Talk:Judaism

EDIT - I feel that the major religion definitions need to be synchronized in how they are described. This will not only provide accuracy, but remove bias definitions. The major important factor in all major religions is the origin of the text used. Sometimes this text has a name, sometimes it is a collection of works by an author who has a name while the whole text does not. This should be the main portion of the definition.

The Word "Torah"
While we're discussing the standardization of definitions, could we substitute the term "Tanakh" for "Torah"? Both terms serve fine, but "Tanakh" has the advantage of referring to exactly what is being referenced, whereas the word Torah has a number of definitions. Mitchell Powell 23:29, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Tanakh can mean Torah, Naviim, or Ketuvim. In Hebrew, Tanach is Tet-Nun-Kaf or TNK. Torah includes the 5 books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Though in modern times when people refer to Torah, they often could be talking about Torah Shebaal Peh or Torah of the Mouth. The 5 books of Moses are part of what Jews call Torah Shebichtav or Written Law. However as mentioned before, Torah Shebaal Peh (Torah of the Mouth) is very commonly what is discussed today among scholars of Torah. Torah of the Mouth includes later texts written by rabbinical figures that involve laws and an incredibly huge collection of commentaries used in more modern times dating anywhere from 200 AD to 1600 AD.


 * So, no. Tanakh doesn't mean Torah, Neviim or Ketuvim, it means all of them collectively. Torah is possible to define in many different ways, but, at least in my experience, Tanakh is only used to mean Chumash by the laziest...ignorami, if you will. They are by no means interchangeable. —  [ זכריה קהת ] Zack. — 14:22, 22 September 2021 (UTC)