Object

Rabbi Glassman's Torah

A sacred Torah scroll — parchment sheets inscribed with Hebrew law, rolled on wooden rollers and typically housed in a protective mantle with decorative finials — present in the synagogue setting. Rabbi Glassman references its legal formulations aloud; Toby listens and later translates those rabbinic arguments into political language in the Oval Office. The scroll functions as a tactile emblem of Jewish law and moral authority within the scenes.

3 appearances

Purpose

To record the Torah's legal and narrative texts for liturgical reading, halakhic interpretation, and guidance in Jewish moral and legal reasoning.

Significance

Acts as the narrative pivot that grounds the episode's ethical debate: rabbinic readings drawn from the Torah supply the moral framework Toby uses to recast the death-penalty decision, pressuring political conscience and reframing the administration's choice as a matter of faith-informed ethics rather than mere policy.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments

S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

Counsel in the Pew: Conscience vs. Communications

The Torah is verbally invoked in the debate — Toby asserts 'The Torah doesn't prohibit capital punishment' while Glassman counters with other textual prescriptions. As a textual authority it anchors the moral dispute and allows the rabbi to distinguish historical permission from modern conscience.

Before: Cared for within the synagogue, housed on the ark or otherwise present in the sanctuary as an implicit source of law and moral authority.

After: Unaffected physically — remains in the synagogue; its interpretive weight, however, has been contested and reframed by Glassman's modern ethical reading.

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S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

Toby Frames the Death Penalty as a Moral Impossibility

Rabbi Glassman's Torah functions as the implied source of the rabbinic argument Toby reports: its halakhic tradition is the origin of legal maneuvers that, historically, made capital punishment practically impossible within Jewish jurisprudence — Toby cites that tradition to reframe the Oval debate.

Before: Located in the shul, housed and cared for by Rabbi Glassman; physically present at the synagogue where Toby consulted with rabbinic counsel.

After: Remains in the shul; its teachings (not the physical scroll) have been transmitted into the Oval through Toby's report.

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S1E14 · Take This Sabbath Day

Let the Next Guy's Problem — Leo Pushes Pragmatism, Bartlet Defers

Toby's argument is grounded in Jewish textual tradition (symbolized by the Torah): he reports rabbinic legal workarounds that made state execution effectively impossible, using the religious text as moral authority to influence executive clemency.

Before: Housed in the shul as part of the rabbinic tradition; source of counsel the public defender sought.

After: Remains in the shul symbolically; its interpretive authority has been carried into the Oval as part of Toby's moral argument.

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