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A '''parashah''' (plural: ''parashot'' or ''parashiyyot'') is a section of a biblical book in the masoretic text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). Such sections are designated by various types of spacing between them in Torah scrolls, in scrolls of the books of Nevi'im or Ketuvim (especially megillot), and in masoretic codices. The division of the text into ''parashot'' for the biblical books is independent of chapter and verse numbers, which are not part of the masoretic tradition. ''Parashot'' are not numbered, but some of them have special titles.
Incorrect division of the text into ''parashot'', either by indicating a ''parashah'' in the wrong place or by using the wrong spacing technique, halakhically invalidates a Torah scroll according to Maimonides.^[1]
The division of ''parashot'' found in modern-day Torah scrolls of all Jewish communities (Ashkenazic, Sephardic, and Yemenite) is based upon the ruling of Maimonides in Mishneh Torah in ''Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and Torah Scrolls'', chapter 8. Maimonides based his division of the ''parashot'' for the Torah on the Aleppo Codex.^[2]

Contents

Rationale of the section divisions

Spacing techniques

Halakhic significance

Parashot in the Torah

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Variants

Literature cited

References

External links

Rationale of the section divisions

In the large majority of cases, a new ''parashah'' begins where a new topic or a new thought is clearly indicated in the biblical text.
Any attempt to systematically verify such topical division, however, involves a degree of subjectivity on the part of the reader. This subjective element may help explain differences between the masoretic codices in some details of the section divisions. It may also sometimes explain why certain verses that might seem like introductions to a new topic lack a section division, or why such divisions appear in places where no new topic is indicated.
In other places, however, the ''parashah'' divisions are used in places where it is clear that no new topic begins, in order to highlight a special verse by creating a textual pause before it or after it (or both).

Spacing techniques

In most modern scrolls and Jewish editions of the Bible, there are two types of ''parashot'': An "open portion" (''parashah petuhah'') and a "closed portion" (''parashah setumah''). An "open portion" is roughly similar to a modern paragraph: The text of the previous portion ends before the end of the column (leaving a space at the end of the line), and the new "open" portion starts at the beginning of the next line (but with no indentation). A "closed portion", on the other hand, leaves a space in the ''middle'' of the line of text, where the previous portion ends before the space, and the next portion starts after it, towards the end of the line of text.
An "open portion" (''petuhah'') is often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter "פ" (''peh''), and a "closed portion" (''setumah'') with the Hebrew letter "ס" (''samekh'').^[3] Rough English equivalents are "P" and "S" respectively.^[4]
In masoretic codices and in medieval scrolls, these two spacing techniques allow for a larger range of options:

★ An "open portion" ''always started at the beginning of a new line''. This could happen the way described above, but also by leaving a ''blank line'' between the two portions, thus allowing the previous to sometimes entirely fill its last line of text.

★ A "closed portion" ''never began at the beginning of a line''. This could happen as in modern scrolls (a space in the middle of a line), but also by the previous portion ending before the end of the line, and the new portion beginning on the next line after an indentation.

Halakhic significance

According to the ruling of Maimonides (''Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzah and Torah Scrolls'' 10:1), any error regarding a ''parashah'' completely invalidates a Torah scroll. This includes a ''parashah'' in the wrong place, of the wrong type, or a missing ''parashah''.
However, there is also a responsum by Maimonides^[5] in which he ruled that one may recite a blessing over reading an ''inaccurately'' written scroll, based on the reasoning that the commandment is in the reading itself, not in the text being read from.
Maimonides' strict ruling that any error in the ''parashot'' completely invalidates a Torah scroll led to a major halakhic debate that continues to this day. Among those who disputed Maimonides' ruling were his son, Rabbi Abraham,^[6] Rabbi Menachem ha-Meiri,^[7] Maharam Halava,^[8] Mahari Mintz^[9], and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.^[10]
All of them rule that a scroll containing ''parashot'' based on alternative scribal traditions that disagree with Maimonides' list of ''parashot'' is nevertheless a valid scroll. However, a blatant error with no source in any scribal tradition does invalidate a Torah scroll, even according to the lenient opinion.

Parashot in the Torah

The following list presents the parashah divisions as found in Torah scrolls, in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, and in the Aleppo Codex (the very few inconsistencies between these three sources are explained in footnotes). The five books of the Torah have been broken down into their weekly Torah readings for convenience.
Due to the influence of Maimonides, the ''parashah'' divisions in the Torah have been highly standardized, and therefore the list below conforms to the section divisions as found in nearly all printed Jewish bibles in modern times, in Torah scrolls, as well as in similar online texts.^[11] Variations found in alternative masoretic traditions (such as in the Leningrad Codex) are provided in a separate list.
Symbols:

★ {P} = ''parashah 'p'etuhah'' ("open portion"), typically resembles a new 'p'aragraph

★ {S} = ''parashah 's'etumah'' ("closed portion"), typically represented as a blank 's'pace in the middle of a line

★ {-} = no ''parashah'' break indicated
''Note: Only breaks 'between' two sections are listed: Any open or closed break between two sections indicates the status of the 'second' one that begins with it, e.g. in Genesis '{S} 5:32-6:4 {P}' is considered a "closed" section (setumah) because it 'begins' with {S}. No section break is indicated before the first portion of a biblical book, or after its last portion.''

Genesis

The full Hebrew letter-text of Genesis with ''parashah'' divisions may be viewed here.

★ 'Parashat Bereshit (Genesis 1:1-6:8):' 1:1-5 {P} 1:6-8 {P} 1:9-13 {P} 1:14-19 {P} 1:20-23 {P} 1:25-31 {P} 2:1-3 {P} 2:4-3:15 {S} 3:16 {S} 3:17-21 {P} 3:22-24 {P} 4:1-26 {S} 5:1-5 {S} 5:6-8 {S} 5:9-11 {S} 5:12-14 {S} 5:15-17 {S} 5:18-20 {S} 5:21-24 {S} 5:25-27 {S} 5:28-31 {S} 5:32-6:4 {P} 6:5-8

★ 'Parashat Noach (Genesis 6:9-11:32):' {P} 6:9-12 {S} 6:13-8:14 {S} 8:15-9:7 {S} 9:8-17 {P} 9:18-29 {P} 10:1-14 {S} 10:15-20 {S} 10:21-32 {P} 11:1-9 {P} 11:10-11 {S} 11:12-13 {S} 11:14-15 {S} 11:16-17 {S} 11:18-19 {S} 11:20-21 {S} 11:22-23 {S} 11:24-25 {S} 11:26-32

★ 'Parashat Lekh Lekha (Genesis 12:1-17:27):' {P} 12:1-9 {P}

Exodus

★ 'Parashat Ki Tissa (Exodus 30:11-34:35):' {P} 30:11-16 {P} 30:17-21 {P} 30:22-33 {S} 30:34-38 {S} 31:1-11 {P} 31:12-17 {S} 31:18;32:1-6 {P} 32:7-14 {S} 32:15-35 {S} 33:1-11 {P} 33:12-16 {P} 33:17-23 {P}^[12] 34:1-36 {P} 34:27-35

★ 'Parashat Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20):' {S} 35:1-3

Leviticus

The full Hebrew letter-text of Leviticus with ''parashah'' divisions may be viewed here.

★ 'Parashat Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16:1-18:30):' {S} 16:1-34 {P} 17:1-16 {P} 18:1-5 {S} 18:6 {S} 18:7 {S} 18:8 {S} 18:9 {S} 18:10 {S} 18:11 {S} 18:12 {S} 18:13 {S} 18:14 {S} 18:15 {S} 18:16 {S} 18:17-30

★ 'Parashat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27):' {P} 19:1-22 {P} 19:23-32 {S} 19:33-37 {P} 20:1-27

★ 'Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23):' {P} 21:1-9 {S} 21:10-15 {S} 21:16-24 {P} 22:1-16 {P} 22:17-25 {S} 22:26-33 {P} 23:1-3 {P} 23:4-4 {P} 23:9-14 {S} 23:15-22 {P} 23:23-25 {S} 23:26-32 {P} 23:33-44 {P} 24:1-4 {P} 24:5-9 {S} 24:10-12 {P} 24:13-23

★ 'Parashat Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2):' {P} 25:1-7 {S} 25:8-24 {S} 25:25-28 {S} 25:29-34 {S} 25:35-38 {S} 25:39-46 {S} 25:47-26:2

★ 'Parashat Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34):' {P} 26:3-13 {P} 26:14-26 {S} 26:27-46 {P} 27:1-8 {S} 27:9-34

Numbers

The full Hebrew letter-text of Numbers with ''parashah'' divisions may be viewed here.

★ 'Parashat Bemidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20):' 1:1-19 {S} 1:20;21 {P} 1:22-23 {P} 1:22-23 {P}1:24-25 {P}1:26-27 {P}1:28-29 {P}1:30-31 {P}1:32-33 {P}1:34-35 {P}1:36-37 {P}1:38-39 {P} 1:40-41 {P}1:42-43 {P} 1:44-47 {P} 1:48-54 {P} 2:1-9 {S} 2:10-16 {S} 2:17 {S} 2:18-24 {S} 2:25-31 {P} 2:32-34 {P} 3:1-4 {P} 3:5-10 {P} 3:11-13 {P} 3:14-26 {S} 3:27-39 {S} 3:40-43 {P} 3:44-51 {P} 4:1-16 {P} 4:17-20

★ 'Parashat Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89):' {P} 4:21-28 {S} 4:29-37 {S} 4:38-49 {P} 5:1-4 {P} 5:5-10 {P} 5:11-31 {P} 6:1-21 {P} 6:22-23 {S} 6:24 {S} 6:25 {S} 6:26 {S} 6:27 {S} 7:1-11 {S} 7:12-17 {P} 7:18-23 {P} 7:24-29 {P} 7:30-35 {P} 7:36-41 {P} 7:42-47 {P} 7:48-53 {P} 7:54-59 {P} 7:60-65 {P} 7:66-71 {P} 7:72-77 {P} 7:78-83 {P} 7:84-89

★ 'Parashat Behaalotekha (Numbers 8:1-12:16):' {P} 8:1-4 {P}

Deuteronomy

The full Hebrew letter-text of Deuteronomy with ''parashah'' divisions may be viewed here.

★ 'Parashat Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8):' {P} 26:1-11 {S} 26:12-15 {S} 26:16-19 {P} 27:1-8 {S} 27:9-10 {S} 27:11-14 {S} 27:15 {S} 27:16 {S} 27:17 {S} 27:18 {S} 27:19 {-}^[13] 27:20 {S} 27:21 {S} 27:22 {S} 27:23 {S} 27:24 {S} 27:25 {S} 27:26 {P} 28:1-14 {P} 28:15-68 {S} 28:69 {P} 29:1-8

★ 'Parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20):' {P} 29:9-29:28 {S}

Variants

Literature cited

Works cited in the references to this article:

★ Ofer, Yosef. "The Aleppo Codex and the Bible of R. Shalom Shachna Yelin" in ''Rabbi Mordechai Breuer Festschrift: Collected Papers in Jewish Studies'', ed. M. Bar-Asher, 1:295-353. Jerusalem, 1992 (Hebrew).

★ Penkower, Jordan S. "Maimonides and the Aleppo Codex". ''Textus'' 9 (1981):39-128.

★ Penkower, Jordan S. ''New Evidence for the Pentateuch Text in the Aleppo Codex''. Bar-Ilan University Press: Ramat Gan, 1992 (Hebrew).

References

1. See below, Halakhic significance.
2. Though initially doubted by Umberto Cassuto, this has become the established position in modern scholarship. See the Aleppo Codex article for more information.
3. The abbreviations are most often used in Hebrew editions of the Bible with commentaries, and in older one-volume editions of the Tanakh published until the first half of the 20th century. Though most current editions use the actual spacing techiques instead of the abbreviations, they are still used some in one-volume editions, most prominently in BHS.
4. As implemented here.
5. Blau, responsum #294; also appears in ''Shu"t ha-Rambam Pe'er ha-Dor'' #9, and is thus cited by Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef in ''Yehaveh Da'at'' VI:56.
6. Responsum #91.
7. Commentary to Kiddushin 30a and in the introduction to his ''Kiryat Sefer'' on the laws of writing Torah scrolls.
8. Responsum #145. Maharam was a student of Rashba in thirteenth century Spain.
9. Responsum #8. Rabbi Judah Mintz flourished in Italy in the fifteenth century.
10. ''Yehaveh Da'at'' VI:56. Basing himself on previous authorities who disputed Maimonides ruling entirely, in addition to Maimonides' own ruling that a blessing may be recited upon reading from an invalid Torah Scroll, Rabbi Yosef permits Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews to recite a blessing upon reading from a Yemenite Torah Scroll. Yemenite scrolls differ from the former in a few details regarding spellings and ''parashah'' divisions.
11. Such as the text found at Mechon Mamre, in which the ''parashah'' divisions for the Torah are based on the rulings of Maimonides (as he was understood in the Yemenite Jewish tradition).
12. For Exodus 34:1, פסל-לך, the vast majority of accurate Tiberian manuscripts have {S} here instead of {P} (the latter is as listed by Maimonides and found in current Torah scrolls). Testimony about the text of the Aleppo codex (in the form of written notes taken on it when it was still intact) reveals that the form of the ''parashah'' at this point was a line of text that didn't reach the end of the column, followed at 34:1 by a line that began close to the beginning of the column. Identifying the type of ''parashah'' in such a context depends on whether the reader considers there to be a significant gap at the beginning of the line (in which case it is ''setumah'') or does not consider the gap to be significant (in which case it is ''petuhah''). This form of ''parashah'' is often indicated by a very small indentation in the extant parts of the Aleppo Codex, sometimes no wider than the space of one or two letters. Therefore, Penkower (p. 51 n. 125) and Ofer (pp. 306-307) suggest that Maimonides judged 34:1 to start at the beginning of its line without a significant gap, and was thus followed in later Torah scrolls. Other observers noted it as ''setumah'' (Kimhi, Sithon) or wrote conflicting notations (Amadi).
13. Deuteronomy 27:20 is the only one in a series of verses beginning with ארור ("cursed") not preceded by a closed break in Maimonides' list of ''parashot'' (and hence in current Torah scrolls). But other Tiberian masoretic codices have {S} here, while testimonies about the Aleppo Codex from when it was still intact are conflicted. Ofer (pp. 307-8) suggests that since 27:19 has more words than usual for this series of similarly constructed verses, its relative length resulted in a very small space between 27:19 and 27:20 in the narrow columns of the Aleppo Codex, a space which Maimonides interpreted as no more than the space between words and not a closed section break, while other readers evaluated it as a closed section break.

External links

'Parsha Classes:'

★ Classes from Yeshiva University on the Parsha

★ Classes from 613.org on the Parsha

★ An array of Classes on the Parsha

★ Classes for Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced Learners on the Parsha - including a Summary Plus Depth

★ Classes on the weekly torah portion at the Ein Prat Midrasha

★ Summary of each parsha and Weekly Divrei Torah