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 Vayechi has 12 "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 Vayechi has no "closed portion" (סתומה, setumah) divisions (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ס (samekh), roughly equivalent to the English letter "S") within those open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions. The first open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) spans the first three readings (עליות, aliyot). Ten further open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) divisions separate Jacob’s blessings for his sons in the fifth and sixth readings (עליות, aliyot). The final, twelfth open portion (פתוחה, petuchah) spans the concluding sixth and seventh readings (עליות, aliyot).
Read more about this topic: Vayechi
Famous quotes containing the word readings:
“The eating of a MacDonald’s meal is like the reading of Reader’s Digest—small, easily digested, carefully processed, carefully cut down, abridged. Reader’s Digest gives us knowledge that is easily compartmentalized, simplified, ideologically sound.”
—Clive Bloom, British educator. “MacDonald’s Man Meets Reader’s Digest,” Readings in Popular Culture: Trivial Pursuits?, St. Martin’s Press (1990)