Marjorie in Qatar

I try hard never to claim to speak for Christianity, but I think you may be right that this is more a Judaism/Christianity difference than just a you/me difference. It seems to me, off the top of my head, that most of the time Jesus quoted the Law it was to turn it on its head (e.g. the Sermon on the Mount) whereas most of the time he quoted the Prophets it was to affirm their message (e.g. Luke 4). Of course there are major exceptions to this, like his quoting Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18 as the greatest commandments -- and I think Christians do tend to forget that these were quotes and not Jesus' own words -- but for the most part I think you may be right that Christianity has a harder time connecting to the Law than the Prophets. When I read the Torah I come away with all sorts of questions (Is this really what God wants for us?) whereas when I read the Prophets -- well, it's not that they're easy to listen to, but that it's easier for me to hear them as reflecting God's will.

While we're talking about the Law and Prophets -- what is your preferred name for your scriptures? The usual term in seminaries is "Hebrew Bible," as it's less derogatory than "Old Testament." In my Hebrew class we often said "Tanakh," which I think is a fun term. (For other readers: it's an acronym for Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim -- the Law, the Prophets and the Writings.) I've also heard miqra, which it occurs to me is probably from the root qara' and therefore analogous to the Arabic word qur'an..... What do you call it?