Judaism's most important texts

Answer 1

The writings of Judaism may be divided into several categories. These include: the Tanakh, the Talmud, the other works of our early sages, and the works of later Rabbis.

The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is also called "the Written Torah," in contrast to the Oral Torah, which is the body of tradition that was handed down orally for some 1500 years, and only after that put in writing, so as not to be forgotten in times of exile. The Oral Torah is contained in the Talmud, which is a multi-volume compendium of Jewish traditions, law, history, and sayings of the early Jewish Sages.

The other works of the early sages include the midrashim (expounding upon the Tanakh), and the Zohar (a mystical commentary on the Torah).

The works of later Rabbis include books on Jewish outlook and belief, such as the Emunot VeDeot (8th century CE) and the Kuzari (11th century); books on halakhah (Jewish law), such as the Yad Hachazakah (12th century) and the Shulchan Arukh (16th century); books on piety, such as the Noam Elimelekh and the Mesillat Yesharim (18th century); books on ethics, such as the Maalot Hamidot and the Hafetz Chaim (19th century), and much more.

Contents of the Written Torah:

The Jewish holy book is the Tanakh (Jewish Bible), containing the Torah and the prophetic books.

Tanakh is a Hebrew acronym of T, N, K which stands for the three parts of the Tanakh: Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).

A) The Torah, also called the Pentateuch, is the primary Jewish holy book. It is comprised of the five Books of Moses (also called the Books of the Law). The Torah was given by God to Moses (Exodus 24:12), who transmitted it to the people and wrote it (Deuteronomy 31:24). Its chief purpose is to teach the laws of Judaism; and it also teaches us historical highlights, attitudes, guidance, beliefs and more.

1-5: The Torah (the Five Books of Moses):

1) Bereisheet (Genesis)

2) Shemot (Exodus)

3) Vayikra (Leviticus)

4) Bamidbar (Numbers)

5) Devarim (Deuteronomy)

B) Nevi'im, The Prophets. The Jews see the book of Prophets as the Divinely-inspired story of their past and the relationship between God and Israel.

The prophets were called upon by God to guide the people and to guide the king. While the king had authority in national matters of state, and the Sanhedrin (Sages) had say in Torah-rulings and halakha (law), the prophets spoke in matters of ethics, of belief, of loyalty to God, and behavior. They rebuked the people at God's command, they predicted events which God revealed to them, they taught through Divine inspiration, and they provided optimism and hope with the prophecies of eventual Redemption.

Jewish tradition (Talmud, Bava Batra 14b) states that the prophetic books were written by the authors whose names they bear: Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, etc. Judges is credited to Samuel, Kings was written by Jeremiah. The Prophets contain a total of 8 books according to the Jewish count.

6-9: The Nevi'im Rishonim (the Early Prophets):

6) Yehoshua (Joshua)

7) Shoftim (Judges)

8) Shemuel (Samuel I and II)

9) Melachim (Kings I and II)

10-13: The Nevi'im Acharonim (the Later Prophets):

10) Yeshayahu (Isaiah)

11) Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah)

12) Yechezkel (Ezekiel)

13) Trei Asar ("The Twelve Prophets" or Minor Prophets)

Books and Prophets within Trei Asar:

Hoshea (Hosea)

Yoel (Joel)

Amos

Ovadiah (Obadiah)

Yonah (Jonah)

Michah (Micah)

Nahum

Havakkuk (Habakkuk)

Zephaniah

Haggai

Zechariah

Malachi

C) Ketuvim, Writings. The Ketuvim contains the remaining History Books: Daniel, Lamentations, and others.

Some of these prophetical chapters (or books) detail Israelite history and past events, some predict events, some serve to comfort the nation, some speak of prayer and love of God, and some speak of life, experience and wisdom.

Jewish tradition (Talmud, Bava Batra 14b) states that the prophetic books were written by the authors whose names they bear: Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, etc. Ruth was written by Samuel; Lamentations was written by Jeremiah; Psalms was set in writing by King David; Chronicles was written by Ezra; Proverbs, Song of Songs and Kohellet (Ecclesiastes) were written by King Solomon; and Esther was written by Mordecai and Esther. Concerning Job, the Talmud states more than one opinion as to when it was written. The Writings consists of 11 books by the Jewish count:

14-16: The "Sifrei Emet"

14) Tehillim (Psalms)

15) Mishlei (Proverbs)

16) Iyov (Job)

17-21: The "Five Megilot" (Five Scrolls)

17) Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs)

18) Ruth

19) Eichah (Lamentations)

20) Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)

21) Esther

22-24: The rest of the Writings:

22) Daniel

23) Ezra-Nehemiah

24) Divrei Hayamim (Chronicles I and II)

Further information:

The term "Torah" can refer loosely to the entire Jewish Bible.

Tradition places the sealing of the Tanakh's canon around 340 BCE.