Torah and Jewish learning

Torah

The Five Books of Moses, and more broadly Jewish teaching; the intended meaning depends on context.

Also found as: Pentateuch

Tanakh

The Jewish scriptural collection comprising Torah, Prophets and Writings.

Also found as: Hebrew Bible

Genesis

The first book of the Torah, containing creation, ancestral and early family narratives.

Also found as: Bereshit

Exodus

The Torah book of liberation from Egypt, covenant and sanctuary instructions.

Also found as: Shemot

Leviticus

The Torah book containing priestly, ritual and ethical instruction.

Also found as: Vayikra

Numbers

The Torah book recounting wilderness journeys and community instruction.

Also found as: Bamidbar

Deuteronomy

The Torah book presenting Moses’s addresses and covenantal teaching before entry into the land.

Also found as: Devarim

Abraham

A central ancestral figure in Genesis; Babylon’s Formation connection is a named spiritual interpretation, not a settled authorship claim.

Sarah

An ancestral figure in Genesis whose own narrative deserves attention alongside Abraham’s.

Moses

The central human figure of the Exodus and Torah narratives; distinguish biblical account from later interpretation.

Also found as: Moshe

Miriam

The prophet associated with the Exodus community and the song by the sea in Exodus 15.

Covenant

A binding relationship or commitment in biblical usage; identify its participants and particular narrative setting.

Also found as: brit · berit

Sinai

The mountain setting of covenant and revelation in Exodus; a specific scriptural context for Torah learning.

Shema

The declaration beginning in Deuteronomy 6:4 and a central Jewish prayer; read its surrounding instruction.

Shabbat

The Jewish Sabbath, a recurring time of rest and sanctification with lived practices and legal traditions.

Also found as: Sabbath

Mitzvah

A commandment; its use in Jewish life should not be reduced to a generic spiritual preference.

Also found as: mitzvot

Tzedakah

Jewish language of just or righteous giving, commonly associated with support for people in need.

Also found as: tsedakah

Teshuvah

Return or repentance in Jewish teaching; discuss changed conduct without assigning permanent worthlessness to a person.

Talmud

Rabbinic discussions organized around Mishnah and Gemara; distinguish the Babylonian and Jerusalem compilations.

Babylonian Talmud

The rabbinic compilation associated with Jewish learning in Babylonia, many centuries after Nebuchadnezzar.

Also found as: Talmud Bavli

Mishnah

An early rabbinic compilation of legal traditions that becomes the organizing foundation for Talmudic discussion.

Midrash

Interpretive engagement with scripture and collections of such interpretation; a midrash is not automatically the plain biblical narrative.

Halakhah

Jewish legal teaching and practice; this learning directory offers orientation rather than individual religious rulings.

Also found as: halacha

Kabbalah

Jewish mystical traditions with distinct texts and historical settings; Babylon identifies its own later synthesis separately.

Also found as: Qabalah · Cabala

Shekhinah

Language of divine dwelling or presence in Jewish tradition; Babylon’s divine-feminine comparison is its own identified interpretation.

Also found as: Shekinah · Shechinah