TORAH. It is no exaggeration to claim that the term torah is the quintessential symbol in Judaism. The present essay approaches this symbol from a variety of linguistic, historical, and phenomenological points of view. The discussion is divided into nine basic parts. The first of these offers basic etymological orientation to the semantic range of the term torah in classical Hebrew usage. Parts two to four address the problem of the nature and origins of the diverse sorts of writings that have come to be called torah in Judiasm. With the literary survey of torah complete, we then move to a survey of the ideological perspectives that Jews in various times and places have used to explain the meaning and the authority of torah. Part eight traces the profound role that the value of Torah study has played in the history of Judaism. The final part addresses the...