Masei

Masei, Mas'ei, or Masse (מַסְעֵי‎—Hebrew for "journeys," the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 43rd weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the 10th and last in the Book of Numbers. The parashah comprises Numbers 33:1–36:13. The parashah discusses the stations of the Israelites' journeys, instructions for taking the land of Israel, cities for the Levites and refuge, and the daughters of Zelophehad.

It is made up of 5,773 Hebrew letters, 1,461 Hebrew words, 132 verses, and 189 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה‎, Sefer Torah).^[1] Jews generally read it in July or August.^[2] The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 Saturdays, the exact number varying between 50 in common years and 54 or 55 in leap years. In some leap years (for example, 2014), parashat Masei is read separately. In most years (all coming years until 2035 in both the Diaspora and Israel), parashat Masei is combined with the previous parashah, Matot, to help achieve the number of weekly readings needed.^[3]