Chumash (Judaism)

Chumash (also Ḥumash; Hebrew: חומש, pronounced [χuˈmaʃ] or pronounced [ħuˈmaʃ] or Yiddish: pronounced [ˈχʊməʃ]; plural Ḥumashim) is a copy of the Torah (or the Five Books of Moses that begin the Hebrew bible), printed and bound into the form of a book (i.e. a codex). In comparison, a Torah Scroll is handwritten, with rigorous production standards, on a special type of parchment and bound into a single scroll.

The word 'Chumash' comes from the Hebrew word for five, ḥamesh (חמש). A more formal term is Ḥamishah Ḥumshei Torah, "five fifths of Torah". It is also known by the Latinised Greek term Pentateuch in common printed editions.^[1]