Parshat haShavua – the Weekly Torah Portion
The Torah, the Five Books of Moses, is read in synagogue each week and over the course of one year the entire Torah is read. The Torah is divided into parashot or portions, and one portion is read each Shabbat morning in synagogue (part of the parshah or portion will also be read in synagogue on Monday and Thursday mornings). As the length of the Jewish year varies according to whether or not it is a leap year (a leap year has an additional month), there are some parashot (portions) which may be read by themselves if it is a longer (leap) year, or together with another portion of it is a shorter (non leap) year.
As the Torah is considered the foundation of Judaism, studying it is considered an important aspect of being Jewish. Not only do they hear it read in synagogue on Shabbat, but religiously committed Jews also often study the Parshat haShavua (weekly Torah portion) during the week with insights or commentary written by rabbis. There are now a number of web sites and pages devoted to study of Parshat haShavua, and links to some of them appear below.
Links to web pages on Parshat HaShavua:
Aish haTorah: Weekly Torah Portion
Bar Ilan University: Parshat HaShavua Study Center
Chabad: The Weekly Torah Portion
My Jewish Learning: Weekly Torah Portion
The Office of Rabbi Sacks: Archive of Covenant and Conversation (Rabbi Sacks is the highly respected Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogues of the Commonwealth and Covenant and Conversation is the title of a number of books he wrote with articles about each of the weekly Torah portions)
Ohr Somayach: Torah Weekly
Rabbi Raymond Apple: OzTorah
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin: Shabbat Shalom
Shema Yisrael: Parshas Hashavua
