Biblical Faith--Teaching Torah

ב"ה

In Memory of Matania Segal זצ"ל

Megillat Bush - The Letter-Scroll to President Bush from the New Jewish Congress

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Dedicated to Torah Learning
"Ben Bag Bag says: 'Delve in it [the Torah] and continue to delve in it [the Torah] for everything is in it; look deeply into it; grow old and gray over it, and do not stir from it, for you can have no better portion than it.' Ben Hei Hei says: 'The reward is in proportion to the exertion.'" Pirkei Avot 5:26

Baruch HaBa - Welcome
In the spirit of our father Avraham, we wish to welcome you to this site dedicated to Torah Learning for All People.

What is Torah?
Strictly speaking Torah is the Five Books of Moses. In a larger sense the term also includes the entire TaNaCh (Torah, Nevi'im, Chetuvim or Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings of the Jewish Bible). In the Jewish sense Torah includes the Torah she'Bichtav (written Torah) and the Torah she'be'al Peh (oral Torah consisting of the teachings of the Jewish Sages) Jewish thought does not separate the two. In order to understand the written, one must also know the oral. In a very real sense Torah continues to be revealed to us today in the Torah teaching of ancient and contemporary Jewish Sages.

But the Torah is much more than a dry description of it's documents: "It is a tree of life for those who grasp it..." Mishlei/Proverbs 3:18 "The Torah of Hashem is perfect, restoring the soul..." Tehillim/Psalms 19:8

What does Torah mean?
It is unfortunate that the majority of English translations of the Bible translate the Holy Torah as "law." Torah means much more than "law." Most Hebrew speakers know that the root meaning of Torah is "teaching," but the insight of Rav S. R. Hirsch into the Hebrew root gives us a much more valuable picture:

According to Rabbi S.R. Hirsch's commentaries, the root of Torah תורה in Hebrew is hei-resh-hei הרה meaning: 1) conceiving; becoming pregnant, 2) teaching; implanting seeds of knowledge, 3) parent, 4) source of instruction.

But the bottom line according to Rav Natan T. Lopes Cardozo is that Torah "is nothing less than the voice of G-d communicating His Will to mankind..." The Written and Oral Torah by Rabbi Natan T. Lopes Cardozo

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