Reading the Torah
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Please do NOT visit this site
on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts!
Tanakh
versions:
Throughout this site I will be
using any of the following three versions of the TaNaKh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917),
2. “Sefaria.org” (SEF), and 3. “Mechon-Mamre.org” (MEC).
Colour coded details of the - TaNaKh:
1. Torah = History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The
Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim = all other Writings.
*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical books
- Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot, or Scrolls - Song
of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and
Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history of Ezra, Nehemiah, and
Chronicles I & II.
Please Note: Some alterations have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ having been corrected as it once was, pre the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the following three truth’s from our beloved Scriptures!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD
which I command you, neither
shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (the LORD your Eloleichem) which I command you”. Davarim -
Deuteronomy 4:2.
“This is My Name FOREVER, and this is My Memorial to ALL Generations”. Shemot - Exodus 3:15. (JPS).
“I am יְהוָה, that is My Name; and My glory will I not
give to another”.
Yeshayahu - Isaiah 42:8. (JPS).
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The history of the weekly portion and the
different schedules on which it's done..
“Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey the entire Torah My servant Moshe has given you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Torah depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
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Every week, one section of the Torah, known as the Torah portion or “parashat,” it is designated as a focus of our Hebrew study and is read aloud in synagogue on Shabbat.
The first mention of a scheduled Torah-reading cycle appears in the Torah, in Davarim - Deuteronomy, where Moshe - Moses instructs the tribe of Levi and the elders of Israel to gather all the people for a public reading, from portions of the Torah once every seven years. The need to read the Torah publicly intensified after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE; Hebrews were dispersed into other parts of the Middle East, into North Africa, and into Europe; and their earlier religious and cultural world became decentralized. While most Hebrews in the Diaspora now follow one Torah-reading cycle, whilst some communities are on a triennial cycle.
We understand that we were continuing to read the Torah publicly; and we also know that there were Torah readings for festivals, special Shabbat as well as fast days.
But it was not until about the 6th century C.E., that we in the Land of Israel began to read the entire Torah in public and do so until all the “Five Books of Moshe - Moses” were completed. At that time, the cycle took three years in a pattern called the ‘Palestinian triennial’, beginning the first year with the first book, Bereshit - Genesis, and finishing, at the end of the third year, with the fifth book, Davarim -Deuteronomy.
The Hebrews of Babylon, however, followed a different custom, established by the beginning of the 7th century CE, and completed the entire cycle each year, which they did by dividing the Torah into 54 weekly portions. (Because the number of portions exceeds the number of weeks in a given year, more than one portion is read during certain weeks.) In Hebrew, the word for portion is parsha (plural, parshiyot).
In the 19th century, a reintroduction of the Palestinian triennial cycle was attempted at the West End Congregation in London, but was unsuccessful. In the middle of the 20th century, various congregations in the United States (primarily Conservative ones) were seeking ways to modernize the service and also to spend more time on Shabbat on actual Torah study. They too attempted to revive the Palestinian cycles with the argument that reading only a section of the weekly Torah portion would make Torah study more concentrated and thus enhanced.
The reintroduction failed for two reasons. First: in the pattern of the Palestinian triennial cycle, the weekly reading would have differed from what the rest of the Hebrew world was reading. Second, Simchat Torah (the holiday in which Jews celebrate the conclusion of one Torah-reading cycle and the beginning of the next) celebrations would occur only one out of every three years, instead of annually.
Second: Finally, in 1988, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement passed a legal ‘responsum’ that put into practice a new American triennial cycle. This new triennial cycle, rather than dividing the entire Torah into thirds, as was done in the Palestinian cycle, divides each of the individual 54 portions into thirds. Therefore, a congregation can be reading within the same portion as those who follow the annual cycle, but will only read one-third of each portion per year. In addition, this pattern enables the congregation to read from Bereshit - Genesis through Devarim - Deuteronomy each year.
There is an obvious drawback to this system: Only one-third of each conventional Torah portion is actually read per year; and the readings, because being incomplete, do not flow smoothly into the portion of the following week. Nonetheless, the vast majority of American Conservative and Reform congregations prefer this new cycle. All Hebrews in Israel, and Orthodox Hebrews in, UK, Australia, America and most other countries continue to follow the annual cycle with the full portion read each week.
Below
is a short Torah based addition:
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Our Hebraic sacred texts are a refuge and a place to grow.
OK, so why does our wonderful Torah commence with the letter “bet - b? The question receives many answers from our Hebraic traditions over countless years. One common answer is that since “bet” - b is the second letter, it shows there is no true beginning to study, and it is an everlasting enterprise. ‘Elie Wiesel’ answered it in the following manner:
“Bet is a house (both because of its shape and because it begins the word Bayit, home) … The Book of Books is a shelter, a dwelling place, a place in which men and women laugh and weep, read and write, work and sleep. Home is a place where people can love one another before they start quarrelling or the other way around. In other words, it is a home.”
And it is true the Torah should be like a home to us all. For to study the Torah, is like entering a world in which we can be at home. Like home it invites us to enter, again and again. Like home, it is occasionally uncomfortable and too close. Like home, at times it forces us to live with people who irritate or upset us. But always it calls us right back. It can be either a spur or a refuge. However, no matter what, the study of the Torah, it is like coming to a wonderful and a safe home!
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Please Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located down the page!
In Conclusion, a Question to Deepen the Conversation:
Which
part of the Tanakh study, or possibly a particular
line or statement within it has touched you the most? And how do you
feel about spending more time studying our beloved Tanakh?
I pray that you are doing well as a faithful Hebrew, and אֱלֹהִים - Elohim willing you are upholding as many of our
blessed Mitzvoth’s?
Dear
reader, please
remember this, pray for peace and solitude in your life, and then work on
keeping as calm as possible and learn to improve your life, for אֱלֹהִים -
בָּרוּךְ
אֱלֹהִים - Bless Elohim, He is always there and ready to help and guide you!
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PLEASE NOTE: If you need assistance in some way, just ask, I can email you special items to help you with whatever you may need, etc! Just email me (using the link further below) and I will send it to your email, without any follow up whatsoever, or any requests from me! The email is just down this page.
This site was originally for those who needed
to return to our blessed and wonderful faith, thus be wise and work on your
faith and pray at least two or of possible three times a day and always seek אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s
guidance! But as you may have discovered it has become very much a teaching
site!
Remember
what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following, via a
number of our prophets...
“Return unto Me, and I will
return unto you, saith צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה- the LORD of hosts”. Mal’a’chi -
Malachi 3:7. MEC).
And Remember ...
Enjoy your Sabbath Rest, Shabbat Shalom!
אֲנִי
יְהוָה
אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, בְּחֻקּוֹתַי
לֵכוּ; וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי
שִׁמְרוּ, וַעֲשׂוּ
אוֹתָם
וְאֶת-שַׁבְּתוֹתַי, קַדֵּשׁוּ; וְהָיוּ
לְאוֹת, בֵּינִי
וּבֵינֵיכֶם-לָדַעַת, כִּי
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם
“I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה
(the LORD your Elo’hei’chem);
walk in My statutes, and keep Mine
ordinances, and do them; and hallow My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign
between Me and you, that ye may know that I am אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - YaHVaH your Elo’hei’chem”. Yechezkel - Ezekiel
20:19-20. (JPS).
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“Hebraic Studies” motto is as follows;
For אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - the LORD Elohim, Blessed be His Sanctified Name,
He is the one who gave us our Life!”
שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם -
Shalom Aleichem - Peace
be with you!
Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
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