Discussion #2 – Judaism’s Two Torahs

Introduction

Judaism’s Two Torahs

Welcome back everyone to Torah Today Ministries and our continuing discussion called Grappling with Galatians. I know it’s been a little while since I did the first discussion, and I appreciate all the great feedback I got on that. You’ve been waiting for the second one, but Robin and I spent a few days traveling and everything just kind of got off schedule. But I plan to turn these out a little more quickly so we won’t have to wait so long in between episodes.

In this episode I’m going to cover two things. The first — and this may be news to many of you — is that in Judaism there are two Torahs, not just one. Now in the Bible there’s only one, but in Judaism there are two. And then the second thing we want to look at is Paul’s commitment to the Torah. When we read Galatians, we can start to think that Paul is just against Torah — that he’s anti-Torah. But if we look at the entire writings of Paul, and especially the book of Acts, we’ll find that it’s anything but that. He was loyal to Torah his entire life.

Now this is going to be a little bit different from the other Galatians discussions, because we won’t really be quoting Galatians at all — but this is extremely important background to understand some terms and some concepts. And again, this study of Galatians is not a chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse study. We’re going to be looking at the big-block concepts, and if we can get all of these under our belt, so to speak, then reading Galatians and understanding it in its proper context and in the spirit of the letter will become much clearer to us as students of the scriptures.

The Two Torahs — Torah Shebikhtav and Torah Shebe’al Peh

So let’s get started. Now if you look at Wikipedia and you look up what Judaism believes and teaches about the Torah, this is what you’ll find: in rabbinic literature, the word Torah denotes both the five books — the first five books of the Bible that we all have — and this is called the Torah Shebikhtav (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב) — the Torah that is written — and the oral Torah, the Torah Shebe’al Peh (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה) — the Torah that is from the mouth, the Torah that is spoken.

So here we see the titles of the two Torahs: the Torah that is written in our Bibles — the first five books, the books of Moses — and then there’s the oral Torah, which is made up of the Mishnah (מִשְׁנָה) and then the commentary on the Mishnah, which is called the Gemara (גְּמָרָא). And together this is the Talmud (תַּלְמוּד), with all of its commentaries. Written Torah — oral Torah.

Now you may be wondering: why is the oral Torah called “oral” when it’s actually written down? Well, it wasn’t written down until several centuries after Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) came. It was information that was memorized. But when there was fear that it would be lost and forgotten under the many persecutions of the Jewish people, they decided to finally commit it to writing. And that is what you find when you buy a set of Talmud.

A few more quotes. Here’s one from the introduction to the Stone Chumash (חוּמָשׁ) — I really like the Stone Chumash, I use it every morning as I read the Torah portions. But this is the product of Orthodox Judaism, and so of course the people who publish it believe that along with the written Torah there is this oral Torah. And this is what it says:

There is a companion to the written Torah — an oral law, the Torah Shebe’al Peh — without which the written Torah can be twisted and misinterpreted beyond recognition, as indeed it has been by the ignorant down through the centuries.

You can tell from this that Judaism has very strong feelings about the significance of the Talmud — the oral Torah. You know, if you ask an Orthodox Jew what they were doing today, they will say, “Oh, I’ve been studying Torah.” When you ask more specifically what they were studying, you’ll find that it probably wasn’t the first five books of the Bible — it would be the Talmud that they were studying. And they believe they can only correctly interpret the Torah through the lens of the Talmud.

Let’s take a couple more quotes. Let’s quote the Talmud itself. This is from the Talmud, tractate Shabbat (שַׁבָּת), page 31a:

A Gentile said to Shammai: “How many Torahs do you have?” He said to him: “Two — the written Torah and the oral Torah.”

And one last one from one of my favorite Bible commentators — that’s Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, who lived about a century ago. He says:

The written law is a general outline of the complete oral law. One must always keep this in mind in order to correctly understand the nature of Torah Shebikhtav — the written word of God, the written Torah.

So again, I just grabbed a few quotes — I could have put dozens more — but they all say the same thing. And this is the way it has been for thousands of years.

So when we use the word Torah — let’s understand the word itself means “instruction.” But more specifically, when we refer to the Torah, we’re generally speaking of the first five books of the Bible. However, the word Torah — “instruction” — can also be used to refer to the entire word of God. But in the Orthodox Jewish mind, it refers also to the oral Torah: these oral traditions and rabbinic commandments and requirements that have been added on over the last couple thousand years.

What Did Yeshua Think About the Oral Torah?

Now you might ask the question: what did Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) think about the oral Torah? Well, it’s easy to think — as much of Christianity teaches — that Yeshua didn’t follow the Torah, the written Torah. But when you see him in conflict with the Jewish leaders of his day, it was never in conflict with the written word of God. But he did sometimes come into conflict with these extra-biblical rabbinic commandments that had been added on.

When he gave his disciples permission to pluck and eat grains of wheat on the Sabbath — this violated the oral Torah. But Yeshua, though he always respected Torah, and though he operated generally — simply not to be disrespectful — within the extra burden and confines of the oral Torah, when it came to a person’s true happiness or health or needs, the oral Torah was set aside. This is why he healed on the Sabbath. This is why he told the man he healed on the Sabbath to take up his bed and walk — this is all in violation of the oral Torah. But again, Yeshua followed the written Torah. The oral Torah was up for grabs. He wanted to show respect for the religion of his day, but when that came into conflict with human need, human need always came first.

Acts 15 — The Jerusalem Council

Now if we look in Acts 15 — which is a chapter so many look to in order to try to prove that the New Testament has done away with the Old, that Christianity and the church fathers did away with the Torah — this is the chapter they often go to. Acts 15 is about the Jerusalem Council. The leaders of the day — including Peter and Paul as well — came to Jerusalem. And James, the brother of Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ), who was overseeing the kahal (קָהָל) — the Messianic community there in Jerusalem — they all came together to try to solve a problem.

Acts 15:5–6 — Believers from the Party of the Pharisees

Here’s the problem, in Acts 15, verses 5 and 6:

But some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees …

Let’s pause there for just a second. We always think of Pharisees as being the enemies of Messiah — and many of them were. But we have to remember that even Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) himself seems to have been a Pharisee. And Paul says that he not only was a Pharisee — he says, “I am a Pharisee.” They belong to this particular religious party within Judaism, and so we shouldn’t be surprised that some of the Pharisees became believers. But they needed some theological adjustments made in their minds.

So let’s start again: 

but some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said it is necessary to circumcise the Gentiles — the ones coming to faith in the Messiah — and to order them to keep the Torah of Moses. The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. — Acts 15:5–6 

So— what do you think the Pharisees meant when they referred to the Torah of Moses? Were they just talking about the five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy? No. When a Pharisee refers to the Torah, he is referring to the written Torah and the oral Torah. In fact, many of the Pharisee writers — and even up to today — refer to the written Torah and the oral Torah as being two edges of a two-edged sword, and you can’t have the point they point to without both of them. But again, the Torah itself and the word of God itself points to only one Torah — and that’s the Torah of Moses, the first five books of the Bible.

So there’s the discussion: what do we do? Do we require the Gentiles coming into faith to convert to Judaism and take on all the trappings of the Jewish religion — including all these extra-biblical commandments that the Pharisees have laid upon them to keep? Or do we excuse them from keeping the oral Torah? Well, let’s see what happens.

Acts 15:10 — The Yoke

In verse 10, Peter stands up and says:

Now therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? — Acts 15:10

And I’ve heard so many Christians — and I confess that at one time in my young life as a Bible student I too misapplied this verse — to refer to the actual written Torah. But that is not what Peter is referring to. The yoke that he’s referring to — that neither their fathers nor they could keep — is this heavy yoke, this heavy burden of the oral Torah, of all the talmudic additions to the commandments.

Peter knew the word, and he knew that the yoke that God gives us is the yoke of Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) — and it’s a yoke that is easy, it’s a light burden. Moses himself talks about the commandments of the Torah and says these aren’t too difficult for you, they’re not too far away — you can do this. And John also says that the commandments of God are not burdensome. God has not given us the Torah to teach us that it’s impossible to keep. He gave us the Torah as a discipleship manual — how to live a righteous life, what a righteous life looks like. And then when Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) came — the word made flesh — he showed us what it looks like in actual deed and actual words.

Let’s go on a bit further. Oh, and by the way — this is what Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) says about the oral Torah:

The scribes and Pharisees tie up heavy burdens — hard to bear — and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. — Matthew 23:4

So they tie this heavy halakha (הֲלָכָה) on the ones who are members of the Jewish religion and they put these requirements on them, they do not ease the burden at all — they keep making it heavier and heavier. And again, as Peter said, this is a burden neither our fathers could bear nor can we.

Acts 15:19–21 — James’s Conclusion

So as we come down to the conclusion — after they’ve discussed and debated, I’m sure for many hours — this is the conclusion. James, the leader of the Jerusalem community, stands up and says:

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols — in other words, any form of idolatry — and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. — Acts 15:19–20

These last two are the way you summarize and sum up the dietary laws. So basically what James is saying: they must avoid idolatry, they must avoid sexual immorality, and they need to keep the dietary laws.

And then he goes on:

For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues. — Acts 15:21

In other words: if the Gentiles will connect to these three — or four, if you want to go with the full amplified list — if they’ll commit to these things, then they can go to the synagogue on Shabbat (שַׁבָּת). Because in every city there’s a synagogue somewhere where Moses — the Torah — is read. They didn’t read Talmud on Shabbat in the synagogue; they read the Torah, the books of Moses. And James realized it’s important for these Gentile believers to hear the Torah so they know how to live the redeemed life. And nobody owned a Bible — a Torah scroll was far too expensive unless you were very wealthy. So you had to go to the synagogue to hear it read and explained.

And for the Gentiles to be welcomed in the synagogue, they needed to avoid idolatry, they needed to avoid sexual immorality, they needed to eat kosher.

An Unexpected Confirmation

Now you can imagine my surprise when several years ago I was reading this commentary — it’s called the Vayikra (וַיִּקְרָא) — which is the Hebrew name for Leviticus. This is a commentary on Leviticus written by ultra-Orthodox Jews as part of the ArtScroll Tanakh series.This was originally issued in two volumes, but I guess they made the paper thinner and thinner and put it all together in one massive volume. But right in the middle — in the introduction to volume two — this is what we read:

Although the Jew’s mission of holiness encompasses his entire being and all forms of behavior, the Torah uses the term Holiness especially with regard to three areas: (a) idolatry, (b) sexual immorality, and (c) and (d) the forbidden foods. One who curbs himself from forbidden activities in those areas is on the way to holiness, for one who indulges in those vices is tamei — he is contaminated.

Now the men who wrote this massive commentary — quoting rabbinic authors over the past centuries — were not students of the New Testament. It’s probable that none of them had ever read Acts 15. So how is it that they lay out the same things that James lays out in Acts 15? How did they come to the same conclusion? Well — they’re both studying the Torah. And in Leviticus, the word “holiness” is used in regard to these three particular areas. James knew that, so he lays out these same areas as the starting point for these young Gentile believers — and then they could begin to learn Torah in the synagogue and grow in their faith.

Treif (טְרֵיפָה) — Torn and Strangled

Now if you are a little confused, we want to go back to how and why the food laws are summarized in these two ways: “what has been strangled” and “from blood.” It’s basically this: even if you have a kosher animal — it’s a lamb or a goat or a bull — if that animal dies from natural causes, or is not killed in the proper way and the blood drained out, it’s called treif (טְרֵיפָה), which means “torn.”

And in Nahum 2:12, treif and “torn” and “strangled” are used interchangeably. Here’s what the verse says:

The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses; he filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh. — Nahum 2:12

Because how does a wild animal kill its prey? It strangles it — that’s how the lion kills its prey. You can find plenty of videos on YouTube that will show this — they bring the animal down, then they clamp on its throat and it’s strangled to death. So “strangled” and “torn” are terms used for animals that die of attack — and they’re applied also to animals that die of natural causes. So even a piece from a kosher animal — if that animal is not slaughtered in the proper way — it’s treif, it’s considered not to be eaten.

And even if a kosher animal is killed in a kosher way, you do not consume its blood. In Leviticus chapter 3, verse 17, it says:

It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood. — Leviticus 3:17

So by telling the people to abstain from blood, it covers both of those. You eat only kosher animals that are properly slaughtered with the blood drained out — you don’t eat the blood, you don’t eat the thick white waxy fat that’s on the outside. And that’s a very quick explanation that I can imagine raises as many questions as it answers — but maybe we’ll leave that as a topic for a future teaching.

Paul’s Commitment to Torah — Acts 21

Now with all of this said — it might be easy to think that Paul was not committed to the Torah. But he was. He was utterly committed to following God’s word. I want you to think about something for a moment. In any other religion or cult, when new revelation pushes aside past revelation — you know you’re in a cult, you know you’re in a false religion. And Christianity teaches this: you never replace prior revelation with new revelation. Instead, you test the new revelation in the light of the prior revelation. And yet it seems like so much of Christianity is just content and happy to throw out the Bible because one rabbi comes along named Paul and says, “Oh, the Torah’s done away with and we have this new way to live.”

Seriously? — if Paul came along and said we should ignore the established scriptures that have been given, then we need to tear Paul out of our Bibles — not our Torah. We judge Paul’s teaching and Yeshua’s teaching in the light of the Torah. Because the Torah tells us very clearly there in Deuteronomy 13: if any prophet, a miracle worker, comes and his miracles are true, his prophecies come true, but he teaches you to walk a different way than Moses taught us to walk — he is a false prophet. He is to be ignored. And God says, “I sent him to test you.”

So if Paul is teaching something contrary to the established word of God, then Paul has to go — we don’t throw out the Torah. But thank God we don’t have to throw out either one.

And what I want you to see here is how completely committed to Torah Paul was. We go a bit further in Acts — Acts chapter 21.

Acts 21:17–26 — Paul in Jerusalem

This is another meeting in Jerusalem, probably years later. And Paul once again has come back to Jerusalem. James is still there as the leader of the community. And by this time Paul has a reputation of bringing many thousands of Gentiles to this Messianic faith.

When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God and said to him: “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed — they are all zealous for the Torah.” — Acts 21:17–20

So among the Jews there are thousands who believe — they’re telling Paul: “Here in Jerusalem there are thousands of Jews who have come to faith in the Messiah, and they are all zealous for the Torah.” But then:

“They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. What then is to be done?” — Acts 21:21–22

This is the reputation — or rather, the rumor — that was propagated by Jewish leaders who attacked Paul. They would misapply and purposely misunderstand Paul’s teaching, and then it got back to Jerusalem that Paul was out there teaching people not to follow Torah, not to keep the traditions. So the leaders say to Paul: we’re hearing that you teach all the Jews among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. What then is to be done?

In other words — what can we do, Paul, to prove once and for all that this is a lie? That you’ve never discouraged people from following the Torah, you’ve never discouraged them from circumcising their children, and you’ve never discouraged them from following the customs? What can we do so this lie will be put to rest once and for all?

Now — if Paul truly did believe that the Torah should be done away with and we should stop altogether following the Jewish customs and stop circumcising our sons — this was his golden opportunity to stand up and say, “Listen, guys — it’s true. That is what I’m teaching.” But that’s not what Paul did.

They said to him, “We have four men who are under a vow. Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses…

This is referring to the Nazirite vow. When you made a Nazirite vow — usually for a period of 30 days, or it could be for months — when the vow finally came to an end, it was expensive to purchase all the sacrificial animals that were required to bring this vow to a close. So they’re saying: “we have four men, and we want you to be the fifth man to do this vow and pay their expenses along with your own. So take these men, purify yourself along with them and  pay for their expenses,

 so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the Torah. As for the Gentiles who have believed,, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been, and from sexual immorality” — Acts 21:23–24

Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them. — Acts 21:26

So what did Paul do to give the lie to this horrible rumor that he was teaching people to turn from the Torah? He went to the temple. He made sacrifices. He paid for these four other men to make the sacrifices, to make this Nazirite vow, and to do everything it was required by the Torah to be done. So then people would see: “Oh, that’s Paul — he’s making a Nazirite vow and following it through and bringing the sacrifices and doing everything exactly according to the Torah. Oh, those things I heard about him — those rumors — it must be untrue, because he’s obviously following the Torah and keeping the Nazirite vow and his dedication to God and his word.”

1 Corinthians 9:20–21 — Paul As a Jew to Win Jews

I want us to look at one other passage that gives us a glimpse — and this is where we really begin to intersect with Galatians once again. It’s an often misunderstood passage in First Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 20 and 21:

To the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win Jews. — 1 Corinthians 9:20

Let’s pause there for a second. In other words: when I am with the Jews, I not only keep Torah — I keep all the oral Torah as well. I observe all the rabbinic commandments. I do all of these things that have been placed on them, because I do not want to give offense. I’ll live just as orthodox a life as the rest of them.

In fact — it’s in Philippians, I should have included the verse, I’ll make sure it’s in the notes — in Philippians, Paul talks about how he was raised a Jew, a Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin. And in his observance of the Torah, he was blameless — he kept it perfectly, or as perfectly as anyone could. We will talk about this verse definitely in our discussion number three. But you can look it up — it’s around Philippians chapter 2.

To those under the law I became as one under the law — though not being myself under the law — that I might win those under the law. — 1 Corinthians 9:20

And notice I did not translate the word “law” here as Torah, because I believe Paul is referring to the Pharisaical definition of law — written Torah plus the rabbinic Torah, the oral Torah, the Talmud requirements. So: I became as one under all of that — though not being myself under that law — that I might win those who are inundated in their lives, completely wrapped up in the oral Torah.

To those outside the law I became as one outside the law — not being outside God’s Torah — but under Messiah’s. — 1 Corinthians 9:21

Catch this — this is important. “To those outside the law” — to the Gentiles — “I became as one outside the law.” And get this: “not being outside God’s Torah.” In other words — when I’m with the Gentiles, I still keep the Torah. But if a Jew sees me, they might think I’m not, because I’m not keeping all of the rabbinic Torah, all the oral Torah, all of the extra rabbinical requirements. But I never live without the Torah of God. I never live outside God’s Torah.

And this next little phrase is often mistranslated and it is a bit cryptic — “not being outside God’s Torah but under Messiah’s.” I think what Paul is saying there is that God’s Torah — his written Torah — is the Torah of Messiah. It is the “law of Christ,” as it is sometimes translated in English.

He says: I never live apart from the Torah of God. So when I’m with the Orthodox Jews, I live as one of them — so that way I can win them, so they’re not going to see me violating their traditions. I realize I don’t have to keep those rabbinic additions. And when I’m with the Gentiles, I live as one who’s not under that — but never one who’s outside God’s Torah. I always keep God’s commandments.

Now I know Paul by a long stretch — and I do my best to live according to the Torah all the time. And when I am with Orthodox Jews in particular — because I have encounters with them on occasion — I’m as careful as I can be to do nothing that is offensive to them. I want to be aware of their customs, I want to be aware of their rabbinic additions to the Torah, so that I do not offend them. Do I have to do those things? Of course not — they’re not God’s laws. But one of God’s principles is not to give offense to any man. And so I want to show respect for them, respect for their traditions, so they’ll hear me, they’ll see that I have a love for them and a respect for them, and we will have some common ground upon which we can have a meaningful discussion.

Seems like every time I go to Jerusalem — on the flight there and on the flight home — I always wind up sitting right next to a rabbi. And without exception we get into some wonderful conversations. And though they can tell from looking at me that I am a Gentile — and though I don’t dress like an Orthodox Jew or try to — they quickly begin to recognize the respect I have for them, the respect I have for the Torah, for their writings, for their traditions. And they’re constantly confounded — while at the same time I’m amused that they’re confounded — and they don’t quite know what to do. And we end up laughing and having a wonderful time.

And on my last trip to Israel, on the way there, I sat by an adult Orthodox Jewish rabbi. And we talked pretty much the entire trip. And he had a number of health issues, and so I helped him with these health issues and to make things comfortable for him. And he confessed to me: “You know, I admit I’ve had a prejudice against Gentiles my whole life. But after talking to you” — and I mentioned there are many more like me on the plane, because it was part of a Beth Tikkun tour of Israel and we were all on the same flight — he said, “After talking to you, I have to go back and rethink a lot of things.” So I tried to be a good ambassador for Messianic believers by showing respect for rabbinic belief, for Jewish belief.

Conclusion

So Paul lives as an Orthodox Jew to win the Orthodox Jews, and he lives as a Torah-keeping Jew without all the rabbinic additions so he can win those who are outside the Torah.

So I hope that this discussion about Paul’s loyalty to the Torah and about the two Torahs that are perceived in Judaism will help us — when next time, in discussion number three, we come back and begin to look at how the word Torah is used in Galatians.

In Paul’s writings, we have to be very cautious and look at the context to determine: when he uses the word “law” — which is the Greek word they were stuck with to refer to the Torah — is he referring to the written books of the Torah, or is he referring to the Jewish definition of Torah? That includes the oral Torah as well?

So I hope this has been somewhat helpful. But we’ll get back into Galatians next time — I promise. And until then, I wish you shalom (שָׁלוֹם). And may God bless.

Teaching Material

Hebrew Word Studies

Torah Shebikhtav (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב) — “The written Torah”; the first five books of the Bible — Genesis through Deuteronomy — the books of Moses. This is the Torah that came directly from God’s lips, written through the hand of Moses. Distinguished in this teaching from the oral Torah: when Paul argues against the law in Galatians, the question of which Torah he means is central. — Strong’s H8451 · Sefaria: Torah

Torah Shebe’al Peh (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה) — “The oral Torah”; the body of rabbinic tradition, legal discussion, and interpretation transmitted orally for centuries before being committed to writing. Made up of the Mishnah (מִשְׁנָה) and the Gemara (גְּמָרָא) — together forming the Talmud. The “heavy yoke” and “heavy burdens” that neither the fathers nor Peter’s generation could bear (Acts 15:10; Matthew 23:4). — Sefaria: Talmud 

Mishnah (מִשְׁנָה) — “Repetition, teaching”; the first major written redaction of the oral Torah, compiled by Rabbi Judah HaNasi around 200 CE. The foundational layer of the Talmud. From the root shanah (שָׁנָה) — “to repeat, to study.” — Sefaria: Mishnah

Gemara (גְּמָרָא) — “Completion, study”; the rabbinic commentary and discussion on the Mishnah, completed in two versions — the Jerusalem Talmud (4th century) and the Babylonian Talmud (6th century). Together with the Mishnah, forms the Talmud (תַּלְמוּד). — 

Talmud (תַּלְמוּד) — “Learning, study”; the compilation of the Mishnah and Gemara with all their commentaries. The central text of rabbinic Judaism; the written form of what was once the oral Torah. Referenced in this teaching via tractate Shabbat 31a (Shammai’s response to the Gentile) and as the primary subject of study in Orthodox Jewish life. — 

Chumash (חוּמָשׁ) — “Five”; the printed book of the five books of Moses (the Torah), usually with the weekly parashah (portion) readings and commentaries. The Stone Chumash (ArtScroll) is referenced in this teaching as an Orthodox commentary affirming the necessity of the oral Torah alongside the written. — ArtScroll Stone Chumash

Kahal (קָהָל) — “Assembly, congregation, community”; used here to describe the Messianic community in Jerusalem overseen by James the brother of Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ). The congregation gathered for worship, teaching, and communal life. — Strong’s H6951

Halakha (הֲלָכָה) — “The way of walking”; Jewish law as it is practiced — derived from halakh (הָלַךְ), “to walk.” The body of rabbinic legal rulings governing daily life. The “heavy halakha” mentioned in this teaching refers to the extra-biblical rabbinic obligations placed upon the Jewish people — the burdens Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ) said the scribes and Pharisees laid on people’s shoulders without lifting a finger to help. — Sefaria: Halakha

Treif / Treifa (טְרֵיפָה) — “Torn”; meat from an animal that has been killed improperly (by attack, strangling, or without proper ritual slaughter and blood drainage). From the root taraf (טָרַף) — “to tear.” Used in Nahum 2:12 and directly relevant to the Acts 15 dietary requirements: abstain from what is strangled and from blood. — Strong’s H2966 · Sefaria: Nahum 2:12

Vayikra (וַיִּקְרָא) — “And he called”; the Hebrew name for the book of Leviticus. From the first word of the book. The ArtScroll commentary on Vayikra is cited in this teaching, showing that Orthodox rabbinic scholars — independently of Acts 15 — identify the same three areas of holiness: idolatry, sexual immorality, and forbidden foods. — Sefaria: Leviticus · ArtScroll Vayikra

Shabbat (שַׁבָּת) — “Sabbath, rest”; the seventh day of rest. Both a tractate of the Talmud (from which the quote about two Torahs is cited) and the day on which the Torah was read aloud in every synagogue — making it the natural venue for Gentile believers to hear and learn the Torah, as James prescribes in Acts 15:21. — Strong’s H7676

Nazirite Vow / Neder Nazir (נֶדֶר נָזִיר) — A voluntary vow of consecration to God described in Numbers 6, involving abstention from wine, not cutting the hair, and avoiding corpse impurity. Upon completion, costly sacrifices were required. Paul’s participation in sponsoring four men’s Nazirite vows (Acts 21) was his public demonstration of Torah loyalty — an observable, costly act of commitment to the written Torah. — Strong’s H5139 · Sefaria: Numbers 6

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) — “Peace, wholeness, completeness, well-being.” — Strong’s H7965

Scripture References

Open All Scripture in Bible Gateway

• Acts 15:5–6 — Pharisee believers require Gentiles to be circumcised and keep the Torah of Moses — meaning written Torah plus oral Torah in Pharisaical usage
• Acts 15:10 — Peter: “Why do you put a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we could bear?” — the yoke of the oral Torah, not the written Torah
• Acts 15:19–21 — James’s judgment: Gentiles must abstain from idolatry, sexual immorality, strangled meat, and blood — then come weekly to the synagogue to hear and learn the Torah
• Acts 21:17–26 — Paul’s Nazirite vow in Jerusalem; his public demonstration that the rumors of his anti-Torah teaching are false
• 1 Corinthians 9:20–21 — “To the Jews I became as a Jew…to those outside the law as one outside the law — not being outside God’s Torah” — Paul’s Torah commitment in every context
• Matthew 23:4 — Yeshua: the scribes and Pharisees “tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders” — his critique of oral Torah excess
• Deuteronomy 30:11–14 — “These commandments are not too difficult for you, not too far away” — the written Torah is not the unbearable yoke; it is within reach
• Deuteronomy 13:1–5 — The test of a true prophet: if he leads away from the Torah, reject him — the standard by which Paul’s own teaching must be judged
• 1 John 5:3 — “His commandments are not burdensome” — the written Torah as a light and not a heavy burden
• Leviticus 3:17 — “You shall eat neither fat nor blood” — the dietary foundation underlying James’s requirements in Acts 15
• Nahum 2:12 — “The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey” — the biblical basis for treif (torn/strangled) as a dietary category
• Philippians 3:4–6 — Paul: “a Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin…as to the Torah, blameless” — his self-described Torah observance, to be discussed in Episode 3

External References & Further Study

• The Oral Torah — My Jewish Learning — What is the oral Torah, how it was transmitted, and why Orthodox Judaism considers it inseparable from the written Torah
• The Talmud — Sefaria — Full text of the Babylonian Talmud in Hebrew, Aramaic, and English; the written form of the oral Torah referenced throughout this teaching
• Tractate Shabbat 31a — Sefaria — The passage cited in this teaching: Shammai’s response to the Gentile asking how many Torahs Israel has
• ArtScroll Stone Chumash — The Orthodox commentary on the Torah referenced in this teaching; its introduction affirms the oral Torah as essential to understanding the written Torah
• ArtScroll Vayikra (Leviticus) — The Orthodox commentary on Leviticus cited in this teaching; independently identifies the same three areas of holiness (idolatry, immorality, forbidden foods) that James sets out in Acts 15
• The Mishnah — Sefaria — The foundational layer of the oral Torah; compiled by Rabbi Judah HaNasi around 200 CE
• Nazirite Vow — My Jewish Learning — The voluntary vow of consecration that Paul completed in Acts 21 as proof of his Torah observance
• Treif (Non-Kosher Meat) — The dietary category of torn or improperly slaughtered meat; the biblical background from Nahum 2:12
• Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch — Jewish Virtual Library — The 19th-century Orthodox rabbi quoted in this teaching on the relationship between written and oral Torah
• Beth Tikkun Messianic Fellowship — The congregation where this teaching was originally developed; referenced in the Israel travel story
• Torah Today Ministries — Home of Grappling with Galatians and other Torah-centered teachings