Torah

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A Torah scroll in the British Museum, open at Exodus

Torah (Hebrew: תורה) is a Hebrew word that means "instructions". When most people say the word Torah they either mean the whole Jewish Bible (the Tanakh), the first five books of the Bible, or all of the Jewish teaching in general. These five books are the beginning of both the Jewish and Christian bibles. They are

  1. Genesis (Hebrew: Bereishit, בראשית),
  2. Exodus (Hebrew: Shemot, שמות),
  3. Leviticus (Hebrew: Vayikra, ויקרא),
  4. Numbers (Hebrew: Bemidbar, במדבר) and
  5. Deuteronomy (Hebrew: Devarim, דברים).

Other names for this set of books are the "Five Books of Moses," or "Pentateuch".

Each of the books in the Torah is separated into parts called "Parshiyot." Parsha is a Hebrew word meaning "portion." Every Shabbat one parsha is read in the synagogue, but sometimes two are read. This is so that all the parshiyot are finished every year, on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah.

It is also known as the Five Book of Moses because Moses received these five books from God.

The "Tawrat" (Arabic: توراة‎) is the Arabic name for the Torah within its context as an Islamic holy book believed by Muslims to be given by God (Allah) to prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel, and often refers to the entire Hebrew Bible.[1] It is mentioned many times in the Qur'an.

  1. Isabel Lang Intertextualität als hermeneutischer Zugang zur Auslegung des Korans: Eine Betrachtung am Beispiel der Verwendung von Israiliyyat in der Rezeption der Davidserzählung in Sure 38: 21-25 Logos Verlag Berlin GmbH, 31.12.2015 ISBN 9783832541514 p. 98 (German)

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