Teachings/Messages

 

MEMRA

When the Israelites returned from their exile in Babylon in the 6th century BC, most of them no longer spoke Hebrew; they spoke Aramaic. Nevertheless, the Scriptures have always been read in Hebrew even if no one in the greater community could speak it.

Something had to be done so that the people would understand God and His Word.

The sages again found an answer.

After hearing a priest read a few verses of the Torah scroll in Hebrew, they then heard a translation in Aramaic called a Targum, which simply means translation.

In those Targums, we find the Memra. In the Beginning Was the Memra (Word)

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,” says Genesis 1:1.