What is Chumash?

What is Chumash?

Have you wondered what exactly is the Chumash?

Chumash (חומש) is a Hebrew term used for issues of the Tanakh (the Old Testament) which are in the format of an usual book.

A volume of a Chumash.

History

The distinction between Chumash and usual Tanakh exists because traditionally the Tanakh has been written on scrolls with an individual scroll for each of the Tanakh's books. The publishing of the Sacred texts in the codex format (or the usual book format we are all familiar with) came in mass usage in the Middle Ages when the use of scrolls for the Books of the Tanakh was already a centuries-old practice.

In Daily Life

Up to modern times Jewish people use scrolls of the Tanakh's Books in religious ceremonies, while the Chumash is used for usual reading the same way as Christians' Bible copies.

Actually, up to certain extend, the Christian issues of the Old Testament (when as a single book) are also a kind of a Chumash, as long as they are not modified in content (a practice which is, sadly, commonplace).

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