weekly Torah portion

The weekly Torah portion refers to a lectionary custom in Judaism in which a portion of the Torah (or Pentateuch) is read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' (), is popularly abbreviated to ''parashah'' (also ''parshah'' or parsha), and is also known as a Sidra or Sedra . The ''parashah'' is a section of the Torah used in Jewish liturgy during a particular week. There are 54 parshas, or ''parashiyot'' in Hebrew, and the full cycle is read over the course of one Biblical year.

Content and number

Each Torah portion consists of two to six chapters to be read during the week. There are 54 weekly portions or ''parashot''. Torah reading mostly follows 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.

There are some deviations to the cyclic regularity noted above, all related to the week of Passover and the week of Sukkot. For both holidays, the first day of the holiday may fall on a Sabbath, in which case the Torah reading consists of a special portion relevant to the holiday rather than a portion in the normal cyclical sequence. When either holiday does ''not'' begin on a Sabbath, yet a different 'out of cycle' portion is read on the Sabbath within the holiday week.

Immediately following Sukkot is the holiday of Shemini Atzeret. In Israel, this holiday coincides with Simchat Torah; in the Jewish Diaspora, Simchat Torah is celebrated on the day following Shemini Atzeret. If Shemini Atzeret falls on a Sabbath, in the Diaspora a special 'out of cycle' Torah reading is inserted for that day. The final ''parashah'', ''V'Zot HaBerachah'', is always read on Simchat Torah.

Apart from this "immovable" final portion, 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 fit into the needed number of weekly readings.

The annual completion of the Torah readings on Simchat Torah, translating to "Rejoicing of the Torah", is marked by Jewish communities around the world.

Name

Each weekly Torah portion takes its name from the first distinctive word or two in the Hebrew text of the portion in question, often from the first verse.

Practice: who, when, what

The appropriate ''parashah'' is chanted publicly. In most communities, it is read by a designated reader ( ''ba'al koreh'') in Jewish prayer services, starting with a partial reading on the afternoon of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, i.e. Saturday afternoon, again during the Monday and Thursday morning services, and ending with a full reading during the following Shabbat morning services (Saturday morning). The weekly reading is pre-empted by a special reading on major religious holidays. Each Saturday morning and holiday reading is followed by an often similarly themed reading (''Haftarah'') from the Book of Prophets (''Nevi'im'').

Origin

The custom of dividing the Torah readings dates to the time of the Babylonian captivity (6th century BCE). 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 synagogues.

Alternative triennial cycle

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.

Differences between Israel and the diaspora

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. This only occurs when a Diaspora holiday—which are one day longer than those in Israel—extends into Shabbat.

Differences between communities

While the ''Parshyot'' divisions are fairly standardized, there are various communities with differing ''parsha'' divisions. For example, many Yemenites combine '' Korach'' with the first half of '' Chukat'' and the second half of ''Chukat'' (''"Vayis'u mi-kadesh"'') with '' Balak'' instead of combining ''Matot'' and ''Masei'', and some Syrian communities combine ''Korach'' and ''Chukat'' instead of ''Matot'' and ''Masei''. In Provence and Tunisia, '' Mishpatim'' and ''Im Kesef Talveh'' were occasionally divided so that ''Matot'' and ''Masei'' would always be read together.

Base for division into portions

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
'

Maimonides based his division of the ''parashot'' for the Torah on the Masoretic text of the Aleppo Codex.Though initially doubted by Umberto Cassuto, this has become the established position in modern scholarship. (See the Aleppo Codex iarticle for more information.)

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.

See also

* Chumash
* Haftarah
* Hebrew cantillation
* Lectionary
* Sefer Torah
* Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum
* Tanakh

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