Portion Summary The thirty-first reading from the Torah is called Emor, a title that comes from the first verse of the reading, which says, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron’” (Leviticus 21:1). Emor begins with special laws of sanctity, propriety, and purity for the priesthood. Leviticus 23 […]

Portion Summary The thirty-second reading from the Torah and second-to-last reading from the book of Leviticus is called Behar, which literally means “on the mountain.” The name comes from the first words of the first verse of the reading, which could be translated to read, “The LORD then spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai” (Leviticus […]

Portion Summary The Hebrew name of the fourth book of the Torah and the name of its first reading is Bamidbar, which means “in the wilderness.” It comes from the first words of the first verse, which say, “Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai” (Numbers 1:1). The English title of […]

Portion Summary The second reading from the book of Numbers and the thirty-fifth reading from the Torah is called Nasso, a word that literally means “lift up.” It comes from the first word of the second verse in Hebrew, which could literally be translated to say, “Lift up the heads of the sons of Gershon,” […]

Portion Summary The third reading from the book of Numbers and the thirty-sixth reading from the Torah is called Beha’alotcha, a word that literally means “when you ascend.” It comes from the first verse of the portion, which could literally be translated as “when you ascend the lamps” (Numbers 8:2), a reference to the fact […]

Portion Summary The thirty-seventh reading from the Torah is called Shelach, an imperative verb that means “send out.” The portion is so named from the first few words of the second verse: “Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan” (Numbers 13:2). The Torah reading tells the tragic […]