Weekly Torah Portion
What is it?
So what is the weekly Torah portion? It may come as a surprise to many that the Five Books of Moses, commonly known as the Torah, is divided up into weekly portions so that the whole of the Torah can be read and studied during the course of a year.
Each Torah portion takes its name from the first principal
Hebrew word one finds in the text of such portion.
The traditional reading of the weekly portion begins and ends each year on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, a day in which the Torah, in particular, is celebrated.
The Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 weeks, and, as a result, correlation with the secular calendar can be off each year. So, the reading of the weekly portions may vary at particular weeks in certain years, when two portions may, for example, be combined.
The weekly Torah portion, interestingly, is paired with verses from the Prophets, a reading that is called the Haftarah. The prophetic text complements the Torah portion in many ways, especially in meaning and focus.
One of the greatest assets of this website, www.thirdwell.org, is its comprehensive treatment of the weekly portions. The Bible Study class at Westlake Hills Presbyterian Church spent an entire year studying the Torah portions in accord with the Jewish calendar.
Through this link, you can find the text from the Bible of each Torah portion, as well as insightful one-page summaries, full lesson
plans of great depth, links to the corresponding Haftarah portions, and audios of all sessions that considered each Torah portion.
We believe that this resource is one of the most comprehensive and high quality treatments of the Torah portions that can be found online.
A companion link is here: Divine Guidance for Good Living
This takes one to a wide range of information relating to the class’ year long study of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) that are found throughout all the Torah portions. Here one can encounter the full Instruction from all the weekly Torah portions, taken together and organized in a special way. Study through both links can take the Bible student, whether Jewish or Christian, to deeper levels of understanding of these important sacred texts.
The use of the website’s search tools can also be very helpful in
accessing all the extraordinary material here, thus enriching study of the
weekly portions.