The Torah ( Jewish Law ), also known as the Pentateuch ( the first five books of the Christian Old Testament ), lays down the death penalty for murder, kidnapping, magic, violation of the Sabbath, blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes, although evidence suggests that actual executions were rare.

He suggests that two things fundamentally distinguished the Pharisaic from the Sadducean approach to the Torah.

In these chapters Jacobs took on discussion of ‘ Modern Criticism ’ of the Bible, more specifically textual analysis of the Torah known as the ‘ Documentary Hypothesis ’, which suggests that its texts derives from multiple sources, rather than having been given, as Orthodox Rabbinical traditions have it, complete in its present form by God to Moses during the period beginning on Mount Sinai and ending with Moses's death.

He was known for developing Shitat Habechinot (" the aspect approach ") which suggests that differing styles and internal tensions in the Biblical text represent different aspects of God or Torah, which cannot be merged without losing their identity.

Midrash Genesis Rabbah ( 1: 1 ) actually opens by declaring that the first word of the verse means " with the Torah " and it suggests that the Divine Architect used the Torah as a blueprint.

The Talmud in Sukkah 28a tells that while he was absorbed in studying Torah, if a bird flew over his head it would be burnt ( possibly a metaphor meant to say that any scholar who wished to differ in opinion with him was incapable of such ; Rashi suggests that the Ministering Angels HaShareis were responsible because they longed to hear his words of Torah.

According to the Torah, Benjamin's ( or in some countries, Biniam's ) name arose when Jacob deliberately corrupted the name Benoni, the original name of Benjamin, since Benoni was an allusion to Rachel's dying just after she had given birth, as it means son of my pain.

It was in this period that the Pentateuch ( or Torah, to give the Hebrew name ) was composed, by detaching the book of Deuteronomy from the Deuteronomistic history and adding it to the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.

The vocalization of the second name component may be read as Hoshea-the name used in the Torah before Moses added the divine name ().

" This name actually refers to a special " ceremony ": the last weekly Torah portion is read from Deuteronomy, completing the annual cycle, and is followed immediately by the reading of the first chapter of Genesis.

In Jewish tradition the sacredness of the divine name or titles must be recognized by the professional sofer ( scribe ) who writes Torah scrolls, or tefillin and mezuzah.

This compound name occurs chiefly in the prophetic literature and does not appear at all in the Torah, Joshua or Judges.

The Torah (;, " Instruction ", " Teaching ") is the Jewish name for the first five books of the Jewish Bible.

The earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been " The Torah of Moses.

8: 3 ) which seems to be a contraction of a fuller name, " The Book of the Torah of God " ( Neh.

One kabbalistic interpretation is that the Torah constitutes one long name of God, and that it was broken up into words so that human minds can understand it.

The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah (" Teaching ", also known as the Five Books of Moses ), Nevi ' im (" Prophets ") and Ketuvim (" Writings ")— hence TaNaKh.

The name of the month is Babylonian ; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe.

Accordingly, in at least some Karaite circles, this day is referred to by the name of Simkhat Torah.

According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Zebulun, the sixth son of Jacob and Leah, from whom it took its name.

According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Simeon the second son of Jacob, and of Leah, from whom it took its name ; however some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.

According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Reuben, the first son of Jacob, and a son of Leah, from whom it took its name.

According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Naphtali, a son of Jacob and Bilhah, from whom it took its name.

According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Ephraim a son of Joseph, from whom it took its name ; however Biblical scholars view this also as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.

* In the Torah, it is also the name of a gem-stone associated with the Tribe of Asher that has been identified by the Septuagint and by Josephus as the " gold stone " χρυσόλιθος ( whose identification remains in dispute, possibly topaz, probably not modern chrysolite ), and later as aquamarine.

According to the Torah, the tribe consisted of descendants of Manasseh, a son of Joseph, from whom it took its name.

In the third book of the Torah, states that he that blasphemes the name of the " shall surely be put to death ".

Most of Hirsch's writings have been translated into English and Hebrew by his descendants, starting with " Horeb " in the 1950s ( by Dayan Isidore Grunfeld of London ) and his Torah commentary in the 1960s ( by his grandson Isaac Levi, also of London ).

" Whilst there, he wrote hundreds of pages of original Torah discourses, subsequently published as " Reshimot, " and corresponded with his father on Torah matters, which were published in the 1970s in the book " Likuttei Levi Yitzchak — Letters ".

Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who spread Hasidism in the Ukraine, authored the classic Hasidic commentary on the Torah Kedushas Levi, and personified the advocacy of the Jewish people in its relationship with God.

The mitzvot in the Torah ( also called the Mosaic law after Moses ) pertain to nearly every aspect of human life ; some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups ( the Kohanim and Leviyim, members of the tribe of Levi, some only to farmers within the Land of Israel.

Certain religious and political functions were reserved for the Levites, and the early sources of the Torah — the Jahwist and Elohist — appear to treat the term Levi as just being a word meaning priest ; scholars therefore suspect that " levi " was originally a general term for a priest, and had no connection to ancestry, and that it was only later, for example in the priestly source and Blessing of Moses, that the existence of a tribe named Levi became assumed, in order to explain the origin of the priestly caste.

According to the Torah, Jochebed (; ) was a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and Moses.

When the ' Kohen ' and ' Levi ' have finished reading, the leader in prayer carries the Torah roll to the exilarch, the whole congregation rising ; the exilarch takes the roll in his hands and reads from it while standing.

* Levi, Yehuda " Torah Study ", Philipp Feldheim Inc, ( 1990 ) ISBN 0-87306-555-7 ( see especially Parts 1 & 7 )

According to the Torah, Merari was one of the sons of Levi, and the patriarchal founder of the Merarites, one of the four main divisions among the Levites in Biblical times ; the Hebrew word Merari means sad / bitter.

The Torah argues that Reuben's behaviour angered Jacob to the extent that he gave Reuben's birthright ( as firstborn ) to Joseph ; classical rabbinical sources argue that the birthright had included the right of his descendants ( the tribe of Reuben ) to become ruler over the tribes ( transferred to Judah ) and priests ( transferred to Levi ).

In 2010 he was living in Jerusalem as an Orthodox Jew under his new name, Moses Levi and spent his time learning the Torah.

According to the Torah, Gershon () was the eldest of the sons of Levi, and the patriarchal founder of the Gershonites, one of the four main divisions among the Levites in biblical times.

Some manuscripts of the Septuagint version of the Torah state that Jochebed was Kohath's cousin, but the Masoretic Text states that she was Kohath's sister — Amram's aunt — although Jochebed's relationship to Levi is not explicitly stated.

According to the Torah, Izhar () was the father of Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri, and was a son of Kohath and grandson of Levi, consequently being the brother of Amram and uncle of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses.

* Yehuda Levi: Torah and Science-Their Interplay in the World Scheme

It does not mention the attack on Shechem, which in the Torah Simeon had mounted alongside brother Levi.

According to the Torah, Kohath was one of the sons of Levi, and the patriarchal founder of the Kohathites, one of the four main divisions among the Levites in biblical times.

Despite some Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Septuagint version of the Torah stating that Jochebed was Kohath's cousin, the Hebrew masoretic text states that she was Kohath's sister-Amram's aunt-although Jochebed's relationship to Levi is not explicitly stated.

According to the Torah, Uzziel (, meaning El is my strength or God is my strength ) was the father of Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri, and was a son of Kohath and grandson of Levi, consequently being the brother of Amram and uncle of Aaron, Miriam, and Moses.

He authored the Hasidic classic Kedushas Levi, which is a commentary on many Jewish religious books and laws, and is arranged according to the weekly Torah portion.

Kedushas Levi () is a classic Hasidic commentary on the Torah written by Reb Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev ( 1740 – 1810 ).