Leviticus

וַיִּקְרָא

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פָּרָשַׁת וַיִּקְרָא Vayikra ch 1–5

Parshat Vayikra opens the third book of the Torah with the korbanot (the offerings) through which a person comes close to Hashem; the word korban comes from karov, near. Read the summary →

1 2 3 4 5

פָּרָשַׁת צַו Tzav ch 6–8

Parshat Tzav returns to the offerings of Parshat Vayikra, now as commands to Aharon and his sons, the kohanim (the priests) who perform them, and then installs them in their service. Read the summary →

6 7 8

פָּרָשַׁת שְׁמִינִי Shemini ch 9–11

Parshat Shemini, "the eighth," opens on the eighth day of the consecration of the Mishkan (the Tabernacle), the day Aharon and his sons begin their service as kohanim (priests). Read the summary →

9 10 11

פָּרָשַׁת תַזְרִיעַ Tazria ch 12–13

Parshat Tazria is about tumah (ritual impurity) and taharah (purity) that come upon the person himself: after childbirth, and through tzaraat, the spiritual affliction of the skin that only a kohen (priest) can judge. Read the summary →

12 13

פָּרָשַׁת מְצֹרָע Metzora ch 14–15

Parshat Metzora continues the laws of tzaraat, the spiritual affliction the kohen (priest) examines (not leprosy), with the way back to taharah (purity), then tzaraat on houses, and the tumah (ritual impurity) of discharges from the body. Read the summary →

14 15

פָּרָשַׁת אַחֲרֵי מוֹת Acharei Mot ch 16–18

Parshat Acharei Mot, "after the death," opens after the death of Aharon's sons Nadav and Avihu, and teaches how a person may come close to Hashem's holiness without dying, and how Bnei Yisrael keep themselves and their land pure. Read the summary →

16 17 18

פָּרָשַׁת קְדֹשִׁים Kedoshim ch 19–20

Parshat Kedoshim opens with the basic tenet, "Kedoshim tihyu" you shall be holy, for I, Hashem your G-d, am holy — spoken to the whole congregation of Bnei Yisrael. Read the summary →

19 20

פָּרָשַׁת אֱמֹר Emor ch 21–24

Parshat Emor tells of holiness in those who serve Hashem, in the offerings they bring, and in the times of the year. Read the summary →

21 22 23 24

פָּרָשַׁת בְּהַר Behar ch 25–26

Parshat Behar, spoken to Moshe at Har Sinai (Mount Sinai), teaches that the Land of Israel and the people of Israel belong to Hashem. Read the summary →

25 26

פָּרָשַׁת בְּחֻקֹּתַי Bechukotai ch 26–27 from 26:3

Parshat Bechukotai closes Sefer Vayikra with the blessings and warnings of the covenant, and the laws of what is given to Hashem. Read the summary →

26 27

Sefer Vayikra Summary

Sefer Vayikra, the third book of the Torah (Chumash), is the book of the kohanim (the priests), the korbanot (the offerings) and holiness. The Chachamim (Sages) call it Torat Kohanim. It opens with Hashem calling to Moshe from the Ohel Moed (the Tent of Meeting) and teaching the offerings through which Bnei Yisrael come close to Him: the olah (burnt offering), minchah (meal offering), shelamim (peace offering), chatat (sin offering) and asham (guilt offering). After seven days of consecrating Aharon and his sons, fire comes out from before Hashem and consumes the offerings on the mizbe'ach (the altar). That same day Nadav and Avihu bring a strange fire that Hashem did not command, and fire comes out from before Hashem and consumes them.

The middle of the sefer teaches tumah (ritual impurity) and taharah (purity): the animals, birds and fish that may be eaten, childbirth, tzaraat, an affliction of the skin, garments and houses, and bodily discharges. Then Yom Kippur, when the kohen gadol (the high priest) atones for the whole people. The second half turns to the holiness of every Jew, "You shall be holy, for I am holy": forbidden relationships, "love your neighbor as yourself," the holiness of the kohanim, the moadim (the appointed festivals), shemitah (the seventh year, when the land rests) and yovel (the fiftieth, jubilee year). It closes with the blessings for keeping the mitzvot, the tochacha (the rebuke) for abandoning them, Hashem's promise to remember His covenant even in exile, and the laws of things vowed to Hashem.

Vayikra has twenty-seven perakim and ten parshiyot, from Vayikra to Bechukotai, read from Adar or Nisan through Iyar. In most years Tazria-Metzora, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim and Behar-Bechukotai are read together (with the exception of leap years, where they are often read separately). Each perek on TorahSages carries the Hebrew text with the mefarshim of the Mikraot Gedolot, and each parsha has its own summary page.