Tenakh and Talmud
The The collected 24 books of the Jewish Bible. There are three sections: Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim (TaNaKh). May also be spelled Tenakh. is the main sacred Jewish text and governs all aspects of Jewish life.
The The first part of the Christian Bible which corresponds to the Hebrew Bible but is arranged differently. in the Christian Bible is made up of the books of the Tenakh, although they appear in a different order.
Often the Tenakh is written TeNaKh. The capital letters are the initials of the different sets of books that make it up: T for Torah, N for Nevi’im and K for Ketuvim.
Torah (laws and teachings)
The Law; teaching. The word Torah can be used in a narrow sense to mean the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (The Five Books of Moses) and also in a wider sense to include the whole of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud. is the first five books of the Old Testament:
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Leviticus
- Numbers
- Deuteronomy
The Torah was given to Moses by God and it contains the mitzvot, including the The list of rules, revealed by God to Moses, found in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. Also known as the Decalogue..
The Torah is treated with great respect. It is an honour to be asked to read from it at a service in the Building for Jewish public prayer, study and assembly., and importantly no one is allowed to touch it with their bare hands. Instead a pointer called a Hand-held pointer used in reading the Torah. is used to follow the words.
The Torah is read aloud over the course of a year in Orthodox synagogues, or over the course of three years in Reform synagogues. When the Torah is carried through the synagogue, worshippers in the congregation bow as it passes them.
N - Nevi’im (prophets)
The Prophets. The second section of the Tenakh. consists of eight books that trace Jewish history and say more about the laws. Each of the books is named after one of eight prophets who are believed to have been chosen by God to encourage Jews to follow God’s laws.
There are two sections to the Nevi’im. These are the former and the latter prophets. The former prophets talk about the history of the Israelites. The latter prophets contain the words of 15 prophets, including Isaiah.
K - Ketuvim (writings)
The Writings. The third section of the Tenakh. contains 11 books, including Psalms and A book within the Ketuvim of the Tenakh; A book in the Old Testament.. Many of these books contain writings on philosophy.
The Talmud
The Torah is absolute and everlasting. However, as the world changes, some Jews look for new interpretations of its words. The A work that is part of rabbinic oral law and made up of the Mishnah and the Gemara (a commentary on the Mishnah). helps with this as it interprets the laws of the Torah and relates them to modern issues.
The Talmud is a collection of teachings and discussions from early rabbis about the Torah. It is split into two parts:
- The Literally ‘teaching’, the first document of rabbinic Judaism, assumed to have been written down from the oral tradition about AD200. was compiled by Rabbi Judah Ha’Nasi, who wrote down the oral law so that it could not be misinterpreted in the future. It explains how to apply and follow the mitzvot.
- The The Talmud’s commentary on the Mishnah. is a collection of discussions and comments relating to the Mishnah.
Jews place great importance on the Torah and Talmud and consider them to be the source of all the significant teachings. Some Jews spend their whole life studying the Torah.
Question
What do the letters T, N and K stand for?
Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim.
