What is Torah?
Judaism in Five Minutes - Sarah Imhoff
Laura Carlson Hasler [+]
Indiana University, Bloomington
Laura Carlson Hasler is an assistant professor of Jewish Studies and Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington (USA) where she holds the Alvin H. Rosenfeld Chair in Hebrew Bible. She is the author of Archival Historiography in Jewish Antiquity (Oxford 2020), which was awarded the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise in 2021.
Description
This article traces some of the diverse meanings of “torah” in a Jewish antiquity. Drawing upon examples from Deuteronomy, Ezra, and the Samaritan Pentateuch, it maps the varying contents and connotations of this term. It also explores Torah’s association with Moses and the development of Written and Oral Torah in rabbinic discourse.