Parshas Hashavua

What is Parshas HaShavua

Literally, Parshas HaShavua means portion of the week. Each week we read one of 54 portions of Five Books of Moses. In any given week, all Jews in the world are reading the same parsha, portion.

When do we read Parshas HaShavua

The public readings of the Torah are generally on Monday, Thursday, and Shabbat Day (Saturday). On Shabbat morning, we read the entire portion, broken up into 7 parts. These parts are referred to as aliyot (meaning "going up") because a memeber of the congregation "goes up" to the bima, stage, to read them. On Monday and Thursday, we read only part of the parsha, 3 aliyot.

Other Occasions When We Read Torah

Other than the weekly Torah readings, we read special Torah portions on fast days, holy days, and intermediate holy days (hol haMoed. Generally, when someone speaks of Parshat HaShavua, he/she is referring to the standard weekly portion.

How do we identify Parshas HaShuvua?

Each parsha has a name that is derived from the first word in the parsha that is somewhat unique to that parsha. For a list of names of the portions, go to http://danieldvartorah.blogspot.com/p/torah-portion-of-week.html. Sometimes, the names of parshiot (the plural form of parsha) can be quite telling of the content, occasionally the connection between name and subject is quite obscure, and from time to time the names are ironic.

For instance, the name of parsha va'ye'chi means he lives, referring to Jacob. It is true that this portion does talk a bit about Jacob's life, but the main event is Jacob dying!