literally "portion"; the Torah portion assigned to a particular week or holy day

a designated portion of the Tanakh (Torah, Writings, and Prophets) that is read during the week by people of the Jewish faith

a paragraph in the written Torah according to the Masoretic text

(pah-rah-SHAH) The weekly Torah reading, also called parashat ha-shavuah (pah-rah-SHAHT hah-shah-VOO-ah), “portion of the week.

"Division", "section", "portion" (writing). (pl. Parashiyyot ) The weekly reading from the 54 parashiyyot into which the Torah was divided in Babylonia, for purposes of an annual cycle of reading the entire Torah. The name of each is taken from the first significant word(s) of the portion. (The 54-parashiyyot cycle replaced an earlier Palestinian triennial cycle that divided the text into 150 sedarim (sing.: sidra, "order" or "section" of the Torah). However, according to J.H. Hertz, Authorized Daily Prayer Book, rev. ed., London, 1946, N.Y., 1961, p. 471): "the virile and enthusiastic Jewry of Babylon concluded the Torah in the course of one year. Eventually this became the established rule...") Passover. See Pesach.