Tag Archives: Torah

Counting the Omer

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Omer-Calendar

Counting of the Omer is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days betweenthe holidays of Passover and Shavuot. This practice derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning the from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. The Counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover, and ends the day before the holiday of Shavuot, the ‘fiftieth day.’

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Key Jewish Sacred Texts

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Tanakh: the acronym referring to the Torah, the Nevi’im and the Kethuvim.

Torah: the first five books of the Bible. Also referred to as the Pentateuch or The Five Books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Each book is broken into 10-12 weekly parshiyot (54 in total).

Nevi’im: the second part of the Bible, comprised of the eight books of Prophets and the Twelve Minor Prophets (so-called because they are shorter texts): Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi).

Kethuvim: the “writings,” divided into three main parts:
1. Psalms, Proverbs, Job
2. Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther (also referred to as Hamesh Megillot, the five scrolls)
3. Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles (historical texts)

The Septuagint (LXX): the name commonly given to the Koine Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures, translated in stages between the 3rd to 1st century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt. In the Septuagint, the Torah and Nevi’im are established as canonical, but the Kethuvim appear not to have been definitively canonized yet.

Mishnah: literally defined as oral instruction, the Mishnah is a compilation of the written records of oral discussions of various laws completed in 200 CE. Believed to be compiled in its final form by Rabbi Judah al-Nasi, “Rabbi.” Divided into six orders, each with numerous subsections called tractates: Zera’im (seeds), rules about agriculture; Mo’ed (appointed times), rules about Sabbaths and festivals; Nashim (women), primarily marriage laws; Nezikin (damages), rules about money and legal disputes; Kodoshim (holy things), Temple procedures; Teharot (purities), ritual impurities and purification.

Tosefta:  literally “addition.”  Further rabbinic comments on most of the topics covered in the Mishnah.

Talmud: exists in two forms – the Jerusalem Talmud (abbreviated y.) and the Babylonian Talmud (abbreviated b.). Compiled during the 3rd to 6th centuries, the Talmud consists of extracts from the Mishnah, accompanied by commentary called Gemara (learning). Represents the body of Jewish civil and ceremonial law.

Midrash Rabbah (Great Midrash): collection of rabbinic comments on biblical text, completed in 1545. Contains 10 midrashim: the five books of the Torah and the Five Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther). Individual sections are referred to by their biblical title (i.e. Genesis/Bereshit Rabbah, etc).

Halakhah and Aggadah: descriptive types of rabbinic comment. Halakhah is legal comment, referring to “the way” of the Torah, concerned with explicating, applying and making sense of the legal materials in the Bible. Aggadah is non-legal comment, a more amorphous category, including theology, legend, sayings, prayer and praise.

Sefer ha-Zohar: The Book of Splenour, the central text of Kabbalah, the mystical branch of Judaism.

Responsa: thousands of volumes of answers to specific questions on Jewish law. If the Talmud is a law book, then the responsa are case law.

Weekly Torah Readings

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The Torah is divided into 54 sections called parshiyot and one parshah (singular) is read each week throughout the year (two occasionally). Reading the weekly Torah portion is a hallmark of the learned Jew as new insights emerge each time one engages in the pursuit of Torah. The cyclical nature of the parshiyot reflects Judaism’s connection to time and season. In the synagogue service, the weekly parshah is followed by a passage from the prophets, which is referred to as a haftarah (haftarot, plural). Contrary to common misconception, “haftarah” does not mean “half-Torah.” The word comes from the Hebrew root Fei-Teit-Reish and means “concluding portion”. Usually, the haftarah portion is no longer than one chapter, and has some relation to the Torah portion of the week.

The Torah and haftarah readings are performed with great ceremony: the Torah is paraded around the room before it is brought to rest on the bimah (podium). The reading is divided up into portions, and various members of the congregation have the honor of reciting a blessing over a portion of the reading. This honor is referred to as an aliyah (aliyot, plural; literally, ascension).

To access the most comprehensive, non-denominational weekly Torah and Haftarah portion go to Hebrew Calendar: http://www.hebcal.com/sedrot/. Below is a table of the weekly parshiyot in the order in which they are read: 

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