Torah reading
What is the shortest parsha in the Torah?
The parashah
constitutes Exodus 18:1–20:23. The parashah is the shortest of the weekly Torah portions in the Book of Exodus (although not the shortest in the Torah), and is made up of 4,022 Hebrew letters, 1,105 Hebrew words, and 75 verses.
How often is the Torah read?
Traditionally, the Torah is read
four times a week
in the synagogue: at the Sabbath (Saturday) morning and afternoon services and in the morning service on Mondays and Thursdays. Additional readings may occur on high holy days such as Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) or Rosh Hashana (New Year).
Do Jews read Torah every day?
On Shabbat (Saturday) mornings, a weekly section (known as a sedra or parashah) is read, selected so that the entire Pentateuch is read consecutively each year. On seventh day afternoons, second days, and fifth days, the beginning of the following seventh day’s portion is read.
Do you read the Torah right to left?
Hebrew is read from right to left
, just the opposite of English and many modern languages which are read from left to right.
What does it mean if food is kosher?
“Kosher” is a term used to describe
food that complies with the strict dietary standards of traditional Jewish law
. For many Jews, keeping kosher is about more than just health or food safety. It is about reverence and adherence to religious tradition.
What is the longest parsha?
The parashah
constitutes Exodus 30:11–34:35. The parashah is the longest of the weekly Torah portions in the book of Exodus (although not the longest in the Torah, which is Naso), and is made up of 7,424 Hebrew letters, 2,002 Hebrew words, 139 verses, and 245 lines in a Torah scroll (Sefer Torah).
How many Torah portions are there?
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.
What is the longest Haftarah?
The haftarah for Beshalach tells the story of Deborah. At
52 verses
, it is the longest haftarah.
Are the Bible and Torah the same thing?
The term Torah is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible
. Since for some Jews the laws and customs passed down through oral traditions are part and parcel of God’s revelation to Moses and constitute the “oral Torah,” Torah is also understood to include both the Oral Law and the Written Law.
Are the first 5 books of the Bible the same as the Torah?
The Torah (/ˈtɔːrə, ˈtoʊrə/; Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, “Instruction”, “Teaching” or “Law”) is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense,
Torah means the same as Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses
.
Who wrote the Torah?
The scholars gave each of these four books (or writers) a name:
the Yahwist, the Elohist, the Priestly writers, and the Deuteronomist
. The Yahwist was characterized by using the Tetragrammaton (“Yahweh”) as the name of God. The Elohist writers, who called God “Elohim”, were Israelite priests.
Where is the Torah kept?
Today, each Jewish synagogue often has a finely crafted, hand written Torah scroll kept in
the ark
. The ark is a cabinet located at the head of a synagogue’s chapel, usually facing Jerusalem. Elaborately embroidered curtains often cover the ark.
What language is the Torah written in?
It contains 613 commandments and Jews refer to the ten best known of these as the ten 10 statements. The Torah is written in
Hebrew
, the oldest of Jewish languages. It is also known as Torat Moshe, the Law of Moses. The Torah is the first section or first five books of the Jewish bible.
What did David and Solomon do?
Solomon is known for being the king of Israel who
built the first Temple in Jerusalem
. He was also the second (after his father, David) and last king of a unified Israel, which was at the height of its power during his reign. He is known for stories told in the Bible about his wisdom.
Is Hebrew difficult to learn?
3. How hard is it to learn Hebrew?
It could be difficult to learn the Hebrew alphabet
, which contains 22 characters. Unlike in most European languages, words are written from right to left.
What language did the Jesus speak?
Most religious scholars and historians agree with Pope Francis that the historical Jesus principally spoke
a Galilean dialect of Aramaic
. Through trade, invasions and conquest, the Aramaic language had spread far afield by the 7th century B.C., and would become the lingua franca in much of the Middle East.
What did David provide for the Jews?
David places
the Ark of the Covenant
in a single place in the capital, and it is there that the people must come to worship God. David’s capital is so successful because the people have to come and worship God in the one place. It’s as though David gives those twelve disparate tribes a focus that they can all look to.
Why is wine not kosher?
Because of wine’s special role in many non-Jewish religions
, the kashrut laws specify that wine cannot be considered kosher if it might have been used for idolatry.
Are rabbits kosher?
Mammals: A mammal is kosher if it has split hooves and chews its cud. It must have both kosher signs. Examples: cows, sheep, goats and deer are kosher;
pigs, rabbits, squirrels, bears, dogs, cats, camels and horses are not
. Fowl: The Torah lists 24 non-kosher bird species—mostly predatory and scavenger birds.
Are eggs kosher?
The eggs (or other products) of non-kosher birds or fish are not kosher
. Caviar, therefore, must come from a kosher fish and this requires reliable supervision.
What does Naso Hebrew mean?
Naso or Nasso (נָשֹׂא — Hebrew for “
take a census
” or “lift up,” the sixth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 35th weekly Torah portion ( פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the Book of Numbers. It constitutes Numbers 4:21–7:89.
What is Shabbat Parah?
Shabbat Parah (“
Sabbath [of the] red heifer
” שבת פרה) takes place on the Shabbat preceding Shabbat HaChodesh, in preparation for Passover.
What does Terumah mean in Hebrew?
Terumah is a Hebrew word, originally meaning lifted apart, but meaning
donation
in modern Hebrew. It can refer to: Terumah (offering), a type of sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible. Terumat hamaaser, a tithing obligation arising from the Terumah sacrifice still regarded as obligatory by Orthodox Judaism on produce.
What are the 3 parts of the Torah?
The Hebrew Bible is organized into three main sections:
the Torah, or “Teaching,” also called the Pentateuch or the “Five Books of Moses”; the Neviʾim, or Prophets; and the Ketuvim, or Writings
. It is often referred to as the Tanakh, a word combining the first letter from the names of each of the three main divisions.
What does the word Rabbi mean?
rabbi, (Hebrew:
“my teacher” or “my master”
) in Judaism, a person qualified by academic studies of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud to act as spiritual leader and religious teacher of a Jewish community or congregation.
What is the plural of parsha?
The term parashah (Hebrew: פָּרָשָׁה Pārāšâ, “portion”, Tiberian /pɔrɔˈʃɔ/, Sephardi /paraˈʃa/, plural:
parashot or parashiyot
, also called parsha) formally means a section of a biblical book in the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible).
