Starting to Study the Torah and Tanakh: What to Focus on and How to Approach It?

Hi everyone,

In a recent post on this forum, someone mentioned that it would take me years to understand the Talmud from scratch and that, in order to really grasp it, I would need to deeply understand Jewish life and customs, as the Talmud assumes you already know all of that. With that in mind, I’m wondering: what would you recommend for someone who wants to understand the Torah and perhaps the Tanakh more deeply, and especially the ideas reflected in those texts? If learning the Jewish tradition is necessary for understanding the original ideas in the Tanakh, then I’m open to that as well.

Thanks for any guidance or suggestions