Torah, in Judaism, in the broadest sense, the substance of divine revelation to Israel, the Jewish people: God’s revealed teaching or guidance for humankind. Readings from the Torah form an important part of Jewish liturgical services. The term Torah is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible.

Torah (תורה) in Hebrew can mean teaching, direction, guidance and law. The most prominent meaning for Jews is that the Torah constitutes the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (also called the Pentateuch, ‘five books’ in Greek), traditionally thought to have been composed by Moses.

Torah is “what is flowed by the Moreh”. This can be the arrow from the archer or the teachings and instructions from the teacher.

Torah literally means “teaching,” and there are two other meanings that can be derived from it. In a strict sense, Torah refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. In a less strict sense, it signifies the totality of God’s revelations to the Jewish people.

1 : the body of wisdom and law contained in Jewish Scripture and other sacred literature and oral tradition. 2 : the five books of Moses constituting the Pentateuch. 3 : a leather or parchment scroll of the Pentateuch used in a synagogue for liturgical purposes.

This week, University of Bologna Professor Mauro Perani announced the results of carbon-14 tests authenticating the scroll’s age as roughly 800 years old. The scroll dates to between 1155 and 1225, making it the oldest complete Torah scroll on record.

The oldest complete and still kosher Torah scroll still in use has been carbon-dated to around 1250 and is owned by the Jewish community of the northern Italian town of Biella.

According to Jewish tradition, the Oral Torah was passed down orally in an unbroken chain from generation to generation until its contents were finally committed to writing following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when Jewish civilization was faced with an existential threat, by virtue of the dispersion …

It is now possible to study the Talmud online. The Mishnah (original oral law written down) is divided into six parts which are called Sedarim, the Hebrew word for order(s).

A minority view in Christianity, known as Christian Torah-submission, holds that the Mosaic law as it is written is binding on all followers of God under the New Covenant, even for gentiles, because it views God’s commands as “everlasting” and “good.”

The Five Pillars are the core beliefs and practices of Islam:

• Profession of Faith (shahada). The belief that “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God” is central to Islam.
• Prayer (salat).
• Alms (zakat).
• Fasting (sawm).
• Pilgrimage (hajj).

Because heaven is temporary and part of samsara, Buddhists focus more on escaping the cycle of rebirth and reaching enlightenment (nirvana). According to Buddhist cosmology the universe is impermanent and beings transmigrate through several existential “planes” in which this human world is only one “realm” or “path”.

Buddhists seek to reach a state of nirvana, following the path of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who went on a quest for Enlightenment around the sixth century BC. There is no belief in a personal god. Buddhists believe that nothing is fixed or permanent and that change is always possible.