What does Torah mean?

Question

I know it is the Jewish Bible (Christian OT), but what does the word itself mean and what does it mean to the Jewish people?
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Answer 1

As Ivri pointed out, “The word comes from the root heh resh heh, which means teaching. It refers to the five books of Moses, and in extension to all of Jewish Law -- Written law and Oral law.” This is a technical definition of Torah, but Torah is much more then that.

What is Torah to a Jew? This is the $64,000 question. If an outsider looks at it to him it is just a scroll, made of goat skins, which has some foreign characters on it. But to a Jew it is more than that. It is our bloodline, it is encoded into our DNA, it is the beat of our drums, it is the heart to our soul, and its words are music to our ears. Yet, it is more than that it also our link to the Jews worldwide, it is our past, our present, and our future. As a rav once said (his name escapes my mind), “A Jew without Torah is like a fish without water.” So, if you want to gain a better understanding of what is Torah, spend 30 minutes a day and read the Artscroll Humash and the magical words of the Torah will take you places that you have only dreamed about. I do not care if you are Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox we are all Jews and it is the Torah that is our main lifeline. If you would like your children and your grandchildren to experience their bloodline send them to the Jewish Day School and if a Jewish high school exists in your state then send them there as well. Please, do not rob them of an opportunity while they are young to discover who they are as Jews.

My parents had to takeout three loans for my brother and me to attend Jewish school, but they did it and never complained about it. I for one will always be grateful to them for allowing me to absorb the Torah into my consciousness and into my subconscious and to live my life by the Torah instead of hiding behind it. My parents who are from Russia, grew up in Communist Russia without Torah in their lives, saw to it that my brother and I would know what is Torah and they were right; it is only now that I realize what is Torah, by teaching my students.

I am also living testament to the fact that Torah is our DNA. I was 18 years old when I truly started studying my faith. Where some could have thought that it would be a difficult job, I found it easy. When the rabbi spoke, though before that age I have seen Torah scroll only from a distance, I understood it with somewhat of an ease. It was as if I was a Talmid in a Yeshiva. This just goes to show, a Jew can always be a Jew and return to his roots, because the words of Torah are embedded in our DNA.

I hope that I have answered your question.

Answer 2

Torah is a Hebrew word meaning "teaching," "instruction," or "law". It refers primarily to the Five Books of Moses, also known as the Law of Moses or the Pentateuch (Greek for "five containers," which refers to the scroll cases in which books were being kept). Other names include Hamisha Humshei Torah (חמשה חומשי תורה, "[the] five fifths/parts [of the] Torah") or simply the Humash (חומש "fifth"). A Sefer Torah is a formal written scroll of the five books, written by a Torah scribe under exceptionally strict requirements. The term is sometimes also used in the general sense to also include both Judaism's written law and oral law, encompassing the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash, and more.

The Torah is the first five books of the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.

Answer 3

Torah is the core of the sacred truth of the Jewish people, the earliest layers of teaching in a 4000 year long dialogue. The tradition is to link everything back into it, the stories and the laws and people. This means that it can grow and evolve with changing conditions and continues to be relevant. Linking back to Torah continually recenters that discussion in the entire history. The result is a strong, dynamic religion, in dialogue across its breadth and through its history.

Christianity tends to see Judaism as fixed, Torah as static. They couldn't be further from the truth.

Answer 4

means 'The Law' and Jews refer to the five books of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) together as the Torah. These were written down by Moses.

Answer 5

It can have several meanings from the whole collection of Jewish learning to specifically the five books of Moses.

Answer 6

The word comes from the root heh resh heh, which means teaching.

It refers to the five books of Moses, and in extension to all of Jewish Law -- Written law and Oral law.

But certainly you knew that already.

Answer 7

Torah is a name that I am going give to my baby girl it is a Jewish Bible and its a beauiful name It means Holy,peaceful,obeidient,andfollower of the Lord God" when she is born I will protect her from any harm and make it so she follows Gods word.Amen.

Answer 8

Well for Jews, the Torah is basically the Divine written Law God gave them. For Christians, it is a foreshadowing of Christ

Answer 9

It is the body of wisdom and law contained in Jewish scripture and other sacred literature and oral tradition. It is also the five books of Moses.

Answer 10

It's Hebrew for teaching or law.