Supposing you are in a synagogue and someone says, “they’re taking the Torah out now” just know they are referring to a scroll of parchment on which the Five Books of Moses is written. It is written by hand, with a quill, and the entire time that the person is writing it, his thoughts must be of G-d.
Supposing after Belz synagogue you went to visit some friends, and they say, “let’s learn some Torah.” They are not necessarily referring to that scroll of parchment we just talked about above. Torah, in this context, can mean anything from the gamut of Written and Oral Jewish law, history and thought, or any of the further philosophies and insights that later rabbis wrote.
If that isn’t weird enough, you might then go to a class to learn, and the lecturer might say, “that’s Toras Moshe m’Sinia” meaning that is a law that goes way back to the giving of…Torah.
"So, do we now know what Torah means? Not really. It seems it can mean so many different things. Let’s delve into the word Torah to understand it."
The first time we see the root of this word in the Torah (yes, the Five Books of Moses Torah scroll) is when Father Jacob, Yaakov Avinu, sends Yehuda ahead of all the other brothers to Goshen “le’horos lahem es haderech” to show them the way. We are taught what Yehuda was doing was setting up Torah learning centers, places where the “derech” the way of G-d could be “shown” to the next generation. Torah seems to be a map, the hitchhikers’ guide to earthly existence.
In fact, a person who masters enough knowledge to be a teacher gets Ho’Ra’ah, again from the same root verb. A teacher is called a Moreh. Part of Semicha is Yoreh, Yoreh which is a degree that translates into “this person can teach/guide”.
Yup, I think we’ve proven the point. Torah is our guide on how G-d expects us to live and behave. It is the Atlas of how to map out our lives.
Now that we understand the word, just what are the various parts of this whole vast body of works called Torah.
At the giving of Torah at Mount Sinai, two categories of Torah were given. There was Torah She’Bksav – a written manuscript (black on white) and Torah She’B’al Peh, an Oral set of rules that went hand-in-hand with the written.
As generations continued, more parts of revelation and Jewish history got written down by the Prophets. But the Oral set of rules stayed unwritten.
However, when the Romans began persecuting Jews, making it hard for teachers to pass on the Oral traditions, the rabbis were scared of this chain of transmission being lost. That is when the Oral Torah got written down in a work called Mishnayos. As more time went on, even the details of what those succinct notes in the Mishnayos meant in terms of interpreting law seemed unclear and at risk of being forgotten, and so the rabbis expanded the writing of the Oral Tradition in the Gemorrah, also called the Talmud.
Thousands of years, multiple exiles and country expulsions…but the Torah is carried forward and studied, expounded and elucidated.
Friends, isn’t it time we buckle down to take on the task of transmitting it to the next generation. May we all merit to be able pass on “l’horos lahem” to show the children “es haderech” give them the proper way to go. And the only way to do it is the old-fashioned way, book open, mind probing and firmly committed to mastering it all.
Join us here at World of Belz in Learning Torah each week!
QUICK LIST OF TORAH
SEFER TORAH – the Torah scroll used in synagogue is written on parchment and features the Chameesha Chumshay Torah, the Five Books of Moses (Included are: Braishis, Shemos, Vayikra, Bamidbar and Devarim)
NEVI’IM – the Prophets (Yehoshua, Shoftim, Shmuel, Melachim, Yeshayahu, Yirmiyahu, Yechezkel and Trai Asar)
KESUVIM – The Written Works (Tehillim, Mishlei, Shir Hashirim, Chamesh Megillos, Iyov, Daniel, Ezra and Nechemia and Divrei Hayomim)
The three categories listed above are commonly referred to as Tanach, which is a word made up of the acronyns of Torah, Nevi’im and Kesuvim. These are commonly known as the Written Torah.
Moving on to the Oral Torah that ended up written down.
MISHNAYOS – this is the capture in written form of the Oral Tradition and Laws divided into six categories called Shisha Sidrei Mishna (Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikim, Kodshim and Taharos)
GEMORAH/TALMUD – there are actually two versions of the Talmud, one called Talmud Bavli and the other is Talmud Yerushalmi. The Talmud expounds upon the Oral Tradition and Laws.
The two Mishnayos and Talmud was an attempt to capture Oral LAW. Therefore, some Oral traditions were captured elsewhere in written form. These include the Midrash and Kabbalah.
Since the time of the sealing of the Talmud, many have elucidated and codified the laws and the traditions. Even today, there are Jewish Torah sages analyzing, writing and capturing nuances of Jewish laws and tradition as it applies to our age and stage in history. These books and teachings are also considered Torah learning. Books pertaining to Torah are called “Sifrei Kodesh” Holy Books.
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