Our biggest resource for making Jewish choices: our writings! The Tanach!
Here’s a list of the books of the Tanach for future reference—most of us may know the first five books, the Torah, but the N’vi’im (Prophets) and K’tuvim (Writings) may seem a bit blurry. Here’s the breakdown:
Torah - Five Books of Moses
Genesis, Beresheet, retells the story of creation, Noah and the flood, and the selection of Abraham and Sarah and their family as the bearers of God’s covenant. Stories of sibling conflict and the long narratives of Jacob and his favorite son Joseph conclude with the family dwelling in Egypt.
Exodus, Shemot, tells of how the family of Jacob grew and then was enslaved in Egypt. The baby Moses, born of Israelites but adopted by Pharaoh, becomes God's prophet who, after bringing 10 plagues down upon Egypt, leads the Israelites through the Red Sea to freedom and to the revelation at Mt. Sinai. The story of the Israelites worshipping the golden calf, which follows soon after the revelation at Mt. Sinai, is almost obscured by lengthy materials on the building of a sanctuary in the wilderness.
Leviticus, Vayikra, deals mostly with laws of Israelite sacrificial worship. Related rules include the basis for Jewish dietary laws ( kashrut) and issues of purity and impurity. The holiness code, which describes a sanctified communal life, is a highlight of the book.
Numbers, Bamidbar, begins with a census of the Israelites and the tribe of Levi. A group of Israelites spy out the land of Canaan; their discouraging report sends them back into the desert for an additional 38 years, during which the Israelites continue to behave badly, rebelling against the authority of Moses and his brother Aaron, and having illicit relations with Moabite women.
Deuteronomy, Devarim, is Moses’s final message to the people of Israel before they cross over the Jordan River into Israel. Moses reminds the people of how God has redeemed the people from Egypt and of the details of the covenant between Israel and God. In stark language, Moses describes the rewards for observance of the laws of the covenant and the punishment for disobedience. Finally, Moses passes along his authority to Joshua who will lead the people into the land.
Nevi’im - Prophets
Joshua - 24 chapters describing the victorious battles in which Israel reclaims the promised land from the people who occupied it while Israel languished in Egypt. Israel is led by Moses hand-picked leader: Joshua. The book begins immediately following the departure of Moses, and ends with the death of Joshua.
Judges - In Judges, the case is made for the fickleness of Israel. The powerful impression of past miracles is fading away. Israel loses its commitment to God Almighty and his prescription for the good and Godly life. It rather allow sitself to follow the cultural glitz of its neighbors. And each time this happens God strengthens one enemy or another, and only when Israel cries for Godly help, does it get a successful judge to save it. The Book of Judges ends with a terrible story of a civil war.
I Samuel - A chronicle of the persistent belligerence between Israel and the Philistines. Israel becomes a kingdom, Saul is the first King of Israel.
II Samuel - The Story of King David, the second King of Israel. A warrior, a poet, a gangster of sorts, a sinner, a brave hero, and a most obedient servant of God: complex and galvanizing, humanly weak, and humanly strong -- an everlasting attraction to Bible readers for generations. David became king when he was only 30 years old, and he was king for 40 years until his natural death.
I Kings - The end of King David's era. The Kingdom of his wise and celebrated son King Solomon, and the sorry division of the Solomon's kingdom into two petty states: Israel and Judea: each ruled by their own succession of kings, while the people in both states are weakened morally and physically, slipping into their defeat and destruction.
II Kings - 25 chapters chronicling the deterioration and destruction of the two splinter kingdoms -- remnants of the Great State of Israel established by Kings David and Solomon. The Assyrians conquer Israel, and soon afterwards, Judea falls under the sword of the Babylonians. (The year 3340, or 591 B.C.E.).
Isaiah - 66 chapters of poetic warnings which the people of Israel ignore. The latter part of the book of Isaiah is different in style, opening up suggestions that two prophets by the same name have been confused into one.
Jeremiah - A tormented figure who tried so hard, and failed so miserably, to prevent the destruction of Judea by stirring Israel towards the ways of God. 52 heart wrenching chapters.
Kethuvim - Writings
Psalms - 150 poetic chapters where the author, King David in most cases, writes personal intimate prayers, pens lamentations, hope, sadness, fear, and above all an expression of a steadfast belief in God's wish, and the goodness of God’s plan.
Proverbs - 31 chapters of universal wisdom in a form of a father (King Solomon) teaching his son. The lessons, for a change, are not based on the history of the people of Israel. It matches the social wisdom of the best of East and West. Proverbs discusses family matters and social wisdom. It addresses the timeless issues of man with himself and his Creator, people in any family, and every society. The book, has no events to tell, no lingering stories. It is a basket full of wise sayings, apparently without any clear order.
Job - 42 chapters focused on one issue: is the fear of God a contract in which God in return is bound to guarantee the believer a good life? Job, a God fearing, well to do man is tested with a growing string of disasters, and his worship of the Almighty does not waive. God concludes the experiment by rewarding Job for his steadfastness. Three sages exchange mysterious words of philosophy throughout the book.
The Song of Songs - The story it tells is of a passionate love relationship between a beautiful peasant maiden and a shepherd. Like every real love story, this biblical Romeo and Juliet have to deal with disapproving family and neighbors. There’s even another man, the king himself, who falls violently in love with the heroine and tries to dislodge her love for her humble shepherd. But true love wins out, if not always in reality, at least in this biblical story.
Ruth - The Book of Ruth offers a striking contrast to the Book of Judges, but its story is associated with the same period. In Judges, national sin and corruption portray a dark picture. The story of Ruth the Moabitess and her loyalty and devotion to Naomi, her Hebrew mother-in-law, presents the reader with a picture of the nobler side of Hebrew life in the days of the judges.
Lamentations - The book is composed of five poems, lamenting the siege and destruction of Jerusalem (586 B.C.). The poet also makes sincere confession of sin on behalf of the people and leaders, acknowledges complete submission to the will of God, and finally prays that God will once again smile upon God’s people and restore them to their homeland.
Ecclesiatstes - Traditionally held to have been written by Solomon, this book is now almost universally recognized as about him rather than by him. The author’s purpose is to prove the vanity of everything " under the sun". This truth is first announced a fact, then proved from the "Preacher’s" experience and observations. Finally, the author shows that the fullness of life is found only in the recognition of things " above the sun", things spiritual as well as material.
Esther - The Book of Esther, in the form of a short story similar to the Book of Ruth, has its setting in the palace of Shushan, or Susa, one of the three capitals of the Persian Empire. The story gives us a vivid picture of the Jews in exile, of the hostility of their non-Jewish enemies in Persia, and of how Esther became the queen of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), subsequently risking her life in order to save her people, the Jews, from total destruction. God’s providential care of God’s people is magnified throughout, though the word "God" never appears in the book.
Daniel - Traditionally considered as the work of the Prophet Daniel in exile in Babylon during the 6th century B.C., many modern scholars classify the book as an "apocalypse" that was the product of a pious Jew living under the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.E.). In a series of events and visions, the author presents a view of history in which God rules and prevails over men and nations to achieve ultimate victory for the "saints" of God.
Ezra - 10 short chapters describing a wondrous occurrence: Koresh, King of Persia develops insight and fear of God, and wishes to rebuild God's Temple in Jerusalem, to which end he expedites the Israeli Diaspora in his country. Ezra and Nehemia lead Israel on its way.
Nehemiah - Nehemiah leads the people of Israel back to Jerusalem, following orders to that effect from Koresh King of Persia (the Israeli place of exile). Nehemia defeats inertia and self serving reluctance, and shows supreme leadership by insisting on devotion to God's commandments, the lack of which led to the fall of the former Kingdoms.
I Chronicles - A summary of Israelite history through the reign of David.
II Chronicles - A continuation of the history up to the Babylonian exile containing further information than what is in Kings.
