What was the most sacred text of the Jews?

Answer 1

The part of Hebrew scripture which is considered most sacred, as it is the only part considered to have been directly handed to Moses by God, is the 5 books of Moses, called "Torah" (meaning "Law") which represents the first part of the Hebrew Canon of 24 books (Tanakh).

(For Muslims, the equivalent would be the Koran, which is seen to have been dictated to Mohammad by God - Allah, whereas all subsequent works, such as Hadith and Tafsir, are not considered as divine or as sacred)

1. Bereshit (Genesis)
2. Shemot (Exodus)
3. Vayikra (Leviticus)
4. Bamidbar (Numbers)
5. Devarim (Deuteronomy)

These 5 books of Moses contain all 613 commandments by which the Jewish people are commanded by God to live their lives as a collective body. No one person is capable of fulfilling all 613 commandments, as some relate only to men, others only to women, some only to priests (Kohanim), others for example, only to farmers.

These 5 books, together called the "Torah" (Pentateuch in Greek) are considered as the basic and Divine code of "Written Law" for Jews and all Israelite/Jewish Sects.

The Torah is considered the most sacred or holy of the body in the complete Hebrew canon (Tanakh).

The 613 written commandments in Torah, which represent a code of religious, moral, spiritual and political life for each individual Jew, governing behaviour, responsibilities and obligations from birth to death, are called in Aramaic "Mitzvot De'Oraita"(Written commandments).

The books which follow Devarim (Deuteronomy), beginning with the book of Yehoshua (Joshua - KJV), are attributed to Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Chronicles - KJV) and are not considered "divine works", although most of their authors relate to some form of divine intervention or revelations in events related to within the books.

The difference between this body of canonical work as representing only 24 books, and its form when incorporated into Protestant Christian scripture as the "Old Testament" is that the books of the Prophets in Hebrew Scripture have the 13 'minor' prophets (from Hoshea to Malachi) grouped into a single book. Furthermore, there is no separation into 2 parts in Hebrew scripture for the Book of Melachim (Kings), nor the Book of Shmuel (Samuel), whilst Ezra and Nehemia are individual books.

In traditional, or Byzantine (Eastern Orthodox) or the later Catholic Bibles, the 'deuterocanonical' works are included, with variations of which ones.

All of these extra books were gradually discredited and rejected from Jewish (Judean) Scripture by the Knesset Hagadol - The Great Assembly of Sages and Rabbis (empowered during +/- 400 BCE to 70 CE) and the later Sanhedrin (70 CE to almost 400 CE).

Most Deuterocanonical or Extra scrolls/books would actually have been lost were it not for translations of the Hebrew Bible in its then current form at the timeline of 200 BCE made by 70 Jewish, Hebrew and Greek-speaking Scribes for the Great Library of Hellenistic King Ptolemy in Alexandria, Egypt.

The Mishna, Tosafta, Breita, Talmudand many later books and articles, ending in the 'Shulhan Aruch' written between 1,900 to 500 years ago are not considered or intended to be seen as Holy Scripture. They represent the rulings of Jewish scholars and sages written as interpretations of the ancient and sometimes ambiguous language in the Torah.

Commandments placed on observant Jews by these interpretive works are called in Aramaic "Mitzvot De'Rabanan" (Rabbinical commandments) usually referred to as the "Oral Law".

This entire body of work of the Oral Law is rejected outright by a small but more than 1,100 year old Jewish sect called the Karaites (Literal readers), who see only the 24 books of scripture themselves and the commandments contained within them as worthy of following. They dispute many Oral Laws as in direct contravention of or at odds with, what they interpret as clear unequivocal commandments in Torah.

To the Karaites too, the Only "Divine"Holy Books in the Biblical Canon for the Samaritans are again - theTorah - The 5 books of Moses.

The chronology of the Hebrew Canon can be confusing, as books after the Torah included within it were only usually 'approved' for inclusion some considerable time after the events they relate to and more specifically, edited following the babylonian exile of Judea (586-516 BCE).

An example of this can be seen in the Canon of the Samaritans. The Samaritans ("Shomronim") after the fall of Samaria to Assyria were tainted by the residual and later successfully independent and thriving Southern Israelite Kingdom of Judea, as being descended from a foreign pagan people from eastern Mesopotamia who were exiled from their homelands and forced by the Assyrians who conquered them, to re-settle and make their lives in the hills of Samaria and to a lesser extent in the valleys of Galilee, from which the Assyrians had previously exiled much of 10 of the 12 ancient tribes of Israel, following the conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel between 722-720 BCE.

The Samaritans themselves reject this Judean definition as a slander and claim direct descendancy from the Israelite Tribes of Ephraim and Menasseh - something borne out by DNA analysis among their Cohanim (Priests).

Nevertheless, the most important Holy Books for the Samaritans is again - the Torah - The 5 books of Moses. The books of the Prophets are seen as later works by them, not carrying the Divine Authority.

The Samaritan "Torah" remains unchanged since the time of the Northern Kingdom of Israel - the 10 tribes who seceded from the United Kingdom of Solomon following his death. They use the original Israelite alphabet of the First Temple period and earlier, never having adopted the later Judean script used by most Jews today, which was introduced following the Return to Zion from Babylonian exile. The Samaritans furthermore reject the importance of Jerusalem and Mount Moriah, believing certain events not to relate to Zion in Jerusalem but to Mount Gerizim in Samaria.

Although a tiny sect following persecution by Byzantines and slaughter by Crusaders, the Samaritans have the same 5 books of Moses as Jews, identical to this day, 2,731 years after the Nothern Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria.

In summary, for all branches of Jews, the 5 Books of Moses are the most Divinely Holy Books - The Torah.

All else is sacred but secondary and the product prophets; not dictated directly by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Answer 2

Jews consider the Torah to be the most sacred part.

Answer:Our tradition is that the Torah was dictated directly by God (Exodus 24:12).

Answer 3

The Torah, which is the first part of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).

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.

Answer 4

The Hebrew Bible is divided into three parts, and the first part (the Torah) is considered the most sacred part:

1. Torah (תורה) = the five books of moses
   
2. Nevi'im (נביאים) = the prophets
3. K'tuvim (כתובים) = the writings
   

Answer 5

The opinion of most Jews is Yes, it is the most sacred part.

Answer 6

The Torah.