Art

Music has played a role in Judaism since biblical times: the people of Israel sang and danced as they crossed the Red Sea, David played the harp to calm King Saul, and the book of Psalms consists of 150 poems, some of which describe calling to God through music. Rabbinic literature describes the songs the Levites sang in the Temple and discusses halakhic questions relating to music. Music is a central part of contemporary Jewish life for many, from the tunes associated with liturgical texts, the chanting of the weekly Torah portion, and Jewish songs sung on Shabbat and other occasions.

The Jewish people are often called "the people of the Book." While "the Book" in the phrase at hand refers to the Tanakh, the phrase also reflects the centrality of books and the study of Jewish texts in Judaism. Within traditional Jewish literature, much is written on the value and nature of books: halakhic texts discuss how to treat sacred books, rabbinic texts explore the authorship of different biblical books, and works of Jewish thought and Kabbalah consider the impact of text study on the mind and soul.

Alphabet

Written texts play a central role in Jewish tradition. The means of the composition and transmission of texts has varied through Jewish history as different technologies have become available — from carved stone tablets and memorized oral traditions to hand-copied manuscripts to printed books to digital resources. Even with adaptations to new technologies, the ancient scribal practice of hand-writing Torah scrolls continues until today, with particular materials and practices required by law and custom. Works such as the Mishnah and the Talmud are considered to be in the category of Oral Torah, even though they have long ago been written down, in contrast to the Written Torah, which is limited to the Hebrew Bible. The act of writing is one of the basic labors forbidden on Shabbat and major festivals.