Torah

American  

[toh-ruh, tawr-uh, toh-rah, toh-ruh, toi-ruh] / ˈtoʊ rə, ˈtɔr ə, toʊˈrɑ, ˈtoʊ rə, ˈtɔɪ rə /

Sometimes torah,

noun

Judaism.

Torahs plural

1. Also the Torah the five books containing the Law as revealed to Moses, constituting the first of the three divisions of Jewish Scripture.

   In the desert of life filled with obstacles and challenges, the light of Torah helps lead the way.

2. a parchment scroll on which the five books of the Law are written, used in synagogue services.

3. Also the Torah

   1. the entire body of Jewish Scripture, including all three divisions; Tanakh.

   2. the entire body of Jewish religious literature, law, and teaching as contained chiefly in the Tanakh and the Talmud.

4. law or instruction.

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Torah British  

/ ˈtəʊrə, tɔˈra /

noun

1. 1. the Pentateuch

   2. the scroll on which this is written, used in synagogue services

2. the whole body of traditional Jewish teaching, including the Oral Law

3. (modifier) promoting or according with traditional Jewish Law

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Torah Cultural  

1. The law on which Judaism is founded (torah is Hebrew for “law”). This law is contained in the first five books of the Bible (see also Bible) (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Torah can also refer to the entire body of Jewish law and wisdom, including what is contained in oral tradition.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Torahs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Torah

First recorded in 1570–80; from Hebrew tôrāh “instruction, law”; akin to hôrāh “to teach,” yārāh “to throw”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Torah Torahs

The moral reasoning that shaped America comes, in part, from the Torah, read by Jews every Sabbath.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 14, 2026

"It's the first time that he is wearing tefillin", Bandel said enthusiastically, referring to the small black leather boxes containing Torah scrolls.

From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026

Most of the men who study Torah in Kiryas Joel also work for a living, or will work after a few years of full-time study in their early 20s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

Congregation members were able to save little more than its sacred Torah scrolls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026

In his arms, he carries a very old Torah scroll, the simple fabric of its cover threadbare and torn.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman

A new ark, which houses the temple’s Torahs, was dedicated to the ebullient Cantor Chayim Frenkel and his wife Marcy Frenkel.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026

"We were taking the Torahs and the last Jews out of the city. The Torahs will go back, the synagogue will be reopened. Once again there will be Jewish life in Antakya," he said.

From Reuters ● Mar. 7, 2023

Then the new speaker will grasp the gavel and swear in the representatives-elect — their right hands raised, some of them clutching Bibles or Torahs or Qurans in their left.

From New York Times ● Dec. 17, 2018

In the old days, we knew this: we kept our ancestries in Bibles, in Torahs, and in oral tradition.

From Salon ● Jul. 1, 2018

Some Jewish financiers erected gymnasia in Vilna and Warsaw, improved the condition of the hadarim, and turned many Talmud Torahs into technical schools.

From The Haskalah Movement in Russia by Raisin, Jacob S.