The Jewish Holy Scriptures – The Torah

Yesterday I participated in an Interfaith Forum organised by a Korean organisation, HWPL, whose stated aim is to use such dialogue as a tool for achieving world peace.  Although there is cause to hold the organisation at arm's length as its leader is widely considered a cult leader in Korea, I didn't see any harm in participating as structurally, the event was similar to many that I've taken part in.  The 'assignment' for participants in the forum, was to speak about their particular religion's holy writings, answering the following questions: (1) Does your holy scripture contain history? (2) moral teachings? (3) prophecy? (4) fulfillment?

I thought my presentation was quite basic, but my words were well-received and Clara has suggested I share them with you.  Below, then, are the remarks I delivered at yesterday's forum, offered in the hope that they might be helpful to you in your own Interfaith Conversations:

Photo from a different HWPL gathering

We Jews call our Holy Scriptures, ‘the Torah.’  The word ‘Torah’ is Hebrew for ‘instruction.’  The name Torah refers to a specific series of scriptures, and more.  In its most limited sense ‘the Torah’ refers to the text that constitutes the first five books of the Bible for Jews, as well as for Christians.  That is, the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy.  But the term ‘the Torah’ can also refer to the larger body of sacred literature, what a Christian would call ‘the Old Testament.’  We Jews have a specific name for these scriptures in their totality:  ‘TaNaCH,’ which is an acronym for Torah; Nevi-im or ‘prophets’; and Ketuvim or ‘writings.’

If this is not complicated enough, the word ‘Torah’ also encompasses the traditional Jewish understanding as to what the words of these texts really mean.  And that traditional understanding has spawned an additional, larger set of texts.  There are, for example the Talmud, the Codes, and the Commentaries.  And all these texts – they form quite a library all together – are also considered ‘Torah.’

But more important than which texts constitute the Torah, is what they represent to the Jews.  They represent nothing less than the revealed will of the Living God.  Through Torah we discern God’s will for our way of life.  The way of life prescribed by the Torah is the way of peace and balance that everybody must have no matter what their life’s quest.  But Torah does not, of course, account for our specific life’s paths.  The Torah will not, for example, reveal to my son what profession he should pursue as his life’s work.  We Jews tend not to look for specific guidance from God as to the latter.  Rather, if we’re living a life of Torah and obedience, we should be able to discern through soul-searching and thoughtful consideration.

The five books that constitute the centerpiece of Torah – the aforementioned biblical books of Genesis through Deuteronomy – come to us in the form of a grand narrative.  It begins with the creation of the world.  It continues to God’s response to unbridled evil.  It chronicles the election of a man named Abraham and his offspring for a unique role among the nations.  And finally it tells of the preparation of those offspring through trials and instruction for that role.  In this sense, the books come as a sacred history.  But their purpose is always teaching morality.  We do not use the Torah quite as a history text.  Nor is it a geology text despite beginning with the creation of the world.  In every chapter, in every verse, we are supposed to draw out important lessons for living.

The Torah prescribes a way of life that encompasses interpersonal relations, marriage, child-bearing, work, dress, and food.  It orders our year by prescribing a calendar of festivals and observances for the entire community.  It orders our individual lives by prescribing the ways that we note life events and transitions.

For example. The Torah directs that each of us take a marriage partner and participate in the increase of the human race and the Jewish people.  We are to ‘be fruitful and multiply,’ to bring offspring into the world and educate them and help them to add to the goodness of the world.  For this reason, there is no Jewish monastic tradition.

The Torah directs a complex set of ethics in the way we live.  We are to honour our parents.  To neither murder not bodily harm our neighbor.  To respect our neighbour’s ownership of his material goods, not to mention his home and his spouse.  We are to keep and remember the Sabbath day as a memorial to the act of creation and of our liberation from servitude to the ancient Egyptians.  But we ae also to afford our families, our employees, and even our animals the same Sabbath rest that we enjoy.

It is therefore not surprising that a mastery of the texts that make up the Torah is the sine qua non of Jewish life.  We master the Torah so that we can live in its way.  Because there is no intermediary between the individual Jew and God, each Jew is expected to study the Torah.  And the ability to do so in its original languages, directly from the primary sources rather than translations, is highly prized. 

Much of Jewish life seems quite rationalistic because, for many Jews, it is.  There is an undisputable pragmatic essence to Jewish life.  The mystical, devotional aspects of religious faith, seem far more important to our neighbours in other traditions.  They are considered more personal in Judaism.  We do not tend to talk at length with one another about our individual spiritual practices.  We just do them.  Yes, we do have our share of mystically-inclined teachers and students.  And we have a rich mystical tradition which we call, ‘the Kabbalah.’  It consists of an additional set of texts, as well as a series of practices intended to bring the mystical-minded to a closer encounter with God.  But one doesn’t delve into the mystical world without a solid knowledge of the rational.

As I said, we Jews have a very specific, prescribed way of life.  It is nothing less than God’s will that we follow that way of life.  But it is not prescribed for every human being on earth.  Someone who is not Jewish, is not expected to live like a Jew.  The complex set of religious practices that make up our religious way are not incumbent upon others.  As an example, Jewish dietary practice precludes our eating pork or shellfish.  By we don’t imagine that God requires this discipline of others.  To put it another way, one does not have to be Jewish, to please God.  Each person chooses a specific path to holiness – or does not.  What God requires of each and every human being, according to Torah, is a basic ethical character that brings him or her to live within Seven Principles.  They are as follows.  Establish, or participate in, a system of courts to dispense justice, justly. Do not worship false gods.  Do not disrespect your Creator.  Do not murder or unjustly injure your neighbour.  Do not engage in incestuous, unnatural, dishonest or coercive sexual relationships.  Do not steal what belongs to another.  Do not practice cruelty o any of God’s creatures.  Any person who works to live by these principles finds God’s favour.  Judaism as a way of live, is God’s plan specifically for Jews.  The Torah teaches both paths.  It is therefore at once the guidebook for the Jews, and enduring wisdom for all.

It is a joy to me, to be invited to present these views to you, today, at this event.  By establishing, and maintaining a dialogue with one another, we offer insights into the wisdom that one another’s traditions offer.  We make ourselves better people.  We make the world a better place.  I wish you shalom - peace - and beracha - blessing.