What part did the Torah and the prophets play in the development of Hebrew religion and society?

Answer 1

At the time of Abraham the Hebrew, the world was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities and lacking moral character; with their rites accompanied by things such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship. Abraham was the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.
Following Abraham, Israelite society (the society in ancient Israel) was based upon the covenant with God, as set forth in the Torah (Exodus ch.19, Deuteronomy 26:16-19). There was always a learned class among the Israelites, and virtually all men and boys (and a good percentage of women) could read and write. A portion of each day was spent praying; and a larger part of the day was spent studying Torah (by a good part of the populace). Religious questions (and torts) were brought to one of the many Rabbis or Jewish courts.
Having a large family was an ideal, as was welcoming guests into the home, giving charity, and many other forms of kindness.

• The concept of morality was founded by the Hebrew religion, including the dignity and value of every person. It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through. Compare this to other ancient societies in which only mature, land-owning male citizens had rights.

The calendar year was replete with the Sabbaths and festivals; and blessings were said before and after eating and on many other occasions.

• Practicing kindness and avoiding dishonesty became obligatory instead of merely proper.

• Agriculture in the Holy Land included tithes to be given to the Levites and Kohens, thus providing for a scholarly class of people. One of the tithes was given to the poor, thus obviating the existence of starvation.
  
• Immorality and incest were legislated against in detail. Instead of instinct or "crimes against nature," they were subsumed into religious law.

• The roles of king, prophet, Kohen, Levite, officers and judges were all provided for in the Torah, thus defining the shape of the society and its institutions and providing certain balances.

Government became accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).

• Under the law of Judaism, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, poor person, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm.

• A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Unlike other ancient societies, in Judaism debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed (Roman Twelve Tables of Law, 3:10).

• The Israelite year was filled out with the Sabbaths and national festivals; and they were imbued with the function of worshiping God instead of being secular celebrations.

• The judges were commanded to fear God (Exodus 18, Deuteronomy 1), instead of relying on their skills of jurisprudence alone.

• The laws of the Tabernacle (and later the Holy Temple), and commands to love God and fulfill all of the commandments, were written in the Torah together with (and mixed among) the seemingly mundane laws of restitution, testimony and witnesses (etc.), in order to convey the message that for us it is all part of religion. Secular life was a foreign concept. For example, a shopkeeper would be constantly aware of the religious laws of maintaining honest scales, giving a tithe to the poor (maaser kesafim), not overcharging, returning lost objects left behind, etc.; and he would set aside times for the daily prayers.
  

The above are just a few examples.

Answer 2

The Torah and the Prophets played a vast role in the development of Hebrew religion (Judaism), because they areJudaism. They define it. Judaism entails living according to them. The Hebrew Bible reiterated the teachings of Abraham (Talmud, Yoma 28b) and codified their exact details; and at Mount Sinai, the Hebrews (the Israelites) accepted as obligatory what had until then been national custom. The Torah and Prophets have shaped our ways of thinking and provided a national legal code.Link: More about Abraham

• Israelite society (the society in ancient Israel) was based upon the covenant with God, as set forth in the Torah (Exodus ch.19, Deuteronomy 26:16-19).
  • Link: Israelite society
    
  Having a large family was an ideal, as was welcoming guests into the home, giving charity, and many other forms of kindness.
  
  • Link: Some examples of the Torah's laws
  • Practicing kindness and avoiding dishonesty became obligatory instead of merely proper.
    
  Link: Israelite ethics
  
  • Agriculture in the Holy Land included tithes to be given to the Levites, the Kohens, and the poor.
    
  • Immorality and incest were legislated against in detail.
  • The roles of king, prophet, Kohen, Levite, officers and judges were all provided for in the Torah, thus providing certain balances.
  Link: King, prophet, Kohen, officers
  • The Israelite year was filled out with the Sabbaths and national festivals; and they were imbued with the function of worshiping God instead of being secular celebrations.
  Link: Israelite festivals
  • The judges were commanded to fear God (Exodus 18, Deuteronomy 1), instead of relying on their skills of jurisprudence alone.
  • Secular life was a foreign concept. For example, a shopkeeper would be constantly aware of the religious laws of maintaining honest scales, giving a tithe to the poor (maaser kesafim), not overcharging, returning lost objects left behind, etc.
  • Quote:
  "I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation ... fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations" (John Adams, 2nd President of the United States).
  "Certainly, the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place. Humanity might have eventually stumbled upon all the Jewish insights, but we cannot be sure. All the great conceptual discoveries of the human intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they had been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both Divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of human person; of the individual conscience and of collective conscience, and social responsibility" (Paul Johnson, Christian historian, author of A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity).
  

  All of the above existed in Judaism thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Infanticide was practiced in classical European nations until Judaism and its daughter-religions put a stop to it.
  

  Link: European infanticide

  The above are just a few examples.