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Written Torah |
Messianic Torah Observant Believers
YHWH - YHVH - Yahweh - Yahushua - Yeshua -Y'shua
The Goal of this website is to create and encourage Bible Study from a
Hebrew perspective by providing studies, forums, and resources that you can use
to magnify Yahweh's Word.
Praised are you, Adonai our God, King of the universe, who gives the Torah of truth and the Good News of salvation to his people Israel and to all the peoples through his son Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord. |
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KiTetzei 5771
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Written Torah - We invite both Jew and Gentile seeking to return to the Hebraic roots of our faith in Messiah Yeshua |
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Fri, 23 September 2011 - 24th of Elul, 5771 |
Fri, 16 September 2011 - 17th of Elul, 5771 |
Fri, 09 September 2011 - 10th of Elul, 5771 |
Written Torah - The five books of Moses |
"Bereshit"
(Genesis) - *.pdf (In the beginning...) |
"Shemot"
(Exodus) - *.pdf (The names...) |
| "Vayikra"
(Leviticus) - *.pdf (And He called...) |
| "Bamidbar"
(Numbers) - *.pdf (In the wilderness...) |
| "Devarim"
(Deuteronomy) - *.pdf (The words...) |
Written Torah - NEVI'IM - (The Prophets) |
- Yehoshua (Joshua)
- Shoftim (Judges)
- Shmuel (I &II Samuel)
- Melakhim (I & II Kings)
- Yeshayah (Isaiah)
- Yirmyah (Jeremiah)
- Yechezqel (Ezekiel)
- The Twelve (treated as one book)
- Hoshea (Hosea)
- Yoel (Joel)
- Amos
- Ovadyah (Obadiah)
- Yonah (Jonah)
- Mikhah (Micah)
- Nachum
- Chavaqquq (Habbakkuk)
- Tzefanyah (Zephaniah)
- Chaggai
- Zekharyah (Zechariah)
- Malakhi
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Written Torah - KETHUVIM (The Writings) |
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- Tehillim (Psalms)
- Mishlei (Proverbs)
- Iyov (Job)
- Shir Ha-Shirim (Song of Songs)
- Ruth
- Eikhah (Lamentations)
- Qoheleth (the author's name) (Ecclesiastes)
- Esther
- Daniel
- Ezra & Nechemyah (Nehemiah) (treated as one book)
- Divrei Ha-Yamim (The words of the days) (Chronicles)
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The Torah is comprised of: |
a) The five books of Moses, also known as the Chumash, given by God to Moses and the Jewish people.
b) The books of the prophets (Joshua, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, etc)
c) The later books called ‘The Writings’- Psalms, Job, Esther, Lamentations, and more
Altogether, there are 24 books. (This is what the Christians call the Old Testament) And last but certainly not least, there’s the whole body of Oral traditions and understandings that go beyong the printed word, also originating with a divine revelation. The understanding of the Law of Yahweh, the Torah, was vital for their existence as a nation.
This is known as the Oral Law, which includes the Mishna and Talmud (the legal writings and explanations) as well as Kabbala (the mystical writings).
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How is a Torah made |
The scribe prepares parchment sheets
While printed editions of the Torah abound, in both Hebrew and English translation, and with many different commentaries, when the Torah is read in the synagogue on Shabbat and holidays, it is read from a hand-written scroll, called a Sefer Torah, in keeping with age-old tradition. It takes several months, and often as a long as a year to complete one Sefer Torah.
The Sefer Torah is written by a scribe, special trained for this holy task, on sheets of parchment. The parchment must derive from a kosher animal, usually a cow, and is meticulously prepared by the scribe, who first soaks the skin in lime water to remove hairs, and then stretches the skin over a wooden frame to dry.
The scribe scrapes the skin while it is stretched over the wooden frame to remove more hair and smooths the surface of the skin in preparation for writing on it with the use of a sanding machine. When the skin is dry, the scribe cuts it into a rectangle. The scribe must prepare many such skins because a Sefer Torah usually contains 248 columns, and one rectangle of parchment yields space for three or four columns. Thus a Sefer Torah may require at more than 80 skins in all.
When the parchment sheets are ready, the scribe marks out lines and columns using a stylus, which makes a mark in the skin that has no color, much as if you ran your fingernail across a sheet of paper. Each sheet must have at least three columns, and there must be a margin of three inches on the top, four inches at the bottom, and two inches between columns.
The scribe prepares quills and ink
The scribe makes quills for writing a Sefer Torah. The feathers must come from a kosher bird, and the goose is the bird of choice for many scribes. The scribe carefully and patiently carves a point in the end of the feather and uses many quills in the course of writing one Sefer Torah. The scribe also prepares ink for writing the Sefer Torah by combining powdered gall nuts, copper sulfate crystals, gum arabic, and water, preparing only a small amount at a time, so that the ink will always be fresh. Fresh ink is a deep black, and only this is acceptable for writing a Sefer Torah.
The scribe's writing begins
One the materials are prepared, the scribe visits the mikveh in preparation for such holy work, and prays that the holy work about to be undertaken will be imbued with the sanctity in the scribe's heart. While at work, the scribe is a vessel or vehicle for God's holy words and thus intense concentration and cognizance of the sanctity of the work are critically important. Moreover, the scroll may contain no errors whatsoever. While some mistakes may be corrected by scraping off the ink of a letter made in error and rewriting it, if a mistake is made in writing any of the names of God, no correction may be made because God's name may not be erased. The entire sheet of parchment must be buried or placed in a genizah, and the scribe must begin that section of the Torah again. Once the sheets of parchment are completed, the scribe checks them each three times with the help of someone else who uses a Tikkun (a specially prepared printed text).
Torah are always hand-written, in attractive Hebrew calligraphy with "crowns" (crows-foot-like marks coming up from the upper points) on many of the letters. This style of writing is known as STA"M (an abbreviation for "Sifrei Torah, Tefillin and Mezuzot," which is where you will see that style of writing.
The scribe sews the sheets together and attaches the wooden rollers
When the writing is complete, the scribe sews the individual pieces of parchment together using a thread called giddin which is made from the leg sinews of a kosher animal, most commonly a cow, a sheep, or an ox. The scribe makes one stick every six lines of text, sewing the backs of the parchment sheets, so that the stitches are not visible from the front. Then the scrolls is sewn onto wooden rollers called Eitzei Chayim (trees of life). The Torah is then dressed and ready to be dedicated in a Jewish community. |
The Talmud |
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The Talmud teaches that according to the amount of effort is the increase of the reward. Therefore, the Almighty presents us with the chance to work on dealing with frustration, impatience and other character issues that will help us grow as a human being, develop our soul and create a stronger spiritual connection to the Almighty. |
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| The word Talmud means "study" or "learning." It consists of two parts. The older is called the Mishnah, which is a compilation of oral laws, the second part is the Gemara |
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The fulfilling of Jeremiah's words (Jer. 29:10; cf. Jer. 25:11-12) was totally Yahweh's doing. Seventy years of Jewish captivity in Babylon were about to end. The first deportation of Jews to Babylon was in 605 B.C. Cyrus' decree in 538 was 67 years later. By the time the people returned and built the altar in 536, 70 years were almost up.
Yahweh had permitted the Jews to go into exile because of their sin and especially refering to the sin of idolatry. The Hebrew words translated "moved the heart" (also trans. "stirred up the spirit"). This captivity of the Jews had a purifying effect on them. We understand from this that the sovereign hand of Yahweh have always been behind the events of history. |
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| Ezekiel's message and the elders of Judah, who sat under the prophet's teaching, made an impact on the Jewish community (Ezekiel 8:1;14:1; 20:1). |
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THE HEBREW CONCEPT OF IDOLATRY
The Hebrew word “teraphim” means “a healer; a family idol; idols; idolatry; images.” This Hebrew word links the sin of idolatry with a mental condition that occurs in people’s minds when they worship idols. The Hebrew word suggests that idol worshippers are dull of mind; obstinate; stubborn; they have a wicked nature.
Therefore, the Hebrew word “teraphim” classifies idols to be not only statues but also mental images: philosophies, fantasies, and imaginations of the mind.
The Hebrew word “atsab” also specifies the physical and mental aspect of idolatry as being “idolatrous image; idol.”
Another Hebrew word “shiqquets” also pertains to idolatry. The word means, “idolatry is disgusting and filthy; it is abominable filth to have an idol or to worship an idol; it is a detestable thing.”
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Carving wood and stone images to represent various “gods” to worship was a pagan practice that was very prevalent in the ancient world. People bowed down to them, and served them.
They placed their affection and their trust into these idols, and allowed themselves to fear the idols. Unfortunately, this human practice of idolatry still exists today. In this modern world that we exist in today, there are cultures that still use carved wood and stone images as objects of their worship.
We can find totem poles, necklaces, hamsa hands in Judaism, hundreds of Hindu “gods” and “goddesses,” New Age trees and stones, and the wood and plaster statues in hundreds of Catholic Churches, and many other objects of man’s religious affections the world over. |
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| And Yahweh says, ‘Because they have forsaken My Torah (instructions) which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, but they have walked according to the stubbornness of their own heart and after the Ba’als (false gods), which their fathers had taught them.’ Therefore thus said Yahweh of hosts, the Elohim of Ysr’el, ‘See, I am making this people eat wormwood, and I shall make them drink poisoned water. And I shall scatter them among the gentiles (pagans; heathens), whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I shall send a sword after them until I have consumed them.’ ” |
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How is Torah read |
Trop: The musical system for chanting Torah
In most congregations, the Torah is chanted according to a musical system called trop which can found in many printed editions of the Torah. While the notation for the text is, by and large, standardized, there are many different musical systems employed for chanting the Torah.
In other words, there is general agreement about the specific trop symbols which apply to the words of the Torah, but many different tunes, and versions of tunes, by which the trop are sung. In some congregations, the Torah is either read without chanting, or read in Hebrew accompanied by a simultaneous translation.
It is challenging to learn to learn to read from a Sefer Torah, which contains no vowels, and even more challenging to chant Torah, because one must know not only the proper vowels, but the musical notation, as well.
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Using a Tikkun to prepare
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A Tikkun (which means "correction -"repairing the world." ") is a specially printed book which contains two columns on each page. One column contains a printed text of the Torah, with vowels and trop (cantillation) marks.
The person preparing to read or chant the Torah learns the text from this column. In the facing column is a photographic reproduction of the same text (one column's worth) from a hand-written Sefer Torah. The person preparing a Torah portion practices from this column after studying the printed column.
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| Who may read from the Torah |
The one who blesses the Torah and reads from the Torah must be an adult in the eyes of the community, for the reader is fulfilling a commandment on behalf of all those assembled. Hence, the reader must be at least 13 years and one day of age. "Bar Mitzvah" and "Bat Mitzvah" mean "one who is of the age of commandment" and is the status which one attains at the age of 13 and a day.
Thus, a young person may bless and read from the Torah only upon reaching this age. This is the reason that the ceremony marking becoming Bat Mitzvah or Bar Mitzvah centers on blessing and reading from the Torah. |
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| Dressing the Torah |
| The Torah is dressed because it is holy and is considered the core of God's communication with Israel. The manner in which it is dressed is symbolic of the garb worn by the High Priest of old when he served God in the sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem. Once, Jewish worship centered on the sacrificial system in the Temple, as described extensively in the Torah. After the Destruction of the 2nd Temple in 69/70 C.E., non-Messianic Jews believe daily prayer replaced the sacrifices as the focus of Jewish service of God. |
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Chapter 28 of the Book of Exodus contains a description of the garb of the High Priest. His special clothing included a tunic (the Torah mantle, or covering), a belt (the sash around the Torah scroll), a miter (the crown of the Torah), and a breastplate. Each of these has been reproduced in some fashion for dressing and decorating the Sefer Torah.
The mantle, symbolic of the High Priest's tunic, resembles a cylinder with one closed end that contains two small, round holes, through which the wooden rolls protrude. The mantle may be decorated as the congregation chooses, and often verses about the importance of Torah are embroidered on the front of the mantle.
The sash of the High Priest is symbolized by the sash which ties the scroll together before the mantle is placed over the scroll. This sash, or belt, holds the scroll tightly rolled and protects it when it is being held or standing in the ark.
The belt is fastened by a hook or sometimes by velcro. Sometimes, a child's swaddling cloth is embroidered and decorated and sewn into a sash and given as a gift to the congregation.
The High Priest wore a special breastplate, encrusted with 12 precious- and semi-precious stones symbolizing the 12 Tribes of Israel when he was engaged in his sacred duties.
In this manner, it was clear that the High Priest served God on behalf of the entire people Israel. Torah scrolls are often similarly dressed, with a breastplate which is hung over the top of the eitz chaim (wooden rollers), though it can have a wide variety of designs and inscriptions.
This symbolizes that the Torah is the inheritance of the entire Jewish people.One does not touch the parchment scroll, both because of its sanctity and because the oils of our hands can damage the delicate writing.
Therefore, a pointer called a yad is used. It may be made of wood or metal, and is shaped like a right hand with a finger pointing. The reader keeps his/her place in the scroll using the yad. Finally, just as the High Priest wore a miter on his head, the Torah wears either a crown, which covers both wooden rollers, or two rimonim (meaning "pomegranates"), one on each eitz chaim.
The crown and rimonim are often decorated with small bells that emit a jingling sound when the Torah is carried through the congregation. So, too, the robe of the High Priest had small bells sewn around its hem so that people could hear the High Priest as he moved about the sanctuary in performance of his duties in the Tabernacle.Many Messianic Believers consider the crown to be symbolic of Messiah Yeshua's future role as the King of Kings & Lord of Lords.
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