8 reasons why the Torah is significant? (Judaism)?

Question

Can anyone give me any reasons (8 would be nice - lol) why the Torah is significant - i've got because it teaches Jews how to live, and its the word of God, therefore holy, but can't think of anymore! Please help!

Answer 1

Eight reasons why the Torah is significant?

Well, a big reason would be that the Torah is nothing less than the blueprint of creation. That's what Judaism teaches - that G-d looked at the Torah and created the world. Basically, it's like the entire physical universe is a movie playing on a big screen, and the Torah is the film. Everything that exists is a projection of Torah. I hate to tell you that there might not be seven more, but frankly, isn't that one reason enough? Is it safe to assume that this is for a homework assignment or something? Let me see if I can help...

1) Torah is the blueprint for reality. Everything that exists only exists because it has its basis in Torah. Similarly, if something doesn't have a basis in Torah, then that means it doesn't really exist, or rather, something about it is artificial. For example, "teva," the Hebrew word for "nature," was coined by the Rabbis - it doesn't exist in the Torah itself. This is because nature is nothing more than a mask created by the Almighty to allow for Free Will. Man can look at the world around him and, if he likes, assume that everything functions as a result of an autonomous, self-sufficient set of laws, i.e. nature. Religious Jews believe, however, that all existence is a direct manifestation of divine will, and that its continued existence is dependant on that will. And the fact that things appear to adhere to a consistent set of physical laws only because G-d wills that those laws should apply. I could give lots of other examples, but they would take way too long to explain fully. For more on this subject, I would recommend the works of Rabbi Akiva Tatz.

2) As you said, it's the word of G-d - this alone is reason to follow it. (Torah, by the way, means "teaching" or "instructions".)

3) As you said, it teaches us how to live.

4) It is the quintessential text of classical Hebrew, which is the language that has united the Jewish people for thousands of years. Modern Hebrew involves some deviation from what can rightly be called the Holy Tongue, but it is based off of it. So the language of the Jewish people, and now, of the State of Israel, is based on the language of Torah.

5) The teachings of the Torah not only tell the Jews how to live; they form the moral basis of all Western Civilization. Think you received ethics from the Ancient Greeks and Romans? Think again. The Greeks, for example, held homosexual pedophilia to be sacred -- the most exalted of all interpersonal bonds in Ancient Greece was the sexual relationship between a teacher and his young male pupil. And it's a well-recorded fact that ancient societies regularly practiced infanticide whenever a child was born with the slightest imperfections. Modern Western enshrinement of the paramount value of human life comes straight from Torah. And if you want to attribute these things to Christianity, well, where do you think Jesus (the Jew) got it from? For more on the Jewish impact on Civilization, which really speaks to the heart of your question, check this out: http://www.aish.com/societyWork/society/WORLD_PERFECT_The_Jewish_Impact_on_Civilization.asp

6) The Torah serves (in some cases indirectly) as the basis of several major world religions. Judaism, of course, but also Christianity and Islam (much of the Qur'an is just a butchered retelling of stories from the Torah).

7) Although most Israelis justify the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel (which the Roman Empire renamed Palestine) in purely secular terms (justifications which are, admittedly, substantial), the Torah itself is the original basis of the Jewish claim to the land, establishing it as an inheritence to the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov.

8) Even for one who can't appreciate it for its holiness, the Torah is, as the very least, one of the greatest epics in the entire body of ancient literature. This one is highly subjective, of course, but you're obviously reaching with this eight reasons thing, and it's certainly not unjustified to dub the Torah one of history's great literary works.

Well, it looks like we've bumped you up to eight. But to be honest, any one of the first few reasons is enough for us. Religious Jews see no need to justify the Torah as great literature, or as a political document, or even as the Rosetta Stone of Hebrew. It's G-d's gift, and a yoke, upon the Jewish people. It forever binds us to him, and each other.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

Is the pope Catholic? Yes, it's central - as a matter of faith and belief and dogma. A reason? This is how Judaism is defined. It's like asking whether the New Testament is central to Christianity and then asking why - it just is. :) The word "Torah" is used in different ways, often referring to the 5 books of the Jewish bible on the Torah scroll, but also referring to the entirely of the Tanakh or the entirety of Jewish scriptures and Talmud. Since you use the word to refer to the entire Jewish bible, the answer is clearly yes.

Answer 3

The Torah is the Law handed down from God. It is also at the roots of God's plan of salvation that is culminated in Christ. Hebrew history is also Christian history. Jesus came to fulfill the Law.

Answer 4

uh, well i can't think of 8, but you can add things like it tells the history of the jews, it gives the basis of jewish ethics, it describes the basic cultural traditions, it tells the mystical story of how the world was created, etc