Parshah, Parashiot, Haftarah and Haftarot, what do they mean?

Due to the growing interest of many and the flood of videos posted on the Internet with the titles of parshah, parashiot, haftarah and haftarot, we decided to explain the origin of both the expressions and what they represent.

We have also seen that many people who watch such videos are using the term incorrectly and creating neologisms on top of such expressions.

Parashat (פָּרָשַׁת), (read Parshah): means piece, division, segment or portion, and it is the latter that best defines the 54 portions into which the Torah was commonly divided. As for such division, there is no consensus on how or when it arose, there are some claims that date back to the time of Moshe (Moses) and that God himself gave the instruction on how to divide them, other sources date the division to the period of Ezra (Ezra) in the 4th century BCE after the exile along with all the ceremonial and liturgical recovery of the service.

Parashiot

Parashiôt, Parshah, Parashah or Parshah in Hebrew פרשה, are also known as Parashat haShavuá (Weekly portion) and are the 54 portions into which the Torah was divided for weekly study. Each Parashiôt is further complemented by the Haftarah (a portion of the prophets)