The Importance of the Torah

Why is the Torah Important?
Very good question. I believe that, before we can even prove the authenticity of the Pentateuch, we should first prove its worth. I'll try to give an example:
Let's say I am a teacher at a school trying to teach second graders how to add and subtract. What would be the best approach: Explain to them how having a real salary and paying real rent works or tell them a fictional story about a boy who had three apples and found other two?
Most people would say: "The second one, of course!" Exactly! That is the point the Torah tries to make. The Pentateuch is not a book of science nor is it biology encyclopedia. It's not a cookbook nor a manual on car mechanics. It's a book telling a story of man and God. Simple.
The Torah has its worth as a religious and philosophical book. Nevertheless, many argue against the Torah for many reasons, one of them being its inaccurate portrayal of events, such as the creation of the universe. The truth is, the Torah -though it should always be taken seriously- it shouldn't always be taken literally.
I'll give an example: If I get a bad grade at school, and I say that my parents are going to literally kill me: Is it true that my parents are going to physically destroy me? No. Of course not! No would would think that. Most people would understand that what I mean is that I'll probably get yelled at and I'll probably be grounded for a week or two. The same thing applies to the Pentateuch.

The Torah says that Shehmaah created the universe in a week, while science has shown that the Earth took billions of years to form. So, which is true? Could the Pentateuch be wrong? No.
Like the example of the teacher given at the beginning, the Torah is trying to make a point: It's trying to show us the power of God. Time -from God's perspective- is relative. Only He can define it, since he created it. A day in Breshit (Genesis) could have been only a mere split second, as well as it could have been billions and billions of years. If history has shown us anything is that man has a hard time trying to understand things. So, Shehmaah tries to dumb-it-down for us, in the same way the teacher dumbs down his math class for his seven year-old students. Likewise, Yahweh makes use of hyperbole and parables in order to communicate a message: "I'm here!"

That is the value of the Torah: To make man aware of God's existence in a way that man can understand.