There were two Torahs given to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai, the written, which is the five books of Moses, and the oral Torah which explains the written Torah. Today the Oral Torah is preserved in the pages of the Talmud. The Jewish bible is called the Tanakh. The name Tanakh comes from the combination of the first letters of the three parts of it, (T)orah, (N)eviim, & (K)esuvim = TNK. The "Torah" (Teachings), is the holiest of the set because G-d chose the exact words. The section known as "Neviim" (Prophets), was written with prophecy, the words came from G-d through the prophets. The last portion "Kesuvim" (Writings), were merely written with Divine Inspiration.
The entire Jewish Bible is broken down thusly:
Part 1 Torah
1. Genesis - Breishis
2. Exodus - Shemos
3. Leviticus - Vayikra
4. Numbers - Bamidbar
5. Deuteronomy - Devarim
Part 2 Neviim
6. Joshua - Yehoshua
7. Judges - Shoftim
8. Samuel - Shmuel
9. Kings - Melachim
10. Isaiah - Yeshiahu
11. Jeremiah - Yirmiyahu
12. Ezekiel - Yechezkel
The Twelve Prophets
(Most people think these next twelve are seperate books, but actually, they are all part of one book called "The Twelve Prophets").
13. Hosea - Hoshia
14. Joel - Yoel
15. Amos - Amos
16. Obadiah - Pronouned Oh-bah-dee-uh
17. Jonah - Yonah
18. Micah - Meekha
19. Nahum - Nachum
20. Habakkuk - Habakkuk
21. Zephaniah - Pronounced Zeh-fah-nee-uh
22. Haggai - Chaggai
23. Zechariah - Pronounced Zeh-khar-ee-uh
Part 3 Kesuvim
24. Psalms - Tehillim
25. Proverbs - Meeshlay
26. Job - Eeyov
27. Song of Songs - Shir HaShirim
28. Ruth - Root
29. Lamentations - Eichah
30. Ecclesiastes - Koheles
31. Esther - Esther
32. Daniel - Daniel
33. Ezra/Nehemiah - Ezra/Nechemiah (Most think that these are also seperate books, but are part of the same).
34. Chronicles - Divrei HaYomim
13 Principles of Judaism
Moses Maimonides (1135-1204 C.E.), also known as RAMBAM (from the initials RMBM for " Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon") was among the greatest of Jewish sages and leaders. In addition to being a Rabbi and a scholar, he was also court physician to the Sultan of Turkey. This is a brief summary of his 13 principles of Judaism:
1. G-d exists.
2. G-d is a complete and total unity, and con not be divided.(jews do not believe in a trinity)
3. G-d is not a physical being.
4. G-d is eternal and the First Source (Creator)of all things.
5. Prayers should be directed to G-d only, not to angels, messengers, or any other being.
6. G-d communicates with human beings. (through dreams, visions, inspiration, and prophecy.)
7. Moses’ prophecy is unique among all prophets.
8. The entire torah is G-d given.
9. The Torah is unchangeable.
10. G-d knows man’s thoughts and deeds
11.Reward and punishment are given according to our deeds.
12.The Messiah will come.
13. The dead will rise again. (There will be an afterlife.)
MIDRASH
Another form of Jewish teaching is what is known as midrashim, which are basically stories expanding on incidents in the Bible to derive principles or Jewish law or to teach moral lessons. One example of this is a story of Abram discovering monotheism and rejecting his father's idolatry. Abrams father was an idolator. In the story, Abram is left alone with his fathers many man made idols. Abram doesn't agree with his father worshipping these idols. So he smashes all his father's idols except the big one, then blames the mess on the big one, as a way of showing his father that the idols don't really have any power.That is just one brief example. There are many, many, many more stories which teach us lessons and principles of the Torah.
