Torah

Background
The word Torah means teaching, instruction.

The Torah is the beginning of the Bible, which contains Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

The Torah is hand written by a scribe on parchment. It is rolled, dressed in a mantle, and housed in a special ark (Aron).

The Hebrew Bible also contains the books of the Prophets and Writings.

Many call our Bible the Old Testament, Jews call it the Hebrew Bible.

The word Torah has also come to mean all the teachings and instructions- mitzvoth (religious duties or obligations), rituals and spiritual deeds and values.

After the writings of the Torah were completed, the Rabbis and Sages studied Torah and discussed all aspects of it. They have written many books containing their responses, interpretations, laws and stories of explanation, which is what became Judaism.

Traditions, Customs, Practices
Study and interpretation of Torah is very important.

At services on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Holidays, we sing to the Torah as we take it out of the Aron/Ark in order to read sections of the Torah.

For many, this is the high point of the service. The Torah is brought to everyone so they can touch it, kiss it, or experience it up close.

We dress the Torah in a mantle and use a Yad(a pointer or hand) to guide us while reading from it, in order to protect it.

Often we also have crowns as decorations on top of the Torah.