Weekly Torah portion
A Torah scroll and silver pointer (yad) used in
reading.
The
weekly Torah portion (Hebrew:
פָּרָשַׁת
הַשָּׁבוּעַ Parashat ha-Shavua), popularly just parashah
(or parshah /pɑːrʃə/ or parsha) and also known as a Sidra
(or Sedra /sɛdrə/) is a section of the Torah (Five Books of
Moses) used in Jewish liturgy during a single week. It is chanted
publicly by a designated reader (ba'al
koreh) in Jewish prayer services, starting with a partial
reading on the afternoon of Shabbat (Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath), again during the
Monday and Thursday morning services, and ending with a full reading during the
following Shabbat morning services. The weekly reading is pre-empted by a
special reading on major religious holidays. The Saturday morning and holiday
readings are followed by a reading (Haftarah)
from the Book of Prophets (Nevi'im). There are 54 weekly parashiyot
(plural) or parshahs (anglicized pluralization) in Judaism, and the
full cycle is read over the course of one Jewish year. Each Torah Portion
consists of two to six chapters to be read during the week.
Each
weekly Torah portion takes its name from the first distinctive word in the
Hebrew text of the portion in question, often from the first verse. Dating back
to the time of the Babylonian captivity (6th century BCE),[citation needed] public Torah
reading mostly followed an annual cycle beginning and ending on the Jewish
holiday of Simchat Torah, with the divisions corresponding to
the lunisolar Hebrew
calendar, which contains up to 55 weeks, the exact number varying between
leap years and regular years.[1].
The
origin of the first public Torah readings is found in the Book of Nehemiah,
where Ezra the scribe writes about wanting to find a way to ensure the
Israelites would not go astray again. This led to the creation of a weekly
system to read the portions of the Torah at synagogue.[2]
The annual completion of the Torah readings on Simchat Torah, translating to
"Rejoicing in the Law", is marked by Jewish communities around the
world.
In
ancient times some Jewish communities practiced a triennial
cycle of readings. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many congregations in
the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements implemented an
alternative triennial cycle in which only one-third of each weekly parashah was
read in a given year; and this pattern continues. The parashot read are still
consistent with the annual cycle but the entire Torah is completed over three
years. Orthodox Judaism does not follow this practice.
Due
to different lengths of holidays in Israel and the Diaspora, the
portion that is read on a particular week will sometimes not be the same inside
and outside Israel.
Contents
Division into weekly parashot
The
division of parashiot found in the modern-day Torah scrolls of all Ashkenazic, Sephardic,
and Yemenite
communities is based upon the systematic list provided by Maimonides
in Mishneh Torah, Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and
Torah Scrolls, Chapter
8. Maimonides based his division of the parashot for the Torah on
the Masoretic text of the Aleppo
Codex.[3]
Table of weekly readings
In
the table, a portion that may be combined with the following portion, to
compensate for the changing number of weeks in the lunisolar year, is marked
with an asterisk.The following chart will show the weekly readings.
|
Book
|
Parsha Name
|
English Equivalent[4]
|
Parsha Portion
|
|
Bereshit
(Genesis)
|
Bereshit, בְּרֵאשִׁית
|
In the beginning
|
Gen. 1:1-6:8
|
|
Noach, נֹחַ
|
Noah (rest)
|
6:9-11:32
|
|
|
Lech-Lecha, לֶךְ-לְךָ
|
Go forth, yourself!
|
12:1-17:27
|
|
|
Vayeira, וַיֵּרָא
|
And He appeared
|
18:1-22:24
|
|
|
Chayei Sarah, חַיֵּי שָׂרָה
|
Life of Sarah
|
23:1-25:18
|
|
|
Toledot, תּוֹלְדֹת
|
Generations
|
25:19-28:9
|
|
|
Vayetze, וַיֵּצֵא
|
And he went out
|
28:10-32:3
|
|
|
Vayishlach, וַיִּשְׁלַח
|
And he sent
|
32:4-36:43
|
|
|
Vayeshev, וַיֵּשֶׁב
|
And he settled
|
37:1-40:23
|
|
|
Miketz, מִקֵּץ
|
At the end of
|
41:1-44:17
|
|
|
Vayigash, וַיִּגַּשׁ
|
And he drew near
|
44:18-47:27
|
|
|
Vayechi, וַיְחִי
|
And he lived
|
47:28-50:26
|
|
|
Shemot
(Exodus)
|
Shemot, שְׁמוֹת
|
Names
|
Ex. 1:1-6:1
|
|
Va'eira, וָאֵרָא
|
Appeared
|
6:2-9:35
|
|
|
Bo, בֹּא
|
Go!
|
10:1-13:16
|
|
|
Beshalach, בְּשַׁלַּח
|
When he sent out
|
13:17-17:16
|
|
|
Yitro, יִתְרוֹ
|
Jethro
|
18:1-20:23
|
|
|
Mishpatim, מִּשְׁפָּטִים
|
Laws
|
21:1-24:18
|
|
|
Terumah, תְּרוּמָה
|
Offering
|
25:1-27:19
|
|
|
Tetzaveh, תְּצַוֶּה
|
You shall command
|
27:20-30:10
|
|
|
Ki Tisa, כִּי תִשָּׂא
|
When you elevate
|
30:11-34:35
|
|
|
*Vayakhel, וַיַּקְהֵל
|
And he assembled
|
35:1-38:20
|
|
|
Pekudei, פְקוּדֵי
|
Accountings
|
38:21-40:38
|
|
|
Vayikra
(Leviticus)
|
Vayikra, וַיִּקְרָא
|
And he called
|
Lev. 1:1-5:26
|
|
Tzav, צַו
|
Command!
|
6:1-8:36
|
|
|
Shemini, שְּׁמִינִי
|
Eighth
|
9:1-11:47
|
|
|
*Tazria, תַזְרִיעַ
|
She bears seed
|
12:1-13:59
|
|
|
Metzora, מְּצֹרָע
|
Infected one
|
14:1-15:33
|
|
|
*Acharei Mot, אַחֲרֵי מוֹת
|
After the death
|
16:1-18:30
|
|
|
Kedoshim, קְדֹשִׁים
|
Holy ones
|
19:1-20:27
|
|
|
Emor, אֱמֹר
|
Say gently
|
21:1-24:23
|
|
|
*Behar, בְּהַר
|
On the Mount
|
25:1-26:2
|
|
|
Bechukotai, בְּחֻקֹּתַי
|
In My laws
|
26:3-27:34
|
|
|
Bemidbar
(Numbers)
|
Bamidbar, בְּמִדְבַּר
|
In the wilderness
|
Num. 1:1-4:20
|
|
Naso, נָשֹׂא
|
Elevate!
|
4:21-7:89
|
|
|
Behaalotecha, בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ
|
In your uplifting
|
8:1-12:16
|
|
|
Shlach, שְׁלַח-לְךָ
|
Send for yourself
|
13:1-15:41
|
|
|
Korach, קֹרַח
|
Korach
|
16:1-18:32
|
|
|
*Chukat, חֻקַּת
|
Law
|
19:1-22:1
|
|
|
Balak, בָּלָק
|
Balak
|
22:2-25:9
|
|
|
Pinchas, פִּינְחָס
|
Phinehas
|
25:10-30:1
|
|
|
*Matot, מַּטּוֹת
|
Tribes
|
30:2-32:42
|
|
|
Masei, מַסְעֵי
|
Journeys of
|
33:1-36:13
|
|
|
Devarim
(Deuteronomy)
|
Devarim, דְּבָרִים
|
Words
|
Deut. 1:1-3:22
|
|
Va'etchanan, וָאֶתְחַנַּן
|
Pleaded
|
3:23-7:11
|
|
|
Eikev, עֵקֶב
|
As a result
|
7:12-11:25
|
|
|
Re'eh, רְאֵה
|
See!
|
11:26-16:17
|
|
|
Shoftim, שֹׁפְטִים
|
Judges
|
16:18-21:9
|
|
|
Ki Teitzei, כִּי-תֵצֵא
|
When you go out
|
21:10-25:19
|
|
|
Ki Tavo, כִּי-תָבוֹא
|
When you enter in
|
26:1-29:8
|
|
|
*Nitzavim, נִצָּבִים
|
Standing (Witnessing)
|
29:9-30:20
|
|
|
Vayelech, וַיֵּלֶךְ
|
And he went
|
31:1-31:30
|
|
|
Haazinu, הַאֲזִינוּ
|
Listen!
|
32:1-32:52
|
|
|
V'Zot HaBerachah, וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה
|
And this is the blessing
|
33:1-34:12
|
See also
References
· One week is always Passover and
another is always Sukkot,
and the final parashah, V'Zot HaBerachah, is always read on Simchat
Torah. Therefore, there can be up to 53 weeks available for the other 53
portions. In years with fewer than 53 available weeks, some readings are
combined to achieve the needed number of weekly readings.
· · Though initially
doubted by Umberto Cassuto, this has become the established
position in modern scholarship. (See the Aleppo
Codex article for more information.)
External links
- Description of each Weekly Torah Portion. Aleph Beta.
- Links to the Hebrew text for weekly Torah portions. Hebcal Jewish Calender.
- The weekly Torah portion with messianic commentary[1]
- Weekly Torah portion videos
- The Weekly Parshah in Hebrew
|
Weekly Torah Portions
|
|
- Hebrew words and phrases
- Jewish life cycle
- Jewish services
- Shabbat
- Shacharit for Shabbat and Yom Tov
- Weekly Torah readings
In other projects
- This page was last edited on 5 February 2019, at 19:11 (UTC).
