Vayikra (parashah)

Parashat Vayikra, VaYikra, Va-yikra, Wayyiqra, or Wayyiqro (וַיִּקְרָא‎—Hebrew for "and He called," the first word in the parashah) is the 24th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the first in the Book of Leviticus. The parashah lays out the laws of sacrifices (קָרְבָּנוֹת‎, korbanot). It constitutes Leviticus 1:1–5:26.

The parashah has the most letters and words of any of the weekly Torah portions in the Book of Leviticus (although not the most verses). It is made up of 6,222 Hebrew letters, 1,673 Hebrew words, 111 verses, and 215 lines in a Torah scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה‎, Sefer Torah). (Parashat Emor has the most verses of any Torah portion in Leviticus.)^[1] Jews read it the 23rd or 24th Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in March or early April.^[2]