Readings
In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parshah is divided into seven readings, or עליות, aliyot. In the Masoretic Text of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Parshah Bereishit has ten "open portion" (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter פ (peh), roughly equivalent to the English letter “P”). Parshah Bereishit has several further subdivisions, called "closed portion" (סתומה, setumah) divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ס (samekh), roughly equivalent to the English letter "S") within the open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions. The first seven open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions set apart the accounts of the first seven days in the first reading (עליה, aliyah). The eighth open portion (פתוחה, petuchah), spans the second and third readings (עליות, aliyot). The ninth open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) contains the fourth, fifth, sixth, and part if the seventh readings (עליות, aliyot). The tenth open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) is identical with the concluding maftir (מפטיר) reading. Closed portion (סתומה, setumah) divisions further divide the third, fourth, sixth, and seventh readings (עליות, aliyot).
Read more about this topic: Bereishit (parsha)
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