The Torah
The most holy Jewish books are the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). Others include the Talmud, the written form of Judaism’s oral tradition.
The Torah (or ‘teachings’) contain the five books revealed to Moses by God on Mount Sinai:
- Genesis
- Deuteronomy
- Numbers
- Leviticus
- Exodus
The Torah is usually written on scrolls and stored inside the Ark, an ornamental closet found in synagogues. No-one is allowed to touch the Torah, so a special pointer called a Yad is used to follow words when reading it.