Proper noun

Singular Torah

Plural -

Torah

1. The first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, attributed to Moses and therefore also known as the Five Books of Moses.

   Tradition holds that the Torah was handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai.

2. The full body of written Jewish law, including the Tanakh, the Talmud, the Mishnah and the midrashic texts.

   It says in the Torah that both gossip and murder cause irreparable damage.

3. The whole of Jewish law, both written and unwritten.
4. The encompassing philosophy of Judaism.

Noun

Singular Torah

Plural Torahs

Torah (plural Torahs)

1. A specially written scroll containing the five books of Moses, such as those used in religious services.

   An anonymous donor has provided us with a lovely new Torah.

2. A book containing the five books of Moses.

   There was a lovely leather-bound Torah on the bookshelf.

Synonyms

• Books of Moses
• the Law
• Pentateuch

The term Torah (Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, "teaching" or "instruction", or "law"), also known as the Pentateuch (Greek: Πεντάτευχος from πεντα- penta- [five] and τεῦχος teuchos [tool, vessel, book]), refers to the Five Books of Moses—the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts. A "Sefer Torah" (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, "book of Torah") or Torah scroll is a copy of the Torah written on parchment in a formal, traditional manner by a specially trained scribe under strict requirements.

The Torah is the first of three parts of the Tanakh (i.e. Hebrew Bible), the founding religious document of Judaism, and is divided into five books, whose names in English are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, in reference to their themes (their Hebrew names: Bereshit, בראשית, Shmot שמות, Vayikra ויקרא, Bamidbar במדבר, and Dvarim דברים, are derived from the wording of their initial verses). The Torah contains a variety of literary genres, including allegories, historical narrative, poetry, genealogy, and the exposition of various types of law. According to rabbinic tradition, the Torah contains the 613 mitzvot (מצוות, "commandments"), which are divided into 365 restrictions and 248 positive commands. In rabbinic literature, the word "Torah" denotes both the written text, "Torah Shebichtav" (תורה שבכתב, "Torah that is written"), as well as an oral tradition, "Torah Shebe'al Peh" (תורה שבעל פה, "Torah that is oral"). The oral portion consists of the "traditional interpretations and amplifications handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation," now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash.

Jewish religious tradition ascribes authorship of the Torah to Moses through a process of divine inspiration. This view of Mosaic authorship is first found explicitly expressed in the Talmud, dating from the 1st to the 6th centuries CE, and is based on textual analysis of passages in the Torah and the subsequent books of the Hebrew Bible. Contemporary secular biblical scholars date the completion of the Torah, as well as the prophets and the historical books, no earlier than the Persian period (539 to 334 BCE). According to dating of the text by Orthodox rabbis, some place it during the revelation of the Torah to Moses, which occurred in 1312 BCE at Mount Sinai; another date given for this event is 1280 BCE. However, the Zohar, the most significant text in Jewish mysticism, states that the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, and that it was used as the blueprint for Creation. Scholarly discussion for much of the 20th century was principally couched in terms of the documentary hypothesis, according to which the Torah is a synthesis of documents from a small number of originally independent sources.

Outside of its central significance in Judaism, the Torah is accepted by Christianity as part of the Bible, comprising the first five books of the Old Testament. The various denominations of Jews and Christians hold a diverse spectrum of views regarding the exactitude of scripture. The Torah has also been accepted to varying degrees by the Samaritans, an ethnoreligious group of the Levant, and others as the authentic revealed message of YHWH to the early Israelites and as factual history, in both cases as conveyed by Moses.