Commentary surrounding a Torah translation.
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Begin Reading
A Glossary of Torah Terms and Names
Index
About the Author
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The Torah For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
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Introduction
The Torah is both the most sacred object and the most sacred text in Judaism. It consists of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The word “Torah” comes from the same root as the Hebrew word hora’ah (hoe-rah-ah), which means “instruction” or “teaching.” The Torah’s purpose, simply stated, is to provide people with instructions for finding and following the path of God and the path to God.
Although the words in the Torah, which is also known as the Five Books of Moses, consists of exactly 304,805 letters, the great sages of Jewish tradition teach that all the wisdom in the universe is hidden within these letters. Jewish tradition looks carefully at these letters and at the words they form, and great sages throughout history have provided — and continue to provide — the proper instruction for analyzing the Torah text and revealing its divine messages.
As my teacher, the renowned Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz of Jerusalem, said, “Other religions have a concept of scripture as deriving from Heaven, but only Judaism seems to be based on the idea that the Torah Scripture is itself Heaven. In other words, the Torah of the Jews is the essence of divine revelation; it is not only a basis for social, political, and religious life but is something of supreme value.”
When you study the Torah, you aren’t just studying the word of God. According to Jewish belief, Torah study is actually an authentic encounter with God. The Torah can be viewed as a collection of concentrated emanations and transmutations of divine wisdom. I’m a Jew who studies the Torah in one form or another every day. I’ve been studying the Torah for nearly 40 years, and I’ve come to believe that the Torah is the most profound collection of wisdom and guidance I’ve ever encountered.
About This Book
It’s essential to know that you can’t understand the Five Books of Moses simply by reading it like a storybook. A core belief among the Jewish people is that when Moses encountered God on Mount Sinai and received the Torah, he actually received two Torahs — one written and one oral. The two parts together make up what the Jewish people consider to be the Torah.
The relationship between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah has often been compared to the relationship between the United States Constitution on the one hand and both federal and state legislation as well as the decisions of the Supreme Court on the other hand. The written Constitution contains basic principles, but it’s the legislation and court decisions that expand upon these principles and give them life. Jewish tradition teaches that the Oral Torah works in much the same way, expanding upon the basic written principles of the Five Books of Moses. These basic principles are constantly being applied to new situations as human history unfolds.
In The Torah For Dummies, I explain how both aspects of the Torah work together to form an operating manual for life. Like all For Dummies books, you don’t need to read The Torah For Dummies from cover to cover. Each chapter is self-contained. I’ve constructed each section so that you can flip through the book, find something of interest, and read it without needing to know what the other chapters say. I’ve written this book in plain, down-to-earth language, and if I need to mention an essential technical or foreign word or phrase, I make sure to define it the first time I use it.
Even though the Torah is deep and profound, Jewish tradition teaches that the Torah is written in the language of humans and is meant to be accessible and understandable. I’ve made sure that my explanations and descriptions of the Torah and its contents resulted in a plain-language reference book that will serve you well, even if you have had absolutely no prior experience or familiarity with the Torah.
My goal in writing The Torah For Dummies is to introduce you to the Torah, its structure, its contents, and its significance in Jewish life. I also want you to understand how the ideas in the Torah provide the basis of Western civilization and the foundations of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Foolish Assumptions
When writing this book, I had to make some assumptions about you. First of all, I don’t assume that you’re Jewish, nor do I assume that you want to be. And although the Torah is just as much about spiritual practice as it is about general spiritual ideas, I don’t assume that you want to adopt every practice, custom, and ritual, nor do I assume that you necessarily agree with all the theological assumptions found in the Torah.
Following are additional assumptions I’ve made. If you fit into any of these categories, this book is for you:
You’ve heard about the Torah and are curious about it because you know that it’s the central book and foundation of Judaism.
You know that both Christianity and Islam have their roots in Judaism and the Torah, and you’re interested in understanding those roots.
You have some familiarity with the Bible and know some of its contents (like Noah’s Ark and the Ten Commandments), but you still want more.
You’re a spiritual seeker, and you’ve heard that the Torah is the cornerstone of the Jewish path and the hiding place of all the secrets of Kabbalah.
You’re Jewish but realize that you never received a good Jewish education or you want to supplement, enrich, broaden, and expand your Jewish knowledge.
You’re not Jewish, but you’d like to understand more about Jewish life, including that of your Jewish friends and neighbors.
You’ve attended a synagogue service and have witnessed the reverence that the Jewish people give to the Torah, and you’d like to know more about it.
You’ve seen popular films like
The Ten Commandments
and
Raiders of the Lost Ark,
and you’re curious about the contexts of those films.
You’ve seen a lot of Christian preachers on television quoting from and explaining the Torah from their points of view, but you’d like to know how Judaism understands its holy book.
Icons Used in This Book
All For Dummies books feature icons (little pictures that grab your attention) in the margins to serve you well. Think of them as road signs pointing to different kinds of information in the chapters.
This icon alerts you to concepts, terms, and ideas in the Torah that are of particular importance. Keep the points marked with this icon in mind, and you can’t go wrong.
This icon points out helpful information that you can use if you make the Torah a part of your life.
This icon points to misconceptions about the Torah or actions that are strictly forbidden by the Torah. Read this information carefully!
Beyond the Book
In addition to the abundance of information that we provide in this book, you get access to even more help and information online at Dummies.com. Check out this book’s online Cheat Sheet. Just go to www.dummies.com and search for “The Torah For Dummies Cheat Sheet.”
Where to Go from Here
You can begin this book wherever you like. But you may want to start with the following suggestions:
If you want to get a good overview of each of the Five Books of Moses, read
Part 2
.
If you want to put the Torah’s basic principles into practice immediately, read
Chapters 9
and
10
.
No matter where you start, I can’t deny that I’m excited for you. The Torah is awesome. For centuries, Jews have said a blessing before studying the Torah as a way of offering thanks to God: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, Who has sanctified us by Your commandments and has commanded us to get involved with the words of the Torah.” This blessing doesn’t require you to obey the Torah, believe in the Torah, or follow the Torah. It simply says to “get involved with its words.” I hope you do.
Part 1
The Torah 101
IN THIS PART …
Get to know the Torah.
Become acquainted with God.
Address the Torah’s contents.
Acknowledge what the Torah isn’t.
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” refers to 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, while 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 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 in 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 According to the Torah” for more about people’s responsibilities to each other). Regarding a person’s relationship to God, the Torah stresses
Connecting with God through God’s commandments
Having faith in God
Maintaining trust in God
Accepting direction from God
Understanding that God directs everything that occurs
Struggling to comprehend God
Communicating with God through prayer
See Chapter 2 for more information about God, the ultimate author.
Examining the Torah’s Important Elements
Jewish tradition maintains that the Five Books of Moses contains everything. Yes, everything. Although the Torah is a religious document, it isn’t a collection of abstractions in spiritual language. Rather, it uses concrete descriptions in the form of laws and stories to express abstract notions. The Torah also deals with all aspects of life, from business, agriculture, and industry to family life, sexuality, and ritual. The Torah directs human conduct in all its aspects. It urges followers to see the whole world as a Holy Temple in which each student functions as a priest whose job it is to constantly purify and sanctify the entirety of life.
The Torah consists of two parts: One is written, and the other is oral. Flip to Chapter 3 for a full introduction to the treasures of the Torah.
The Written Torah
As the Torah describes, Moses was the greatest teacher and prophet who ever lived. It’s important, however, to always keep in mind that Moses wasn’t a perfect being. He had the noble attribute of humility and was also at times self-effacing, but he didn’t always do the right thing. As my teacher has often said, “In Judaism, there are no plastic saints.”
At Mount Sinai, Moses encountered God in an intimate way unlike anyone before or since, and Moses wrote down what God told him to write. The result was the Five Books of Moses. These five books are the main focus of The Torah For Dummies.Table 1-1 shows you the names of the Five Books of Moses, which come from Greek because a few thousand years ago the Torah was translated into that language. The table also gives you the Hebrew names of the books and their translations.
TABLE 1-1 The Five Books of Moses
Greek Name
Hebrew Name
Translation of Hebrew Name
Genesis
Bereshit
“In the beginning”
Exodus
Shemot
“the names”
Leviticus
Vayikra
“and He called”
Numbers
Bamidbar
“in the wilderness”
Deuteronomy
Devarim
“words”
The Torah isn’t the Bible. The Jewish Bible is the book that Christians call the Old Testament, and the Five Books of Moses are the first five sections of the Jewish Bible. The other sections are the books of the Prophets (of which there are eight) and the books of other sacred writings (of which there are 11). In all, there are 24 books in the Jewish Bible, also often referred to as the Hebrew Scriptures.
The Oral Torah
When Moses encountered God and received God’s message, the divine transmission included oral teachings that were never meant to be written down. An oral tradition allows for flexibility; too often when an oral teaching is written down, it’s taken too literally and loses its power to adapt to changing times and circumstances. It was only after much debate and discussion that the great sages of the Jewish people decided to write down the oral teachings in a process that began a few thousand years ago. This compromise was based on the historical fact that the enemies of the Jewish people were killing so many of the Children of Israel, the sacred traditions were at a great risk of being lost.
The major elements of the Oral Torah include
The Mishnah
(
mish-nah;
repetition): A book consisting of six sections, written in Hebrew, that serve as a summary of the oral teachings as handed down by Moses, along with the Written Torah, to the elders of the Jewish people.
The Gemara (geh-mah-rah; completion): Additions, written mostly in Aramaic, that serve to analyze the Mishnah, define its fine points, and also illustrate how the Five Books of Moses and the Mishnah are applied to the ever-changing conditions of life.
The Mishnah and the Gemara appear together in the Talmud (tahl-mood; learning), which is a set of books consisting of 63 sections and also includes additional commentaries by great teachers throughout the centuries.
The Midrash
(
mid-rahsh;
interpretation): A few dozen books written over a number of centuries that serve to expand upon the details found in the Five Books of Moses and other books of the Jewish Bible. The various collections of Midrashim (plural for Midrash) teach both divine moral lessons and divine laws.
Halachah
(
ha-lah-khah;
the way to walk): The term for Jewish law. Jewish laws are either positive (“do this”) or negative (“don’t do this”), and the 613 are traditionally found in the Five Books of Moses This number is deceptive because there are actually thousands of Jewish teachings that grow out of the primary 613 commandments in the Torah.
Taking One Torah Book at a Time
There’s an ancient Jewish tradition that the entire Five Books of Moses are actually one long name of God. The Written Torah is also traditionally seen as five separate books, each with its own character and content. The following are the Five Books of Moses, which I cover in detail in Part 2:
Genesis:
The book of Genesis focuses on the creation of the universe and the creation of the Jewish family, starting with Adam and Eve, Noah, his son Shem, and ultimately with the patriarch Abraham and matriarch Sarah. The book is filled with many dramas involving the individuals who form the foundation of the Jewish people, most notably Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah, and Joseph.
Exodus:
The book of Exodus essentially tells the story of the Jewish people’s experience of slavery in Egypt and ultimate liberation under the leadership of Moses and his brother Aaron. This book also describes Moses’s encounters with God and the receiving of the divine transmission called the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Leviticus:
This book of the Torah contains the least amount of narrative among the five. Rather, it’s concerned with the rules and functions of a branch of the Jewish family that serves a unique priestly role within Judaism; it’s filled with laws, rules, and regulations of a wide variety.
Numbers:
The book of Numbers largely concerns itself with the 40-year journey through the desert, from Egypt to the Promised Land (Israel), taken by the Children of Israel. Earlier in the Torah, God promises the Land of Israel to Abraham, and Moses’s mission to lead the freed slaves — who are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — to the Promised Land. The book of Numbers provides details of many of their encounters and experiences in the desert and also includes many of the laws incumbent upon the Jewish people.
Deuteronomy:
The book of Deuteronomy is largely Moses’s farewell address to his people. In this book, Moses recounts many of the key experiences of the Jewish people after their liberation from Egypt. He also takes the opportunity to repeat many teachings contained in the first four books of the Written Torah. This book ends with the death of Moses.
Living Life According to the Torah
The Torah is God’s instruction book to humankind. For practical purposes, you can see these instructions as two different yet overlapping types: One is the instructions by God about how people should behave as individuals on a personal level; the other is how people should behave in a community.
Watching your personal behavior
The Torah’s instructions to people about personal behavior assume that the details are what matters. Sure, it’s lovely to say that people should be nice to each other and should love each other, but it has been proven again and again that lofty generalizations like “Be nice” or “Be fair” are not enough. The trend in the Torah is to add details rather than to make broad, sweeping statements. Without specific instructions to follow, people all too often don’t really get the picture or behave as they’re supposed to. The Written and Oral Torahs together show how the highest, deepest, and most profound ideals from God are applied to the ever-changing circumstances of life.
Head to Chapter 9 for more information on keeping your personal behavior in line with the Torah, including tips on treating both your family and strangers kindly.
Playing well with others in the community
The great American poet Robert Frost wrote, “Good fences make good neighbors.” This is a terrific summary of the way in which the Torah concerns itself with communal behavior. As with the Torah’s teachings about personal behavior, the details are what matters. While some of the general principles can be summarized as “Be honest,” “Be compassionate,” “Be a good boss,” and “Be a good citizen,” it’s not enough to give sweet, abstract instructions on how people in a community should behave toward one another. Good rules, good definitions, and good fences serve a community well. The Written Torah and the Oral Torah go into minute detail on the main principles, covering just about every conceivable situation in community life.
Check out Chapter 10 for details on living by the word of the Torah in the community, including information on doing better business, dealing with property rights, and keeping order in the court.
Connecting the Torah to Judaism
The way of Judaism as a spiritual tradition is the way of Torah. The Torah is the link between God and the Jewish people. Jewish belief, Jewish law, Jewish practice, Jewish customs, Jewish holy days, and Jewish values all grow out of the Torah, as you find out in the following sections.
Taking note of the holiness of time
The great Jewish sages teach that it’s possible to connect with holiness (which means connecting with God) in three ways: the holiness of space, the holiness of the human soul, and the holiness of time:
The holiness of space
focuses on a spot in Jerusalem known as the Holy of Holies; it’s surrounded by the Holy Temple. The Holy Temple is situated in the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the Holy City is in the Holy Land of Israel. An example of a constant recognition of the holiness of space is that the Torah instructs Jews throughout the world to face Jerusalem during the three daily prayer sessions.
The holiness of the human soul
implies that the human soul can refine itself and make itself holy through the holy behavior as instructed by the Torah.
The holiness of time
is expressed through special rituals and prayers that are recited at special times and occasions. The Torah instructs the Jewish people that one of the best ways to connect with God is to observe the commandments that guide them through the various units of time.
The Jewish sages teach that the Torah concerns itself with every moment of life: from the moment of birth to the moment of death, and from the moment you wake until the moment you sleep. Just as God is everywhere in space, so too is God everywhere in time. The Torah instructs its students regarding
The day (three prayer sessions and other daily requirements)
The week (the six working days and the Holy Sabbath)
The month (the observance of the new moon each month)
The year (many holy days that appear throughout the annual Jewish calendar and are detailed in the Torah)
Chapter 11 has the complete scoop on observing holy days in Torah time.
Following Jewish customs
The Written Torah and the Oral Torah have a lot to say about how Jewish people should conduct themselves throughout each important stage of life, as shown in Table 1-2.
TABLE 1-2 Key Life Events and Corresponding Jewish Customs
Life Event
Jewish Custom
Birth
Circumcision for boys; naming the baby for both boys and girls
Coming-of-age
Bar Mitzvah for boys; Bat Mitzvah for girls
Marriage
Signing a marriage contract; husband and wife both have many rights and responsibilities
Death
Following a detailed, elaborate, and (I must say) brilliant series of steps intended to guide mourners through various stages of mourning
The Torah also has a lot to say to the Jewish people regarding all aspects of life, including
The use of symbols in Judaism, such as
Mezuzah (a sign on the doorpost of every Jewish home)
Tzitzit (a sign on the corners of clothes that some Jews wear)
Tefillin (a sign that actually wraps itself around your head and arm)
The way to eat (eating according to the kosher laws is explained in great detail)
Go to Chapter 12 for more instruction on following Jewish customs according to the Torah.
Witnessing a Torah synagogue service
The best way to understand how the Jewish people revere the Torah is to watch or participate in the weekly Torah service held on Shabbat (Saturday) in the synagogue; I walk you through this service in Chapter 13. The elaborate ritual and public reading of the Torah is filled with solemnity, joy, reverence, and formality. The Torah resides in a special — and beautiful — cabinet called Aron HaKodesh (ah-rown ha-kowe-desh; holy ark) found in every synagogue sanctuary. The Torah, in the form of a scroll, starts out literally dressed in the finest royal attire and then is undressed, studied, read aloud, and redressed with the utmost care and devotion.
Since ancient times, the Torah has been read publicly each week on Shabbat. This custom certainly served the Jewish people well when printed copies weren’t common as they are today, and the communal gathering of Jews to hear the words of the holy Torah continues to be an emotional high point for Jewish people throughout the world. The Five Books of Moses are divided into weekly sections, and every synagogue community reads the same section each week. The entire Torah is read in the course of one year. On the Jewish holy day of Simchat Torah (sim-kaht toe-rah; the joy of the Torah), the last sentences are read and the first sentences begin the round of the year once again.
Writing a Torah scroll
The Five Books of Moses actually come in two formats:
A handwritten scroll on parchment, essential for use in the synagogue service
A book printed on a printing press and readily available to the masses
According to the Torah, it’s the responsibility of each Jewish person to handwrite a Torah scroll. Because the task is so difficult, not to mention time-consuming, Jewish law is lenient and permits you to fulfill this commandment in a number of ways, including providing financial support to qualified scribes. Some authorities say that you can also fulfill this commandment by buying books about the Torah. So purchasing The Torah For Dummies means that you’ve already begun to fulfill one of the Torah’s commandments!
Flip to Chapter 14 for more information about the commandment of writing a Torah scroll.
Analyzing and studying the Torah all your life
Throughout the ages it has been frequently said that the most important activity in all Jewish life is the study of the Torah, which is the subject of Chapter 15. Many statements in Jewish holy texts support the notion that Torah study throughout a lifetime is of supreme value. Here are a few from the Talmud:
In the same way that it’s essential to feed a child, it’s essential for the Jewish people to study the Torah.
A single day of Torah study is more important than 1,000 sacrifices in the Holy Temple.
God cries over people who are able but nevertheless neglect Torah study.
God studies the Torah every day.
Non-Jews who study the Torah to learn of their obligations are as great as the High Priest in the Holy Temple.
Jewish tradition considers every letter, word, line, story, and detail of the Written Torah to be of divine origin and therefore to contain an infinity of meanings. In principle, it’s impossible to say that any one line, story, or book of the Torah means only one thing. There are levels upon levels of meaning in every tiny detail of the Written Torah.
In principle, it’s assumed that everybody hears the Torah differently. This doesn’t mean that Torah study is a free-for-all where every and any interpretation is always correct. But as my teacher says, each person has a personal relationship with God, and that relationship is a completely private affair. You can and should work with a Torah teacher and try to understand the Torah through the commentaries of the great sages, but in the final analysis, you have to trust yourself and make your own decisions. As one tradition states, each of us is a letter in the Torah, and each of us must find our letter.
Although the Written Torah is in Hebrew and the Oral Torah is mostly in Aramaic, the good news is that there are lots of English translations of the Five Books of Moses as well as English translations of the commentaries that are essential to arriving at a more complete understanding of the Torah (as you find out in Chapter 16). Jewish life is an immersion into the Torah and into the literature that the Torah has inspired. My home library is filled with a few thousand books (literally) on the Torah. The Torah For Dummies is one more book for that ever-growing Torah library. In fact, this book is designed to be a doorway that opens into a vast garden of profound Torah knowledge.
Torah archaeology
Torah archaeology is an attempt to discover more about the life and times of biblical personalities and their activities. Even though in Jewish tradition the Bible is not seen as a history book, many people nevertheless want to determine to what extent the details of the Bible reflect real people and events.
Archaeology, in the context of Torah and Bible studies, is a controversial pursuit. For example, some people believe that if archaeological discoveries don’t match the details as recorded in the Bible, this means, in some ways, that the Bible is invalid or its authenticity is questionable. In Part 5, I review the methodology of modern archaeology and zero in on many archaeological discoveries, some of which validate details of the Torah and some of which seem to contradict them.
A tale within a tale within a tale
The fundamental truth of the Torah, according to the traditional Jewish perspective, is that it is a divine message. You are studying God’s will and ideas when you study the Torah. The text’s letters contain the Torah’s sacredness. The fundamental idea of the Torah is that the Creator of the world speaks to people in a way they can understand, hear, and act upon, allowing them to establish a connection with Him.
The Sages taught that one should “study Torah for its own sake,” not for the advantages that can be gained from it, even though it is full of lessons, commandments, prohibitions, and anecdotes. It is neither a textbook nor a tool for mental acuity. The Torah is a conduit for divine light; it is an emanation of God.
When the Torah scrolls are read aloud, this blessing is said: “Blessed are Thou … who gives us the Torah.” God is continually giving the Torah.
The level at which one studies the Torah is irrelevant. The true goal is not intellectual success. The ability to become a vessel of Torah and the purity of the relationship are what really count.
There is a belief that studying the Torah results in the creation of an angel and a relationship with God. Why is studying the Torah important to God? According to theology, it is a means of communicating with God. Giving the Torah is a continuous process, an ongoing endeavor. When done correctly, studying the Torah enables one to hear from God.
The Torah is reported to have 600,000 distinct gates that people can enter. Each person must try to locate their own gate.
There is no fiction in the Torah; yet it is not a nonfiction book. As Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz says, it is “a tale within a tale within a tale.”
Chapter 2
Encountering God, the Ultimate Author
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding how God created the world and its people
Discovering some of God’s names
Getting a grip on God’s nature
Grasping the ways to grow closer to God
Finding out how to communicate with God
The Torah is full of teachings on just about every aspect of human experience. As you find out in Part 3 and throughout this book, the Torah contains teachings about human relations, business practices, ethical behavior, treatment of the poor, family life, sexual relations, holy days, rituals, courts, and criminal law, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
But at its core, the Torah is a holy book about God and God’s relation to the world. The Torah establishes that the source for all teachings, and indeed the source of everything that exists, is God.
It’s not easy to talk about God because, according to Jewish wisdom, it’s impossible for humans to fully conceive of God. God is ultimately beyond anything that humans can grasp. The study of Torah is, according to Jewish tradition, the way for Jews to travel a path to God. In this chapter, I introduce you to God’s creation of the world, some of the ways in which the Torah describes the nature of God, and ways in which you can relate to and communicate with God.
Enter God, Stage Center: Creating a New World (and People to Fill It)
The Torah doesn’t waste any time introducing God. The very first sentence of the very first book of the Torah, the book of Genesis (see Chapter 4), begins with the famous line “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” Getting to know God is essential to Jewish life, and as you find out in the following sections, a good way to start gathering this knowledge is to understand the basics of God’s creation of the world as described in the Torah.
Switching on the light (and keeping it on)
The first words spoken by God as recorded in the Torah are “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). Torah commentators (you meet some of them in Chapter 16) have observed that the light created by God at the very beginning of Genesis is in some ways similar but is really not the same as the light that people know in their everyday lives. The natural light of the world comes from the sun. But at the beginning of the Torah, when God says, “Let there be light,” this light exists before God’s creation of the sun, moon, stars, and planets. Sometimes this original light is referred to in sacred Jewish texts as “Primordial Light.” Many Torah commentators over the centuries point out that an understanding of the light in the world can lead to a deeper understanding of the original light.
God’s divine light emanates from its divine source. According to the great sages of Jewish tradition, everything in the world ultimately is formed by the primal light at the beginning of the creation story. There’s a fundamental view within Jewish thought that makes an important point about creation: Some people in the world believe that God did indeed create the world but that after the creation was finished, God withdrew from the world. In contrast, Jewish sages express the oral tradition within Judaism that God is continuously creating the world, continuously speaking the words “Let there be light.”
One illustrious Jewish sage illustrates the point of continuous creation by suggesting that if God were to turn His attention away from the universe for a moment, it would all disappear. As a primary belief, Jewish tradition teaches that God continues to create the world (or sustains it) and is involved in every aspect of it. As the founder of Chasidism, the great Rabbi Israel, known as the Baal Shem Tov (bah-ahl shem towv; the Master of the Good Name), teaches, “Not even a blade of grass moves without God as its mover.”
The use of electrical imagery helps to explain this view of creation. When you turn on an electric light switch, the current flows and illuminates an electric light bulb. If you turn off the light switch, the current is blocked, and the light extinguishes itself. As the great Torah sages say, the world is created by the downpour of divine plenty that’s constantly flowing from above; in other words, God never turns off the switch of light and creation.
Using the Torah as a blueprint
Ancient rabbinic tradition offers a startling and profound image regarding the creation of the world. The rabbis suggest that when God created the world, the Torah was God’s plan. The Zohar (an ancient mystical commentary on the Torah; see Chapter 3) actually says that God looked into the Torah and made the world accordingly.
This image presents a challenge, because how could God create and look into the Torah before He even created the world? After all, isn’t the Torah the sacred text that God gave to Moses? The Jewish spiritual path requires that you establish a unique and intimate relationship with a Torah that is Infinite. The Torah scroll used today is a physical form of the primordial Torah. The image of God looking into the Torah to create the world is also the basis for Torah students’ assumption that everything is contained in the Torah. A well-known saying from a sage who lived many centuries ago named Ben Bag can be found in the standard daily Jewish prayer book. Ben Bag speaks about the value of studying the Torah and says, “Turn it and turn it again for all is in it.”
A basic assumption of the study of the Torah is that every last letter of the Torah was dictated to Moses by God and has meaning. Even if a word is spelled incorrectly, for example, with a missing letter, the assumption on the part of students of the Torah is that this missing letter is not an error but in fact has a reason and has content of its own. After all, the Torah is a book unlike any other book. Many of its most profound teachings are buried deep within the text; the Torah requires ingenuity and brilliance in order to decipher its message. The assumption remains that everything — including the plans for the creation of the world — is contained in the Torah. Jewish tradition teaches that by carefully analyzing the Torah text, you can discover many mysteries, even the mystery of God’s ongoing creation of the world at this very moment.
Creating the world in six “days”
Early in the book of Genesis (the first book of the Torah), a description of the creation of the world appears. According to the story, it took God six days, or stages, to create the world and everything in it. Students of the Torah don’t understand this passage on the literal level.
Why? People measure time in the world by the movement of the sun, earth, and moon. But the Torah narrative doesn’t introduce the sun and moon until the fourth day, leading Torah commentators to conclude that the “day” spoken of in the process of God’s creation wasn’t the typical 24-hour day as humans experience it. Rather, the six days of creation represent six stages of the world’s development, and as great Torah commentaries throughout the centuries indicate, the descriptions of these days contain some of the profound secrets of the mystery of creation. The bottom line is that the Torah is neither a sourcebook for scientific information nor a book of history (as you find out in Chapter 3). Rather, the Torah is concerned with eternal spiritual matters and how to make them a part of your life.
Taking a break from creating (and not because God grew tired)
According to the Torah, God created the world in six days and then “rested” on the seventh day. This day of rest, known as Shabbat (shah-baht; Sabbath), isn’t actually considered a real day according to the sages of the Torah. Instead, Shabbat is a special phenomenon, a special gift that God created and gave to the world. Throughout the centuries, Jews have received this divine gift of Shabbat, and convincing arguments claim that the Jewish people’s adherence to the rhythm of the week and the culmination of that week in the celebration of Shabbat has been crucial to their survival. (I go into much greater detail about the Torah’s conception of Shabbat in Chapter 11.)
Making humans in God’s image
This unusual phrase appears in the book of Genesis: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). Many students of the Torah have asked, “Who is the ‘us’ and the ‘our’ referred to in this line?”
Torah sages suggest that the “us” refers to the ministering angels with whom God consulted. The Talmud and many other Jewish spiritual texts also teach that a person is to be considered a whole world, so when God said “Let us,” He was referring to the entire universe. (And “world” and “universe” are synonymous.)
People also have asked how God actually created man. The great Torah commentator Rashi (rah-she; see Chapter 16) indicates that the verse implies that God first created a mold, or a conceptual archetype, from which to create humans. The great Torah commentator known as the Ramban (rahm-bahn; see Chapter 16) teaches that humans are a microcosm of the whole of Creation and that contained within each person are elements of everything in the universe.
Physical descriptions of God in the Torah text in no way literally describe God; rather, the words were chosen based on familiar things to attempt to express the inexpressible. So, for example, when you read of God’s “eyes,” the Torah isn’t suggesting that God has physical eyes. It’s suggesting that one attempt to know the unknowable God is to try to grasp God as being infinite and therefore as knowing (or seeing) everything. (For more about this concept, see the later section “God stretches out His arm, but He has no arms.”)
