Weekly Torah Portion

A Torah scroll and silver pointer (yad) used in reading.

The appropriate parashah 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 an often similarly themed reading (Haftarah) from the Book of Prophets (Nevi’im).

The custom 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.^[2]

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.

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