Feasting on God's Wordનમૂનો

Day 4 - Posture 3: Parasha

Matthew 4:4; Psalm 100:2

Our third posture for interacting with the Bible comes from the Hebrew word parasha, meaning “portion.” I grew up in a Christian home where daily Bible reading was encouraged and practiced. We called this our quiet time. In Jewish liturgy, the parasha is the portion of Torah read in synagogue each week during the Shabbat (Sabbath) service. The entire congregation takes in the parasha; they hagah and feast on it together. Once again, we see the rich imagery of taking in our portion of the living Word, feeding on it, and letting it have its way in us as we are being formed as followers of Jesus.

Jewish congregations each have their own large Torah scroll known as the Sefer Torah. These scrolls can cost tens of thousands of dollars and are typically stored in the aron kodesh, or holy ark. There are several differences between Torah scrolls and English Bibles. Torah scrolls are in Hebrew, with the text being written and read from right to left. Another key difference is that there are no chapter headings, chapters, or verses. The first English Bible to include sections, chapters, and verses did not go into print until the year 1560. It was called the Geneva Bible. For 1,500 years, the church interacted with Scripture in story form, without it being broken down into chapter and verse.

In synagogues, when the congregational scroll is taken out of the ark, the people rejoice and celebrate, singing and dancing as they welcome the Word in their midst. They often stand for the reading of that day’s parasha. They revere the presence of the Scriptures among them. When I attend a Shabbat service—such as at the local Messianic community I previously mentioned—this is one of the experiences I most anticipate!