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What is Torah?

Torah is a Hebrew word which has long been translated "law" in older versions of English bibles. When someone speaks of Torah, they usually are referring to the first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. But Torah may have larger scopes of meaning, such as all of G-d's commandments -- both those written in the first five books and those recorded by prophets and other writers later on. Torah can also be translated "instruction" as well as "law", which extends the definition to all of the new covenant writings as well. Yeshua claimed that He came "not to abolish Torah, but to fulfill it", and that not one jot or tittle (Hebrew letter yud, "jot", nor Hebrew embellishment tagin, "tittle") would pass from Torah until all was accomplished. We may claim that Yeshua is the Living Torah, for all that has come into being came into being in and through Him, who was with G-d from the beginning.

The traditional manner of writing Torah has slowly changed over time, but the order of the letters and words has remained virtually unchanged since the beginning. Torah scrolls are written on animal skin in black indelible ink in columns with 42 lines of text each. The font style used in writing is very particular. Some letters of the Hebrew alphabet are adorned with small crown-like "tittles", or "tagin". A torah scroll consists of around 250 columns, some more, some less, depending on the scribe's style and the size of each panel of parchment. The panels are sewn together and then each loose end is affixed to wooden posts. The post is called "aytz chayim", tree of life, which is found in the Proverbs scripture: "It is a tree of life to those who take hold of it, its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace." There is a tie called a wimpel which holds the rolls of the scroll together, and the whole scroll is kept in a cover, or "dressed", when not in use. Crowns of precious metal often decorate the tops of the posts, and some torot (plural for torah) also "wear" a breastplate over the cloth cover.

The shape, size and elements of the scroll of Torah are not only beautiful but also contain various references to the L-rd and Messiah. For example, an animal must die in order for a Torah scroll to be written; similarly Yeshua had to die and His blood shed in order for His holy Torah to be inscribed miraculously in our hearts. And just as every year the L-rd's appointed times and feasts renew themselves in their proper times, so the scroll is a picture of times passing yet returning year after year, with its circular rolls and layers building upon themselves yet always turning ahead. Many scribes believe the columns of the Torah to represent the columns of the tabernacle and temple -- or vice versa, that the columns of the buildings are copies of the heavenly Torah. And we know that Messiah Yeshua, the Torah made incarnate, spoke the heavens and earth and all that is in them into being, in accordance with all that is eternally written in Torah.