"Division", "section", "portion" (writing). (pl. Parashiyyot ) The weekly reading from the 54 parashiyyot into which the Torah was divided in Babylonia, for purposes of an annual cycle of reading the entire Torah. The name of each is taken from the first significant word(s) of the portion. (The 54-parashiyyot cycle replaced an earlier Palestinian triennial cycle that divided the text into 150 sedarim (sing.: sidra, "order" or "section" of the Torah). However, according to J.H. Hertz, Authorized Daily Prayer Book, rev. ed., London, 1946, N.Y., 1961, p. 471): "the virile and enthusiastic Jewry of Babylon concluded the Torah in the course of one year. Eventually this became the established rule...") Passover. See Pesach.