TREE OF LIFE BOOKMARK

The term Torah is primarily applied to the Five Books of Moses. In its expanded sense, signifies the entire Jewish tradition. The word "Torah" itself comes from the Hebrew verbal root that means "to guide" or "to instruct". Jewish liturgy proclaims Torah as ''a tree of life to those that hold fast to it." The parchment Torah scroll is wound around two wooden rods, called eytz chayeem (tree of life).

Throughout the history of the Jewish people, the written word has been revered. Jews have been called the "People of the Book". As early as the second century B.C.E., many Jewish people owned their own texts, and during Talmudic times school children were using them.

Imagery of the tree is found throughout the Bible. In many cultures the tree signifies among other things, strength, life, mortality and majesty, since its vitality and endurance long outlast the human span of life.

God planted the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden when the world began. That has been described in the Midrash (the early rabbinic elaboration of the Biblical text) as bearing thousands of varieties of fruits and fragrances, spreading it's foliage and shading the entire garden.

SUBSCRIBE to MAZELS TODAY!

• • • • • • • • • •