Forms of Traditional Jewish Torah Study
The Talmud (Tractate Kiddushin 30a) defines the objective of Torah study: "That the words of Torah shall be clear in your mouth so that if someone asks you something, you shall need not hesitate and then tell it to him, rather you shall tell it to him immediately." In yeshivas ("Talmudical schools"), rabbinical schools and kollels (" Talmudical schools") the primary ways of studying Torah include study of:
- The weekly Torah portion with its Meforshim ("Rabbinic commentators")
- Talmud
- Ethical works
Other less universally studied texts include the Nevi'im and Ketuvim, other rabbinic literature (such as midrash) and works of religious Jewish philosophy.
Orthodox Jews can study the text of the Torah on any of four levels as described in the Zohar:
- Peshat, the plain (simple) or literal reading;
- Remez, the allegorical reading through text's hint or allusion
- Derash, the metaphorical reading through a (rabbinic sermon's) comparison/illustration (midrash)
- Sod, the hidden meaning reading through text's secret or mystery (Kabbalah).
The initial letters of the words Peshat, Remez, Derash, Sod, forming together the Hebrew word PaRDeS (also meaning "orchard"), became the designation for the four-way method of studying Torah, in which the mystical sense given in the Kabbalah was the highest point.
In some traditional circles, most notably the Orthodox and Haredi, Torah study is a way of life for males. Women do not study Torah, but gain merit for facilitating Torah study for the men. In some communities, men forgo other occupations and study Torah full-time.
Haredi Israelis often choose to devote many years to Torah study, often studying at a Kollel. National Religious Israelis often choose to devote time after high school to Torah study, either during their army service at a Hesder yeshiva, or before their service at a Mechina.
Read more about this topic: Torah Study
Famous quotes containing the words forms of, forms, traditional, jewish and/or study:
“All forms of government symbolize an immortal government, common to all dynasties and independent of numbers, perfect where two men exist, perfect where there is only one man.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“That food has always been, and will continue to be, the basis for one of our greater snobbisms does not explain the fact that the attitude toward the food choice of others is becoming more and more heatedly exclusive until it may well turn into one of those forms of bigotry against which gallant little committees are constantly planning campaigns in the cause of justice and decency.”
—Cornelia Otis Skinner (1901–1979)
“What Mrs. Thatcher did for women was to demonstrate that if a woman had enough desire she could do what she wanted, do anything a man could do.... Mrs. Thatcher did not have one traditional feminine cell in her body.”
—Julie Burchill (b. 1960)
“What was lost in the European cataclysm was not only the Jewish past—the whole life of a civilization—but also a major share of the Jewish future.... [ellipsis in source] It was not only the intellect of a people in its prime that was excised, but the treasure of a people in its potential.”
—Cynthia Ozick (b. 1928)
“The life of a good man will hardly improve us more than the life of a freebooter, for the inevitable laws appear as plainly in the infringement as in the observance, and our lives are sustained by a nearly equal expense of virtue of some kind. The decaying tree, while yet it lives, demands sun, wind, and rain no less than the green one. It secretes sap and performs the functions of health. If we choose, we may study the alburnum only. The gnarled stump has as tender a bud as the sapling.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)