Does the Torah End with “The End”?

Traditional and critical perspectives on the ending of the Torah.

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"Does the Torah End with “The End”?." TheTorah.com, September 1, 2013. https://www.thetorah.com/article/does-the-torah-end-with-the-end.

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"Does the Torah End with “The End”?" (2013, September 1). TheTorah.com. https://www.thetorah.com/article/does-the-torah-end-with-the-end

Prof. Richard Elliott Friedman
Does the Torah End with “The End”?

A scribe writing the end of the Torah, photo by Marshal Segal. Flickr

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Ha’azinu

Published: September 1, 2013

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Last Updated: September 7, 2026

  1.  Editors Note: An inclusio, also called an inclusion or an envelope structure, is when a unit begins and ends with the same or similar words, as in the Tower of Babel story, which is framed by the words kol ha’aretz, “the entire land.”

Prof. Richard Elliott Friedman is the Ann and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia and is the Katzin Professor (Emeritus) of Jewish Civilization of the University of California, San Diego. He earned his Ph.D.… Read More
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