Judaism

The sacred books of Judaism consist of the Bible, Talmud and Midrash

1.Bible

It contains stories of relationship with God. It is divided into three parts with a total of 24 books:

1.1. The Torah (which means “a teaching”)

It consist of 5 books of the Pentateuch given directly by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy.

They contain the principles of faith, the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule and laws of holiness. It is both the biography of Moses and the history of the beginning of the Jewish nation.

The Torah became established as Jewish law about the 5th Century B.C.

1.2. The Prophets

These are recordings of what God said to his prophets in 8 books, the first being a combination of 12 books: Combi(Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkum, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi), Joshua, Judges, Samuel(2 sections), Kings(2 sections), Jeramiah, Ezakiel & Isaiah.

1.3. The Writings

Consist of 11 books written by prophets with the the guidance of HaShem (God) : Psalms(David’s Zabur) Proverbs, Jobs, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Daniel, Nehenuach & Chronicles

2.Talmud

It is a rabbinic works of a collection of 6 books containing information on traditions given by Moses verbally and not yet written during Christ’s time. Christ condemned the teachings of the earlier Jerusalem/Palestine Talmud. The Babylonian Talmud is widely used now. They are basically Books of Law and address the issue sof applying rules of the Torah to different circumstances.

It deals with agriculture, seasons, women, damages, holy things such as sacrifice, and purites i.e. ritual purities.

Notes:
With increasing suppressions by the Romans in Judea and fear of loss of oral traditions, both the writing of the Jerusalem/Palestine and Babylonian Talmud perhaps were started at the same time. However, due to the prevailing situation in Judea and when Constantine endorsed Christianity, it got worst, the Jerusalem/Palestine Talmud was hastily put together and was redacted in 350 B.C.much earlier than the Babylonian Talmud. It is difficult to understand and also it’s focus is more on the land of Israel.

The Babylonian Talmud had the benefit of more Jewish scholars and time. It was completed only in 550 A.D. When the Jews return to Jerusalem, the Babylonian Talmud became more popular and widely studied. However, it referred to Jesus’s teachings as heretical.

3.Midrash

It is a rabbical compilation of verse by verse interpretation of the scriptures consisting of biblical folklore (Midrash Haggadah) and ethical teaching (Midrash Halakah) and reflect the faith of the difficult times Jews have encountered.