Did you read the Torah?

[ProudAndZionist]

Let's vote.  I read of course, and Im reading again to understand it more.

[muman613]

ProudZionist?

Dont you ever go to Shul for Shabbat? Every week we read a Parasha of Torah. It is part of the yearly cycle. This Shabbat we are reading the second Parasha of Shemot {Exodus}. Every New Year {Rosh Hashana} we finish the Torah and begin again at Beresheis.

I have read the Torah fully at least seven times {since my return to Judaism}.

http://www.torah.org/learning/yomtov/shavuos/vol6no04.html

On each Shabbos we read a Parasha, a portion, of the Torah. We start each yearly cycle on the Shabbos following the holiday of Simchas Torah, with the very first Parasha, that of Bereshis. However, come the holidays, there are special portions of the Torah read. These portions deviate from the yearly cycle. Instead, the subject of the portion read relates to the particular holiday in some fashion. Rav Moshe Chayim Luzzato, in his Derech Hashem (4:8) explains further the concept of reading the Torah.

He writes "the reason for (the reading of the Torah) is that the Torah consists of something that was given to us by G-d to read. It was furthermore designated so that His holy light should be transmitted to us through such reading . . .. On certain special days, it is also appropriate that special portions be read, relating to the concepts of those days. In this way, the special holy light of these days is strengthened through the power of the Torah, which is the strongest power that we have."

The Torah was given to us to read, to study, and to explore. So that we maximize our spiritual benefit from this reading, it was ordained that we read the Torah every week and on special days. On these special days, our spiritual benefit is increased: we receive not only the holiness that comes from the reading of the Torah, but also that from the holiday itself.

[ProudAndZionist]

I didn't get so too much religious upbringing, but my grandfather, and mother does it more.

[q_q_]

ProudZionist?

Dont you ever go to Shul for Shabbat? Every week we read a Parasha of Torah. It is part of the yearly cycle. This Shabbat we are reading the second Parasha of Shemot {Exodus}. Every New Year {Rosh Hashana} we finish the Torah and begin again at Beresheis.<snip>

a few mistakes there.

[muman613]

ProudZionist?

Dont you ever go to Shul for Shabbat? Every week we read a Parasha of Torah. It is part of the yearly cycle. This Shabbat we are reading the second Parasha of Shemot {Exodus}. Every New Year {Rosh Hashana} we finish the Torah and begin again at Beresheis.<snip>

a few mistakes there.

It is not that we start Beresheis right after Rosh Hashanah, after Simchah Torah. I meant to say that we finish Torah around Rosh Hashanah. I am looking at the hebrew calendar from last year and it was about 3 weeks from Rosh Hashana till Shabbat Parasha Beresheit.

That is about the only 'mistake' in my posting. If there is another please inform me.

I should have mentioned that the name of this Shabbats parasha is Vaera.

[q_q_]

that was the main one.

[The One and Only Mo]

by Torah you mean the Written Law? Because you can't learn the Written without the Oral and vice versa.

[muman613]

by Torah you mean the Written Law? Because you can't learn the Written without the Oral and vice versa.

One can read the written Torah without learning the Oral law. It is advisable for a Jew to learn the Oral Torah because it explains a lot of the ideas of the written Torah. It is well known that ideas such as tefillin and mezuza are not fully explained in the written Torah, only mentioned briefly. Torah is composed of more than just the Five Books {Chumash}. Torah includes all Jewish teaching which includes the entire canon of Jewish scripture.

Tanakh is the term used to describe the Torah, Naviim {Prophets} and Ketuvim {Writings}. Even though we call the Oral law Oral, much of it has been written and we call it the Mishna, the Gemmorah, and the Talmud.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh

[GoIsraelGo!]

ProudZionist?

Dont you ever go to Shul for Shabbat? Every week we read a Parasha of Torah. It is part of the yearly cycle. This Shabbat we are reading the second Parasha of Shemot {Exodus}. Every New Year {Rosh Hashana} we finish the Torah and begin again at Beresheis.<snip>

a few mistakes there.

It is not that we start Beresheis right after Rosh Hashanah, after Simchah Torah. I meant to say that we finish Torah around Rosh Hashanah. I am looking at the hebrew calendar from last year and it was about 3 weeks from Rosh Hashana till Shabbat Parasha Beresheit.

That is about the only 'mistake' in my posting. If there is another please inform me.

I should have mentioned that the name of this Shabbats parasha is Vaera.

Hi Muman, please take the advise you gave me and pay no attention to that person who has an obsession of pointing out other's mistakes.
This paticular person may have delusions of granduer about his/her intelligence. In order to validate their own delusion, this person must criticise others
and make comments that are uncalled for such as : " you lowered the level of intelligent discussion. "
While this only serves to nuture the already ( over inflated ego ) it backfires and only makes the ( supposedly highly intelligent being ) appear to be harsh and insecure.
Muman, you do some excellent posting and work here on the Forum, you are appreciated by all so don't let someone make you worried about a mistake.
We all make mistakes...except for ( those highly intelligent beings ) that never make them.

                                                                                Shalom - Dox 


                                                                             

[muman613]

<snip>

Hi Muman, please take the advise you gave me and pay no attention to that person who has an obsession of pointing out other's mistakes.
This paticular person may have delusions of granduer about his/her intelligence. In order to validate their own delusion, this person must criticise others
and make comments that are uncalled for such as : " you lowered the level of intelligent discussion. "
While this only serves to nuture the already ( over inflated ego ) it backfires and only makes the ( supposedly highly intelligent being ) appear to be harsh and insecure.
Muman, you do some excellent posting and work here on the Forum, you are appreciated by all so don't let someone make you worried about a mistake.
We all make mistakes...except for ( those highly intelligent beings ) that never make them.

                                                                                Shalom - Dox                                    

Shalom Dox,

Thank you very much for the words of encouragement. In this case I understand q_q_s attempt to correct me. When I try to explain Judaism to others who have not been exposed to the beliefs I take a great responsibility in my hands. If I explain things wrongly then I may lead others to transgress and therefore their sin is on me. I try hard to be as accurate as I can and in the case that q_q just corrected me I admit I made a mistake.

I believe that everyone here has good intentions. I do not mind people who disagree with me and even correct me when I say something wrong. It is wrong to be rude and unkind to people who are searching for the truth. I believe that everyone can change for the better and I have observed people here at JTF alter their approaches to issues in a good way.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

It is important to be precise and correct with words especially when talking about Judaism.

[The One and Only Mo]

by Torah you mean the Written Law? Because you can't learn the Written without the Oral and vice versa.

One can read the written Torah without learning the Oral law. It is advisable for a Jew to learn the Oral Torah because it explains a lot of the ideas of the written Torah. It is well known that ideas such as tefillin and mezuza are not fully explained in the written Torah, only mentioned briefly. Torah is composed of more than just the Five Books {Chumash}. Torah includes all Jewish teaching which includes the entire canon of Jewish scripture.

Tanakh is the term used to describe the Torah, Naviim {Prophets} and Ketuvim {Writings}. Even though we call the Oral law Oral, much of it has been written and we call it the Mishna, the Gemmorah, and the Talmud.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh

Are you sure man? Cause Torah Sheba'l Peh was given at Sinai also.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

One can read the written Torah without learning the Oral law.

Well, technically one is physically able to "read" it, but it is practically impossible for a Jew to actually learn the Torah and follow it without the oral law and commentaries which explain our traditions. 

 Even though we call the Oral law Oral, much of it has been written and we call it the Mishna, the Gemmorah, and the Talmud.

But it was Oral before the sages wrote it down at a later date.   For many generations it was passed down as an oral tradition in one form or another, constantly developing and evolving.  And it was originally given in some form at Sinai with the written Torah.   That was how we had a tradition of the proper way to do mitzvoth which are not explained entirely in detail in the written Torah.  At a later time, around the end of the Tannaic era, the sages feared people would forget it (due to exile and destruction of the Temple) and so they committed it to writing.   Originally it was actually forbidden to write down...    And over time more and more discussion developed and there was machloketh amongst the chachamim over certain rulings.   

[q_q_]

Muman, you also made a massive mistake in the next post you wrote, where a key definition in one paragraph just doesn't fit into the other.

I suggest to you that it's preferable if you just copy and paste, it's not really fair if people end up writing more than you wrote just to unravel or fix what you wrote.