Law

CRITICAL: Torah is not, in Jewish self-understanding, a negative burden but the central, beloved gift of covenant relationship (Psalm 119; the holiday of Simchat Torah). Paul’s argument that no one is justified by works of Torah, and that Messiah is Torah’s ‘telos’ (Romans 10:4, better read as ‘goal/fulfillment’ than ‘termination’), must never be taught as an attack on Torah itself. No viable substitute word exists; the risk is entirely in framing, not vocabulary.