Shemot (parashah)

Shemot, Shemoth, or Shemos (שְׁמוֹת‎—Hebrew for 'names', the second word, and first distinctive word, of the parashah) is the thirteenth weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the first in the Book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 1:1–6:1. The parashah tells of the Israelites' affliction in Egypt, the hiding and rescuing of the infant Moses, Moses in Midian, the calling of Moses, circumcision on the way, meeting the elders, and Moses before Pharaoh.

It is made up of 6,762 Hebrew letters, 1,763 Hebrew words, 124 verses, and 215 lines in a Torah Scroll.^[1] Jews read it the thirteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in late December or January.^[2]