Editing Jewish principles of faith (section)

==Revelation==

===Scripture===
{{see also|Hebrew Bible|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}
The [[Hebrew Bible]] or [[Tanakh]] is the Jewish [[Scripture|scriptural]] [[Biblical canon|canon]] and central source of [[Jewish law]]. The word is an [[acronym]] formed from the initial [[Hebrew letter]]s of the three traditional subdivisions of the Tanakh: The [[Torah]] ("Teaching", also known as the ''Five Books of Moses'' or ''Pentateuch''), the [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets") and the [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings").<ref name="Peter">Peter A. Pettit, "Hebrew Bible" in ''A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations'' (2005). Eds. Edward Kessler and Neil Wenborn. [[Cambridge University Press]].</ref> The Tanakh contains 24 books in all; its authoritative version is the [[Masoretic Text]]. Traditionally, the text of the Tanakh was said to have been finalized at the [[Council of Jamnia]] in 70&nbsp;CE, although this is uncertain.<ref name="Peter" /> In Judaism, the term "Torah" refers not only to the Five Books of Moses, but also to all of the Jewish scriptures (the whole of Tanakh), and the ethical and moral instructions of the rabbis (the [[Oral Torah]]).<ref name="ChristopherHugh">Christopher Hugh Partridge, ''Introduction to World Religions'' (2005). Fortress Press: pp 283-286.</ref>

===The origin of the Torah===
The [[Torah]] is composed of five books, called in English [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], [[Leviticus]], [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], and [[Deuteronomy]]. They chronicle the history of the world and the [[Israelites]] until Moses' death and also contain the commandments that Jews are to follow.

Rabbinic Judaism holds that the [[Torah]] extant today is the same one that was given to Moses by God on [[Mount Sinai]]. [[Maimonides]] explains: "We do not know exactly how the Torah was transmitted to Moses. But when it was transmitted, Moses merely wrote it down like a secretary taking dictation...[Thus] every verse in the Torah is equally holy, as they all originate from God, and are all part of God's Torah, which is perfect, holy and true."

''[[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]]'' Jews generally believe that the Torah today is no different from what was received from God to Moses, with only the most minor of scribal errors. They note that the [[Masoretes]] (7th to 10th centuries) compared all known Torah variations in order to create a definitive text. 

However, even according to this position that the scrolls that Jews possess today are not letter-perfect, the Torah scrolls are certainly the word-perfect textus receptus that was divinely revealed to Moses. Indeed, the general consensus of Orthodox rabbinic authority posits this belief in the word-perfect nature of the Torah scroll as a defining feature of Orthodox Judaism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fishman |first=Sylvia Barack |title=CHANGING MINDS: Feminism in Contemporary Orthodox Jewish Life |url=https://www.bjpa.org/content/upload/bjpa/chan/CHANGING%20MINDS.pdf |access-date=January 29, 2024 |page=9 (19) |quote=Second, Orthodox Jews are presumed to feel allegiance to some interpretation of the traditional concept of divine revelation of Jewish law, torah mi sinai, a belief that the complex, prescriptive codes of rabbinic law derive from God's articulated instructions to the Jewish people. A very broad interpretive gamut is reflected as Orthodox Jews of various shades and stripes formulate what torah mi sinai means to them. However, no matter how liberal an individual Orthodox person's interpretation of divine revelation, daily life is influenced by a group of observances that are precisely dictated by written texts.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Denominational Differences On Conversion |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/Conversion/Contemporary_Issues/Denominational_Differences.shtml |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Prophecy===
Jews believe that God at times chooses to issue [[prophecy]] to humans, communicated by a [[prophet]] serving as an intermediary. Many such occurrences are described in the [[Nevi'im]] (books of the Prophets). However, since the destruction of the [[First Temple]], prophecy has ceased.

[[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] Jews hold that the prophecy of Moses was superior in nature to the prophecy of all other prophets in history. This belief was expressed by [[Maimonides]], who wrote that "Moses was superior to all prophets, ... Moses attained the highest possible level of human achievement. He perceived God to a degree surpassing every human that ever existed... God spoke to all other prophets through an intermediary. Moses alone did not need this; this is what the [[Torah]] means when God says: 'Mouth to mouth, I speak to him'." The great Jewish philosopher [[Philo]] understands this type of prophecy to be an extraordinarily high level of philosophical understanding, which had been reached by Moses and which enabled him to write the [[Torah]] through his own rational deduction of natural law. Maimonides describes a similar concept of prophecy since a voice that did not originate from a body cannot exist, and Moses's understanding was based on his lofty philosophical understandings.<ref>''Commentary to the Mishna'', preface to chapter "Chelek", Tractate Sanhedrin; [[Mishneh Torah]], Laws of the foundations of the Torah, ch. 7</ref>

For [[Reform Judaism|Reform Jews]], the prophecy of Moses was not the highest degree of prophecy. Instead, it was the first in a long chain of progressive revelations in which humanity gradually began to understand the [[will of God]] better and better. As such, they maintain that the laws of Moses are no longer binding, and today's generation must assess what God wants of them. This principle is also rejected by most [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist Jews]], but for a different reason; most posit that [[God]] is not a being with a [[Will (philosophy)|will]]; thus, they maintain that no will can be revealed.<ref>{{Cite book|title=American Judaism: A History|url=https://archive.org/details/americanjudaismh00sarn_519|url-access=limited|last=Sarna|first=Johnathan D.|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2004|location=New Haven & London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanjudaismh00sarn_519/page/n268 246]}}</ref>

===Oral Torah===
{{See also|Oral Torah|Talmud}}
With the exception of [[Karaism|Karaites]], Jewish tradition does not assert that the text of the Torah should be understood literally. Rather, Rabbinic tradition maintains that God conveyed the Torah's words and the Torah's meaning. God gave rules on how the laws were to be understood and implemented, which were passed down as an oral tradition. This oral law was passed down from generation to generation and ultimately written down almost 2,000 years later in the [[Mishna]] and the two [[Talmud]]s.

[[Pirkei Avot]] gives the traditional view of the transmission of the Oral Torah: "Moses received the Torah on Sinai, and transmitted it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets transmitted it to the men of the [[Great Assembly]]", after which the Oral Torah was transmitted to the [[Zugot]], and from them to the early rabbis of the [[Mishnah]].<ref>Pirkei Avot, chapter 1; the Zugot and some early rabbis are listed by name with their teachings.</ref> The traditions attributed to the Oral Torah, as well as subsequent discussions and elaborations on them, are contained in works such as the Mishnah and the [[Talmud]] (which takes the form of a commentary of Mishnah). These works are both codifications and [[redaction]]s of the Jewish [[oral tradition]]s.<ref name="ChristopherHugh" />

Orthodox Jews view the Written and Oral Torah as the same as Moses taught, for all practical purposes. [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative Jews]] tend to believe that much of the Oral law is divinely inspired, while [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]] Jews tend to view all of the Oral law as an entirely human creation. Traditionally, the Reform movement held that Jews were obliged to obey the ethical but not the ritual commandments of Scripture, although today many Reform Jews have adopted many traditional ritual practices. [[Karaite Jews]] traditionally consider the Written Torah to be authoritative, viewing the Oral Law as only one possible interpretation of the Written Torah.
Most Modern Orthodox Jews will agree that, while certain laws within the Oral Law were given to Moses, most of the Talmudic laws were derived organically by the Rabbis of the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras.