Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: Torah
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question comes from the area of world religions and comparative religion. Many competitive exams ask you to match religious communities with their main sacred texts. The Jewish community has a foundational text that contains the first five books of their scripture and is central to their religious law and tradition.
Given Data / Assumptions:
- The group mentioned is the Jews or the Jewish community.
- The question asks for their primary religious text.
- The options list texts from several world religions Dhammapada, Torah, Tripitaka, Guru Granth Sahib and Quran.
- Only one of these is the central text of Judaism.
Concept / Approach:
The core concept is to recall that the main sacred text of Judaism is the Torah. The Torah comprises the first five books of the Hebrew Bible Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. While the broader Hebrew Bible or Tanakh contains more books, the Torah has special central status. Other texts in the options belong to Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam, so they can be ruled out when the question is specifically about Jews.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Match each option with the religion it belongs to.Step 2: Dhammapada and Tripitaka are Buddhist texts, Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh holy scripture and Quran is the central text of Islam.Step 3: Recognise that Torah is the name given to the foundational five books of the Hebrew Bible and is the primary text of Judaism.Step 4: Since the question clearly asks about Jews, identify Torah as the only suitable option.Step 5: Mark Torah as the correct answer and eliminate the other options as belonging to other religions.
Verification / Alternative check:
You can verify this by recalling basic pairs such as Bible with Christians, Quran with Muslims, Guru Granth Sahib with Sikhs, Tripitaka with Buddhists and Torah with Jews. Some texts like Tanakh refer to the full Hebrew Bible, but when exams ask about the primary Jewish religious text, they nearly always expect Torah as the answer.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
- Dhammapada: A collection of sayings of the Buddha and an important Buddhist text, not Jewish.- Tripitaka: Literally meaning three baskets, it is the main collection of Buddhist scriptures.- Guru Granth Sahib: The holy scripture of Sikhism, compiled by Sikh Gurus, not connected with Judaism.- Quran: The holy book of Islam, believed by Muslims to be the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
Common Pitfalls:
Sometimes candidates confuse Torah with similar sounding terms or think of the word Bible instead. While Bible is widely used for Christian scriptures, Jewish tradition uses the term Torah for the central law and teaching. Remembering a simple association Jews Torah will help you avoid mixing it with scriptures of other faiths.
Final Answer:
The primary religious text of the Jewish community is the Torah.
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