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TaNaCh

TaNaCh (תַּנַ’ך)

The word TaNaCH is actually an acronym for the parts of the Hebrew Bible: “T” is for Torah, “N” is for Nevi’im, and “CH” is for Ketuvim. The Torah is the first part of the TaNaCH.

Although most of the individual books of the TaNaCH were written well before the third century BCE, it wasn’t until 90 CE in the city of Yavneh that they were all brought together.

The name “Mikra” (מקרא), meaning “that which is read”, is an alternative Hebrew term for the TaNaCh.

The TaNach תַּנַ’ךְ   is made up of 3 parts:

Torah ( תּוֹרָה )

Torah (Teachings) contains the five books of Moses. When it is printed and not handwritten it is sometimes called Chamisha Chumshei Torah (חמישה חומשי תורה, literally the “five five-sections of the Torah”), and informally a Chumash. The Torah covers the period from creation to 2288 (1273 BCE).

Niveem ( נְבִיאִים )

Niveem (Prophets) contains an important part of Jewish history for about 700 years after Moses. The history is told in the Books of Joshua, Judges,Samuel and Kings. Niveem also includes the words of great Prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The last 12 books, from Hosea to Malachi, are sometimes known as “The Twelve Prophets”, mainly because they are short books.

Each of the 54 Parishot in the Torah have a section from Niveem that are linked to them, they are called Haftarah.

Ketuvim ( כְּתוּבִים )

Ketuvim (Writings) are a collection of books that are not really related to one another. The book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible and contains 150 poems.