The Tenakh & The Talmud (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B): Revision Note

Nature & significance of the Tenakh

The nature of the Tenakh

• The Tenakh is the main Jewish holy book

• The name TeNaKh comes from the three different sets of books that it comprises:

  • Te from the Hebrew word for Torah, the books of Moses

  • Na for Nevi’im, the Prophets 

  • Kh for Ketuvim, the Writings

• The Tenakh governs all aspects of Jewish life

  • The Old Testament in the Christian Bible is made up of the books of the Tenakh, although they appear in a different order

The Torah

• The Torah is the most important part of the Tenakh for Jews 

• This is the Five Books of Moses, which were revealed directly from God to Moses

• These books are:

  • Genesis

  • Exodus

  • Leviticus

  • Numbers

  • Deuteronomy

• The Torah contains the history of the Jewish people from the creation of the first humans through to their exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law to Moses and the death of Moses

• The Torah is considered the most important part of the Tenakh because it contains the 613 mitzvot - the laws of the Jewish people.

• These govern every aspect of Jewish life and conduct, showing Jews how to live to fulfil the covenant

Nevi’im

• These are the books of the Prophets

• They outline more of the history of the Jewish people

• Their main purpose is to teach the Jewish people more about the nature of the covenant and how it has been kept over this period, and to teach more about faith in one God and the nature of God’s compassion and justice

• There are two sections within the Nevi’im: the former and the latter prophets

  • The former prophets talk about the history of the Israelites

  • The latter prophets contain the words of 15 prophets, including Isaiah

Ketuvim

• These are the Writings

• There are 11 books on a range of topics within the Ketuvim including history, poetry and philosophical books

• The writings in the Ketuvim trace more of the history of the Jewish people and how they have kept the covenant

• They also give advice and teaching about living a moral life, and they deal with issues of death and the afterlife

Significance of the Tenakh for Jews today

• The Tenakh is important to Jews today because 

  • It contains the Torah which many Jews believe is the direct word of God

    • The Torah contains the 613 mitzvot; therefore it is a guide to living a moral life for all Jews so that they know how to obey the covenant

    • The Torah is important for worship in the synagogue. It is a sacred object, kept in the Ark when not in use

• The rest of the Tenakh is significant to Jews today because

  • It shows how Jewish people lived and tried to keep the covenant through time

  • Studying all parts of the Tenakh can help Jews understand more about God and form a closer relationship

  • The Psalms are central to private prayer and synagogue worship

  • The Nevi’im is read from at the end of the Torah readings in the synagogue. This is called the haftarot

  • The Ketuvim is important during the celebration of various festivals. For example, the book of Jonah is used during Yom Kippur

Nature & significance of the Talmud

The nature of the Talmud

• The Talmud is the Oral, or spoken, tradition

• Jews believe that when God gave Moses the Torah, he also passed on the Oral Torah to explain how the laws were to be obeyed

• The Torah and the Oral Torah together make up the Halakhah

  • Over time, as more situations arose that needed priests and rabbis to make judgements, more teachings were added to the Halakhah

• For centuries, these teachings of Judaism were passed down by word of mouth. 

• When Jews moved around the Roman Empire, these teachings were written down to avoid them becoming lost or misinterpreted.

  • Rabbi Judah the Prince organised the process of writing down the Oral Torah

  • This version is known as the Mishneh

  • It was completed in c200CE

• After this time, scholars continued to study and interpret the Halakhah and the Mishneh

  • Their discussions and writings were also written down, and this part is known as the Gemara, or rabbinical analysis

  • This was compiled in around c500CE as the Talmud

The significance of the Talmud

• The Talmud is significant because

  • It explains the meaning and interpretation of the 613 mitzvot

  • It shows Jews how to apply the mitzvot in their daily lives

  • It is the basis of the Halakhah, the Jewish law which is still followed today

  • It records the ancient rabbinic tradition, which is of great importance in the history of the Jewish people

  • It is used to help modern Jews interpret teachings for issues today that did not exist at the time of the original Torah, such as abortion, euthanasia, and weapons of mass destruction

  • It is studied by Jews in the yeshivot today

Jewish Food Laws

• Jewish food laws are known as kashrut

• Kashrut are specific rules developed to cover the mitzvot relating to food which were given to Moses by God

• The teachings about what may be eaten are:

• There are animals that Jews are forbidden to eat 

• Some fish are allowed, but not shellfish

• As well as the types of animals that Jews may eat, there are many additional rules concerning aspects such as how food is prepared

• The rules about eating are summarised for Jews in the kashrut

• Kosher means fitting or correct, and kashrut means ‘the state of being kosher’

• The main points of kashrut are

  • Kosher food, which may be eaten, includes cows, sheep, goats, deer, chicken, duck, turkey, trout, tuna, and salmon. Some types of birds may be consumed, others may not

  • Treifah means ‘torn’ and refers to foods which must not be eaten. Treifah foods include pigs, rabbits, camels, shellfish

  • There are combinations of food that are also treifah, such as meat and dairy products together, because the Torah says ‘Do not boil a kid in its mother’s milk

  • All animals must have their blood drained first.

    • Blood may not be consumed because of the rule in Leviticus that people who hunt animals or birds that may be eaten ‘must drain out the blood’ (Leviticus 17:13)

• The method of preparing animals in this way for eating is called shechitah

  • Meat must be soaked in salt water, drained and washed in cold water

• Kosher kitchens should be in two halves, one for meat and one for dairy, with separate utensils and sinks for each half

Divergent understandings of Jewish food laws

• There are differences in the ways that kashrut is observed between Orthodox and Reform Jews

• Orthodox Jews consider keeping kashrut very important, they:

  • keep a kosher kitchen and will look for foods labelled as hechsher in stores 

  • see it as a necessary part of keeping the mitzvot

  • see it as a way of bonding with Jews everywhere

  • see it as an important part of their Jewish identity

  • believe it keeps God at the forefront of their mind because they have to consider what God wishes for them at every meal

• Reform and Liberal Jews may choose to observe the kashrut but believe this is down to personal choice

  • They believe that the laws of Moses from God are not direct commands, but guidance for how to live a good life

  • Some Liberal and Reform Jews will keep all of kashrut

  • Some observe a selection of the laws; for example, they may eat kosher meat but ignore the rules about mixing meat and dairy

  • Others observe kashrut at home but not elsewhere

  • Some reject the concept of kashrut completely because they believe it does not help with relations between religions