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 Devarim has no "open portion" (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter פ (peh), roughly equivalent to the English letter “P”), and thus can be considered one whole unit. Parshah Devarim has five subdivisions, called "closed portions" (סתומה, setumah) (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ס (samekh), roughly equivalent to the English letter "S"). The first closed portion (סתומה, setumah) spans the first four readings (עליות, aliyot), the fifth reading (עליה, aliyah) contains the next three closed portions (סתומה, setumah), and the final closed portion (סתומה, setumah) spans the sixth and seventh readings (עליות, aliyot). (See, e.g., Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim / Deuteronomy, 2–25. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2009. ISBN 1-4226-0210-9.)
Read more about this topic: Devarim (parsha)
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