I was raised Protestant Christian and I have a pretty poor understanding of the Jewish holy scriptures. Please help me with the terms, and to understand what it is that Jews consider their holy books. What are the Torah and the Talmud, and is there a difference between the two? Is there any difference between these texts and the Old Testament read by Christians?
2007-01-19 07:10:58 · 6 answers · asked by Jeff 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Torah is specifically the first five books of the Bible...Genesis thru Deuteronomy. The remainder of the 'written' scriptures coincides with the christian OT, although the order is somewhat different.
The Talmud is the compendium of Oral Laws, both those passed down from the time of Moses to rabbinic enactments over time. It was written down over the span of about 400 years so that it would not be forgotten as the number of people involved in transmitting it diminished greatly after the roman conquest. It consists of several parts. The Mishnah is the Oral Law itself. It is often written is a cryptic style so that it has to be learned thru discussion...ie orally. The gemara is essentially the transcript of debates over the mishnah which assist in further understanding the mishnah. It, too, is written in a style that requires discussion with one well versed to understand it properly. Then there are the commentaries which enable us to understand the mishnah and gemara. In addition, there are other sources of Oral Law that find their way into the Talmud and other works.
The best analogy to understand how all this works and fits together is to compare the Torah and Talmud to a college seminar. The Torah is the class syllabus, The mishnah is the transcript of the professor's lecture and the gemara is the record of the study groups.
Hope this helps.
2007-01-19 07:22:17 · answer #1 · answered by mzJakes 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament.
Talmud is the collected knowledge of the scholars of old, including the Mishnah, the record of the oral laws, and the Gemara, a collection of writs on various topics.
Both are considered valid sources in Judiasm. However, Talmud is not held as valid by Christians and Muslims.
2007-01-19 07:18:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The first five books of the OldTestament ARE the Torah. Same thing. The other books were added (by Catholics) as a means of rounding out our understanding of old testament teachings. Then Protestants removed a few books that they didn't like.
2007-01-19 07:19:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
torar-talmud-tanakh is the bible of the old testament.jews have different laws in keeping kosher.the holidays ,like new year in september ,is not celebrated with champange and parties.its all connected to torah.how we live our lives .etc there are many laws in the jewish custom,not just the ten commandments.i am a christian married to a jew,but i keep both faiths,but i dont do christmas and easter.g-d bless you .from mikhal in israel.
2007-01-19 07:30:23 · answer #4 · answered by mikhal k 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the torah is basically the old testament anyway the first five books are known as the torah as well and are the laws of judaism
2007-01-19 07:13:45 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is Jews holly book
Quran is the Muslims holly book
bible is Christians holly book
2007-01-19 07:16:32 · answer #6 · answered by Donets'k 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋