Torah study is the study of theTorah,Hebrew Bible,Talmud,responsa,rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which areJudaism'sreligious texts. According toRabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of themitzvah ("commandment") of Torah study itself.
This practice is present to an extent in all religious branches of Judaism, and is considered of paramount importance among religiousJews. Torah study has evolved over the generations, as lifestyles changed and also as new texts were written.
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Inrabbinic literature, a heavy emphasis is placed onTorah study[1] forJewish males, with women being exempt.[2] This literature teaches an eagerness for such study and a thirst for knowledge that expands beyond the text of theTanakh to the entireOral Torah.[3] Some examples of traditional religious teachings:
...the practical commandments are but a prelude to the intelligibles, and since the intellect is not constituted by them, there is no advantage[22] in performing them
Torah study is counted among the613 mitzvot (commandments), from the verse inDeuteronomy: "And you shall teach it to your children,"[23] upon which the Talmud comments that "Study is necessary in order to teach."
...the essence is to perform aMitzvah at its correct time and with all of its detail and precision as an immutable decree and that purity of good thought should be attached to the performance then 'you will then go securely and both will be fulfilled in your hands. As the explicit Mishna[24] taught that all for whom their actions are greater than their wisdom, then even their wisdom will be preserved in holiness, purity, and inspirational fervor and the comparison that Chazal make about this cannot be trivialized, that all whose actions are greater than their wisdom are like a tree whose leaves are few and their roots are many, that all the winds in the world cannot move it from its place and 'the one who hears will internalize'
— Nefesh haTzimtzum,Chaim of Volozhin
The importance of study is attested to in another Talmudic discussion regarding which is preferred: study or action? The answer there, a seeming compromise, is "study that leads to action."[25] Although the word "Torah" refers specifically to theFive Books of Moses, in Judaism the word also refers to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), theTalmud and other religious works, even including the study ofKabbalah,Hasidism,Mussar and much more.
R. Menachem son of Yossi expounded the verse: For a Commandment is a "candle", but the Torah is "light"[26]... for this is your life andTorah study is equated with all the Mitzvot[27]
The Mitzvot is like a body because of their performances and these are done by "action" as the material elements with holyKavanah to bring supernal life to all the world... (i.e. to givegood and "Rachamim/Clement attributes" byTikkun) ButTorah study is always protection by God and this is a cause of the Brit ofMatan Torah, as written :≪Torah is in your heart... this is in your "words"!≫
As per Chazal: Until the Torah was given to Israel, it says that "and Moshe ascended to God," but after the Torah was given, God says: "and they shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in them." These words will suffice for a thinking person. And through them he will see and understand his path in holiness, 'and righteousness will grasp its way' to preserve his study of the Holy Torah all the days of his life 'to despise bad and choose good' for himself and for all the creations and all the worlds to provide pleasure for his Maker and Creator. May it be God's Will 'that He open up our hearts with His Torah and that He should place Love and Fear of Him in our hearts' and thereby complete His intention in creating His Universe 'that the Universe will be rectified with His Sovereignty'
— Chaim of Volozhin
The Torah is the Tree of Life to find true spiritual life, that is the Holy Spirit with the three Supernal Sefirot with Da'at and the others. The study of Torah can give life and this can build a Temple in the inner dimension of person: God will not take the holy sacrifices but words of Torah and of prayers because inMessianic era the sins will be not and the little sins will be atoned through true force of soul in the heart (Neshama andRuach withNephesh) and words of truth on pure and holy mouth.
The Talmud defines the objective of Torah study: "That the words of Torah shall be clear in your mouth so that if someone asks you something, you shall need not hesitate and then tell it to him, rather you shall tell it to him immediately."[28] Inyeshivas (Talmudical schools), rabbinical schools andkollels (post-graduate Talmudical schools) the primary ways of studying Torah include study of:[citation needed]
Other less universally studied texts include theNevi'im andKetuvim, other rabbinic literature (such asmidrash) and works of religiousJewish philosophy.[citation needed]
The text of the Torah can be studied on any of four levels as described in theZohar:[citation needed]
The initial letters of the wordsPeshat,Remez,Derash,Sod, forming together theHebrew wordPaRDeS (also meaning "orchard"), became the designation for the four-way method of studying Torah, in which the mystical sense given in the Kabbalah was the highest point. The distinction is similar to the medieval Christian classification into literal,typological,tropological (moral) andanagogical senses of scripture (seeAllegory in the Middle Ages): it is not certain whether this fourfold division first appeared in a Jewish or a Christian context.
InHaredi Judaism and much ofOrthodox Judaism, Torah study is a way of life for males. In these communities, men forgo other occupations and study Torah full-time. Women do not study Torah, but instead gain merit for facilitating the Torah study of the men. A 2017 survey of Modern Orthodox Jews found support for women studying Torah.[29]
Haredi Israelis often choose to devote many years to Torah study, often studying at akollel.Religious Zionist Israelis often choose to devote time after high school to Torah study, either during their army service at aHesder yeshiva, or before their service at aMechina. ManyModern Orthodox students who study inIsrael post high-school choose to study atHesder Yeshivot, namelyYeshivat Har Etzion,Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh,Yeshivat Shaalvim andYeshivat HaKotel. A portion of these students join theHesder system, draft into the army and/or makeAliyah.
In addition to full-time Torah study, Jews around the world often attend Torah classes in a contemporary academic framework. TheRohr Jewish Learning Institute offers classes on Parenting, Marriage, Medical Ethics, and Business Ethics.[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]
TheBrisker method consists of a methodical search for precise definitions of each concept involved in the discussion. Once the mechanism by which a law works is rigidly and correctly defined, it can become clear that one aspect of the definition applies in one situation but not another. Therefore, the finalhalacha will differ in the two situations, even if they superficially appear to be very similar.
Often an entire series of disagreements among theRishonim (Talmudic commentaries from roughly the period 1000–1500) may stem back to a subtle difference in how these Rishonim understand a line from the Talmud. The Brisker method can provide a precise formulation of how each Rishon understood the topic, and thus account for their differences in opinion. This approach is most productive when a whole series of debates between two Rishonim can be shown to revolve around a singlechakira, or difference in the understanding of a Talmudic concept.
The Brisker method is not a total break from the past. Rabbis before Brisk sometimes made "conceptual" distinctions, and Brisker rabbis can still resolve issues without recourse to the terminology they invented. The difference is one of focus and degree. Non-Brisk analysis tends to formulate "conceptual" definitions only when necessary, while for Briskers, these definitions are the first and most common tool to be used when approaching a Talmudic issue.
One example of the emphasis on the value of precise definition can be found in a quote attributed toChaim Soloveitchik: "One approach which answers three different problems is better than three different approaches to individually solve the three problems" (a corollary ofOccam's razor).
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto was the only one to set down the sages' thought process in an organized, systematic, and complete program that can be taught and reproduced. This method makesGemara (Talmud) learning accessible to everyone by exploring key logical concepts of Talmudic analysis. It is claimed that based on precision and clarity of thinking, one's inherent intellectual powers are studied, cultivated and nurtured. Conscious awareness of one's thinking and thoughts is the key to understanding Torah.
TheZilberman Method, pioneered in the mid-20th century byYitzhak Shlomo Zilberman, draws upon traditional teaching methods as outlined byChazal and championed by theJudah Loew ben Bezalel andVilna Gaon. TheMishnah and the Talmud set forthhalakhic guidelines for teaching Torah to children. These guidelines include the ages at which texts should be studied ("Five years old is the age to begin studying Scripture; ten for Mishnah; thirteen for the obligation of the commandments; fifteen for the study of Talmud...")[39] the times of study (including Shabbat for children;Hachazan roeh heichan tinokot korin – the chazzan observes [on Shabbat] where [in the text] the children are reading)[40] and the manner of teaching (safi lei k'tura –stuffing the children like oxen;[41]ligmar inish v'hadar lisbor –read the text and then explain it.[42])
The Zilberman method has children focus exclusively on Tanakh and Mishnah in their younger years, ensuring that they know large portions of both areas by heart before they begin learning Gemara. Indeed, graduates of such schools tend to have impressive fluency in these areas. Two key elements in Zilberman's methodology, however, must be singled out:chazarah (review) and student participation.
In the Zilberman-styled school, a new text of Chumash is introduced in the following manner (obviously adjustments are made for each grade level). On Monday and Tuesday, the teacher chants the text with thetropp (ta'amei ha'mikra) and the students immediately imitate him. This is repeated several times until the students are able to read the text independently. Then the teacher introduces the translation/explanation of the text and invites students to participate in the process. New words typically need to be translated only once; subsequently, students are encouraged to call out the translation on their own. All translations are strictly literal. If the translation does not automatically yield a comprehensible meaning, the students are invited to try to find one. The class spends the rest of the week reviewing the material. Eachpasuk is reviewed with the tropp at least twenty-four times.[43]
Apart from full-time Torah study as engaged in at schools andyeshivot, or for the purpose ofrabbinic training, there is also held to be an obligation[44] on individuals to set aside a regular study period to review their knowledge. Pious individuals thus often daily review one of the major works -Talmud Bavli,Talmud Yerushalmi,Nach (Tanach),Midrash Rabba,Midrash Tanchuma,Tosefta,Sifra,Sifri,Mishna,Rambam,Tur,Shulchan Aruch,Mishnah Berurah, theZohar - according to their interest.In more recent times, structured study-programmes have become popular; these include.
Ad'var Torah (Hebrew:דבר תורה, "word of Torah"; plural:divrei Torah), also known as adrasha ordrash inAshkenazic communities, is a talk on topics generally relating to aparashah (section) of the Torah – typically theweekly Torah portion. A typical d'var Torah imparts a life lesson, backed up by passages from texts such as the Talmud, Midrash, or more recent works.
In respect to its place in synagogues, rabbis will often give their d'var Torah after theTorah reading. Divrei Torah can range in length, depending on the rabbi and the depth of the talk. In most congregations, it will not last much longer than fifteen minutes, but in the case ofrebbes or special occasions, a d'var Torah can last all afternoon.
In other settings, "D'var Torah" is used interchangeably with "vort" (Yiddish for "word (of Torah)"), and may then refer to any Torah idea delivered informally, although typically linked to the weeklyParasha. This will be on various occasions,[49][50][51] and not necessarily by a Rabbi: for example, by the host at theirShabbat table,by the leader before "Benching" (grace after meals), or by a guest atsheva brachot, or at anySeudat mitzvah.
The recommended way to study the Torah is by reading the original text written in Hebrew. This allows the reader to understand language-specific information. For example, the Hebrew word for earth is 'adama' and the name of the first man is 'Adam' meaning 'of the earth'. Jewish denominations vary in the importance placed on the usage of the original Hebrew text. Most denominations strongly recommend it, but also allow studying the Torah in other languages, and usingRashi and other commentary to learn language-specific information.
Like Orthodox Jews, otherJewish denominations may use any or all of the traditional areas and modes of Torah study. They study theParsha, the Talmud, ethical works, and more. They may study simply thepeshat of the text, or they may also study, to a limited extent, theremez,derash, andsod, which is found inEtz Hayyim: A Torah Commentary (Rabbinical Assembly), used in manyConservative congregations. It is common in Torah study among Jews involved inJewish Renewal. Some level ofPaRDeS study can even be found in forms of Judaism that otherwise are strictly rationalist, such asReconstructionist Judaism. However, non-Orthodox Jews generally spend less time in detailed study of the classical Torah commentators, and spend more time studying modern Torah commentaries that draw on and include the classical commentators, but which are written from more modern perspectives. Furthermore, works of rabbinic literature (such as the Talmud) typically receive less attention than the Tanakh.
Before theEnlightenment, virtually all Jews believed that the Torah was dictated to Moses by God.[52][better source needed] Since many parts of the Torah, specifically the laws and commandments, are written in unspecific terms, they also believed that Moses received an interpretation of the Torah that was transmitted through the generations in oral form till it was finally put in writing in the Mishnah and later, in greater detail, the Talmud.[53] After the Enlightenment, many Jews began to participate in wider European society, where they engaged in study related to critical methods of textual analysis, including bothlower andhigher criticism, the modernhistorical method,hermeneutics, and fields relevant to Bible study such asNear Eastern archaeology andlinguistics. In time thedocumentary hypothesis emerged from these studies. The documentary hypothesis holds that the Torah was not written by Moses, but was simply written by different people who lived during different periods ofIsraelite history. Some Jews adapted the findings of these disciplines. Consequently, biblical study primarily focused on the intentions of these people, and the circumstances in which they lived. This type of study depends on evidence external to the text, especially archaeological evidence and comparative literature.
Today,Reform,Conservative, andReconstructionist rabbis draw on the lessons of moderncritical Bible scholarship as well as the traditional forms of Biblical exegesis. Orthodox Jews reject critical Bible scholarship and the documentary hypothesis, holding to the opinion that it is contradicted by the Torah[54] and the Talmud,[55] which state that Moses wrote the Torah, as well as by the Mishnah,[52] which asserts the divine origin of the Torah as one of the essentialJewish principles of faith.
Humanistic Jews value the Torah as a historical, political, and sociological text written by their ancestors. They do not believe 'that every word of the Torah is true, or even morally correct, just because the Torah is old.' The Torah is both disagreed with and questioned. Humanistic Jews believe that the entire Jewish experience, and not only the Torah, should be studied as a source for Jewish behavior and ethical values.[56]
According toRuth Calderon, there are currently almost one hundred non-halakhic Torah study centers in Israel. While influenced by methods used in theyeshiva and in the university, non–religious Torah study includes the use of new tools that are not part of the accepted hermeneutic tradition of the exegetic literature. These includefeminist and post-modernist criticism, historic, sociological and psychological analyses, and literary analysis.[57] Among these institutions is the Alma Centre for Hebrew Studies in Tel Aviv.[58]
Devoting a year to Torah study in the modernLand of Israel is a common practice amongAmerican,[59] and, to a lesser extent,European,South African, South American, and AustralianModern Orthodox Jews. Young adults spend a year studying Torah in the Land of Israel. It is common[60][59] both among males and females, with the boys normally going to a yeshiva and the girls to amidrasha (often calledseminary orseminaria). Yeshivot with year-in-Israel programs include:Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem),Yeshivat Sha'alvim,Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh,Yeshivat Har Etzion,Yeshivas Midrash Shmuel,Yeshivat HaMivtar,Machon Meir,Dvar Yerushalayim,Aish HaTorah, andOhr Somayach. Seminaries, or midrashot, include:Midreshet HaRova,Midreshet Lindenbaum,Migdal Oz,Nishmat,B'not Chava, Michlalah,[61]Neve Yerushalayim.
Multi-year programs also exist:Hasidic andHaredi boys from abroad often spend many years studying in the Land of Israel.Bnei Akiva offers a number of options to spend a year of study in Israel, as part of theirHachshara programs.
God is "the simplest" because He is One, but He has power, knowledge, will and eternity and perfect in all attributes, God is perfect forgood to have Mercy and Justice... Hasdai Crescas concludes by stating that the superiority of the knowledge of truth consists in that of God but his essence is not knowable except by himself.Since the truth is witness to itself, and is in agreement from all sides, it appears that the author of theSefer Yetzirah (Book of Creation) would agree with this. He said, "as a flame is connected to a live coal." This attests to an unbreakable unity. This is the truth about His essence, for as the essence of a substance cannot be conceived apart from its existence, nor its existence apart from its essence, so, too, the existence of an attribute cannot be conceived apart from that which it describes, nor that which it describes apart from the attribute. This includes the absolute good which contains all the species of perfections. This is what we wished to establish
Among the latter is the Jewish Learning Institute, the largest educational program for Jewish adults in the world (with the possible exception of the Daf Yomi enterprise), which currently enrolls over 66,000 teens and adults at some 850 sites around the world, each following a prescribed course of study according to a set timetable.
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)"How Happiness Thinks" was created by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute- an internationally acclaimed adult education program running on over 350 cities worldwide, which boast over 75,000 students. This particular course builds on the latest observations and discoveries in the field of positive psychology. "How Happiness Thinks" offers participants the chance to earn up to 15 continuing education credits from the American Psychological Association (APA), American Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC).
{{cite news}}:|last= has generic name (help)JLI, the adult education branch of Chabad Lubavitch, offers programs in more than 350 U.S. cities and in numerous foreign locations, including Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela. More than 260,000 students have attended JLI classes since the organization was founded in 1998.
... Is currently the largest provider of adult Jewish learning. JLI's mission is to inspire Jewish learning worldwide and to transform Jewish life and the greater community through Torah study. Its goal is to create a global network of informed students connected by bonds of shared Jewish experience. JLI's holistic approach to Jewish study considers the impact of Jewish values on personal and interpersonal growth. (The authors of the book are Professor Ira Sheskin of Department of Geography and Regional Studies, The Jewish Demography Project, The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies, University of Miami, and Professor Arnold Dashefsky, Department of Sociology, The Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, University of Connecticut.)
Text study projects atWikisource:
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