Information AboutTorah Study |
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| judaism | |
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This practice is present to an extent in all religious branches of Judaism and is considered of paramount importance. Torah study evolved over the generations, as lifestyles changed and new texts were written. ORIGINS Torah study is counted amongst the 613 Mitzvot (" {Link without Title} commandments"), finding its source in the verse ( Deuteronomy 6:7): "And you shall teach it to your children," upon which the Talmud comments that "Study is necessary in order to teach." The importance of study is attested to in another Talmudic discussion about which is preferred: study or action. The answer there, a seeming compromise, is "study that leads to action." Although the word "Torah" refers specifically to the Five Books Of Moses , in Judaism the word also to refers to the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible ), the Talmud and other religious works, even including the study of Kabbalah , Hasidism , Mussar and much more. TRADITIONAL VIEW OF TORAH STUDY In Rabbinic Literature , the highest ideal of all Jews was Torah study. Jewish society taught an eagerness for study and a thirst for knowledge which expanded beyond the text of the Torah, to all Jewish literature and related theology. According to many historians, this carried over into the general characteristics of Jewish society, both religious and non-religious, down to the present. Some examples of traditional teachings:
FORMS OF TRADITIONAL JEWISH TORAH STUDY The Talmud (Tractate Kiddushin 30a) comments: "The words of Torah shall be sharp in your mouth so that if someone asks you something, you shall not fumble and then tell it to him, rather you shall tell it to him immediately." In Yeshiva s (" Talmud ical schools"), rabbinical schools and Kollel s (" {Link without Title} Talmudical schools") the primary ways of studying Torah include study of: Other less universally studied texts include the Nevi'im and Ketuvim , other rabbinic literature (such as Midrash ) and works of religious Jewish Philosophy . Most Orthodox Jews study the text of the Torah on four levels as described in the Zohar :
The initial letters of the words '' Peshat'', '' '''R'''emez'', '' '''D'''erash'', '' '''S'''od'', forming together the ), used in many Orthodox Synagogue s. In some traditional circles, most notably the Orthodox and Haredi , Torah study has become a way of life. In some communities, men forego other occupations and study Torah full-time. TORAH STUDY BY OTHER JEWISH DENOMINATIONS Like their . Some level of ''PaRDeS'' study can even be found in forms of Judaism that otherwise are strictly rationalist, such as Reconstructionist Judaism . However, non-Orthodox Jews generally spend less time in detailed study of the classical Torah commentators, and spend more time studying modern Torah commentaries that draw on and include the classical commentators, but which are written from more modern perspectives. Furthermore, works of rabbinic literature (such as the Talmud ) typically receive less attention than the Tanakh . Prior to The Enlightenment virtually all Jews believed that the Tanakh was written by the Prophets who heard it from God , and that it directly reflected God's intentions in human language. They also believed that as both divine intentions and human language are complex, the Torah required interpretation. After the Enlightenment many Jews began to participate in wider European society, where they learned critical methods of textual study, the modern historical method, Hermeneutics , and fields relevant to Bible study such as near-Eastern Archaeology and Linguistics . Many Jews found the findings of these disciplines compelling and considered them relevant to Torah study. In this view the Bible was written by different people who may have been "divinely inspired", however they were living at different times and in different societies and hence these factors should be taken into account when studying their works. Consequently, one way to add more to Torah study would be to learn more about the intentions of these people, and the circumstances under which they lived. This type of study depended on evidence external to the text, especially archeological evidence and comparative literature. See the entries on Biblical Higher Criticism and the Documentary Hypothesis . Today, Reform , Conservative , Reconstructionist Rabbi s draw on the lessons of modern critical Bible scholarship as well as the traditional forms of Biblical exegesis. Orthodox rabbis, however, obviously reject most or all critical Bible scholarship considering it highly speculative or simply false. Religious Jews of all denominations hold as a belief that one must constantly strive to engage in Torah study. Orthodox Jews tend to place a higher value on this requirement than Jews in other denominations, although committed Jews of all denominations engage in regular study as well. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS AND REFERENCES
WIKIMEDIA TORAH STUDY PROJECTS Text study projects at . Please note that in many instances, these projects proceed much faster in Hebrew than in English!
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