sher (02/09/83)
to continue the previous message (I accidently hit the exit key in mid stream) Jewish culture places emphasis upon the books of the bible in this order: The Torah (the five books of moses) This is THE LAW (of course this has been extensively reinterpretted and in some parts simply disregarded as no longer applicable but basically this is where we look for the last word) Judges and Kings (these books illustrate how Jews as individuals and as a nation should and shouldn't behave) Prophets (more of how to and not to behave and a more personaly view of God) Ester, Daniel ... (Wonderful stories) Everything else. (of interest to scholars and philosophers and mystics) Note that this reflects to some extent my personal taste and my particular training and the particular section of Judaism I come from. Also I have drastically oversimplified by leaving out the mishna and talmud and most of jewish philosophic work. -David SHer (oftimes AI project)