עברית
Faith
Who Wrote the Torah?
Question
Greetings. I have been told that the Torah is precise. Therefore, I ask, why in one Torah lesson do I hear that the prophets wrote it, while in another lesson I hear that Moses wrote it? If Moses wrote it, how is it written in the Torah "Moses died"? Thank you in advance.
Answer
Greetings and blessings.
Moses our teacher wrote the Five Books of Moses himself, by the word of Hashem, at the end of the fortieth year of being with the Jewish people in the wilderness, before his death. The last eight verses of the Torah that speak of Moses' death were also written by Moses our teacher himself, by the word of Hashem, and as our sages say, Moses wrote these verses in tears.
Other books of the prophets were written by the prophets through prophecy, each in his generation, as explained in Tractate Baba Batra, page 21, who wrote each book.
Moses our teacher wrote the Torah and the Book of Job.
Joshua wrote the Book of Joshua.
The prophet Samuel wrote the Books of Samuel, as well as Judges and Ruth.
King David wrote the Psalms.
Jeremiah wrote the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Kings, and Lamentations.
Hezekiah and the prophets alongside him wrote Isaiah and the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs.
The Men of the Great Assembly wrote Ezekiel, the Twelve Prophets, Daniel, and the Scroll of Esther.
Ezra wrote the Book of Ezra and the Book of Chronicles.
Blessings,
Benjamin Shmueli
