The five books that comprise the Torah, the first section of the Hebrew Bible, are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Also called the Humash, “the Five-fold,” (in Greek, “Pentateuch”), they are viewed by Jews as the holiest and most authoritative of the three parts of the Hebrew Bible— the “Torah,” “Prophets,” and “Writings” (the Hebrew acronym is Tanakh). In the Torah a framework of narrative encapsulates a great body of legislation, believed to have been divinely revealed, reflecting a covenant, or treaty, between God and the community of Israelite slaves newly escaped from Egypt. There are also a few passages of poetry, a section of speeches in the Book of Deuteronomy, genealogies, and a scattering of other literary genres. Read on a yearly cycle in synagogues as part of the liturgy, the Torah has been the basis of Jewish life for 2,500 years. The composition of...