“Windows To Spirituality”
The following subcategories are a part of faith & belief. Please click and have more information about faith in these subjects.
Weekly Torah Readings We have weekly Torah readings in our synagogue. We read (or, more accurately, chant, because it is sung) a passage from the Torah. This passage is referred to as a parshah. The first parshah, for example, is Parashat Bereishit, which covers from the beginning of Genesis to...
What Is Tosefta? The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic תוספתא “supplement, addition”) is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah (tosefta means “supplement, addition”). The Mishnah (Hebrew: משנה) is...
Torah Database A Torah database (מאגר תורני or מאגר יהדות) is an electronic collection of classic Jewish texts in electronic form, the kinds of texts which especially in Israel are often called “The Traditional Jewish Bookshelf” (ארון הספרים היהודי); the texts are in their original languages (Hebrew or Aramaic). These databases...
The Torah The Torah (תּוֹרָה, “Instruction”, “Teaching” or “Law”) has a range of meanings. It can most specifically mean the first five books (Pentateuch) of the 24 books of the Tanakh, and it is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (perushim). It can mean the continued narrative from the Book of Genesis to...
The Obligations Of Faith According To The Torah This article covers The Obligations Of Faith According To The Torah. Faith in God without Idolatry But I am the Lord your God… You shall acknowledge no God but Me, no Savior except Me. (Hosea, 13:4) O Lord… there is no God...
The Torah And Remembering God This article covers The Torah And Remembering God. The Importance Of Remembering God And Saying In the Torah Speaking of God … In all your ways acknowledge Him [Lord], and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs, 3:6) Do not let this Book of the...
Meditation In The Old Testament This article covers Meditation in The Old Testament. Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing their mind on a particular object, thought or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. The Old Testament (abbreviated OT) is...
The Excitement And Joy of Faith in the Old Testament This article covers The Excitement And Joy Of Faith In The Old Testament. Enthusiasm is intense enjoyment, interest, or approval. The word was originally used to refer to a person possessed by a god, or someone who exhibited intense piety. Faith is confidence or trust in a...
The Commandments Are Compatible In The Torah And Quran The prohibitions and commandments are compatible in the Torah and Quran. Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic beverages....
The Attributes Of God According To The Old Testament This article covers The Attributes Of God According To The Old Testament. The Attributes of God are the character traits of God as they are revealed to us in the Old Testament. The Old Testament describes God in many different ways....
What Is Talmud? The Talmud (תַּלְמוּד talmūd) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to “all Jewish thought and aspirations”,...
Tanakh The Hebrew Bible, also called the Tanakh (תַּנַ״ךְ, Tenakh, Tenak, Tanach) or Mikra, is the canonical collection of Hebrew scripture, which is also the textual source for the Christian Old Testament. These texts are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic (in the books of Daniel, Ezra...
The Torah And Afterlife This article covers the relationship between The Torah And Afterlife. Statements from the Torah Regarding the Transient Nature of This World All our days pass away under Your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if...
What Is Siddur? A siddur (סדור, plural siddurim סדורים) is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. The word siddur comes from the Hebrew root ס־ד־ר meaning “order”. History The earliest parts of Jewish prayer book are the Shema Yisrael (“Hear O Israel”) (Deuteronomy 6:4 et seq), and the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26), which are in the Torah....
Similar Passages From The Quran And The Torah There are many similarities between The Torah and The Quran, Similar passages point out that they are from the same Divine source. Everything Is Written in a Book Torah: My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the...
What Is Shulchan Aruch? The Shulchan Aruch (שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך “Set Table”), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Israel) by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later. Together with iRabbi Moshe Isserlests commentaries, it is the most...
What Is Rabbinic Literature? Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term Sifrut Hazal...
Religious Observances In The Torah And The Quran Religious Observances In The Torah And The Quran Are Compatible. Religious Observances such as Giving Alms, Zakat, Ablution, Wudu, Fasting, Daily Prayer, and Salat. Religious Observance includes all overt kinds of religious behavior. Research in this area shows the extent and patterning...
The Torah And The Prophet Muhammad This article covers The Torah And The Prophet Muhammad‘s Sunnah. Practices In The Torah Compatible With The Sunnah of The Prophet Muhammad Through their superior virtues all the prophets sent ever since the time of the Prophet Adam (pbuh) have lived in a way...
What Is Piyyut? piyyut or piyut (plural piyyutim or piyutim, “poet”) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Piyyutim have been written since Temple times. Most piyyutim are in Hebrew or Aramaic, and most follow some poetic scheme, such as an acrostic following the order of the Hebrew alphabet or spelling out the name of the author. Many piyyutim are familiar...
