A Popular Dictionary of Judaism
The first five books of the *Bible. The Pentateuch contains the books of *Genesis, *Exodus, *Leviticus, *Numbers and *Deuteronomy, It covers the history of the *Jews from the *creation of the world until the death of *Moses. Among *Orthodox Jews it is an article of faith that the Pentateuch is a single document and was revealed by *God to Moses who wrote it down.
The Pentateuch is written on a single *Scroll and a portion is read week-by-week in the *synagogue (see *SIDRA). The entire text is completed in a year and the Scroll is dressed and kept in the *Ark of the synagogue. The Pentateuch, the *Written Law of the Jewish people, is known as the *Torah. It is the ultimate authority of the Jewish religion and the source of all subsequent *Oral Law. (See also *DOCUMENTARY HYPOTHESIS, *TORAH, *WRITTEN LAW).
This is the complete article, containing 143 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
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