2. What is the difference between
Torah and Tanach? The word Bible
(from the Greek, Biblia) means The
Book (or books!). Actually, as we
will see in topic D, the Bible is actually a
library of books. Surprisingly, there is no
word for 'Bible' as such in Hebrew!
Tanach is actually an acronym, (like SCUBA who knows what SCUBA
stands for? or RADAR), that stands for Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets), and
Ketuvim (Writings). After the Torah reading, a small portion from
'Nevi'im' is read, called the Haftarah. Unlike the Torah portions that are
read sequentially, the Haftarah is a passage chosen by the Rabbis (of the
Talmud) that in some way relates to the Torah reading.There is a word,
Mikra, (from Reading) that would be like the English word: Scripture
(from Writing), that has the sense of 'Holy Writ.'So, to summarize: All of
the Torah is in the Tanach (or Bible) but not all of the Tanach is in the
Torah. To give some examples: The books of Isaiah, Psalms or Esther
are in the Bible, but not in the Torah!