The Torah begins with a bang—the Big Bang, the creation of the universe. But it ends with a whimper, albeit a whimper concealed by a very loud noise of another kind. Let me explain.
The system universally practiced among Jews nowadays is to read the entire Torah, from Genesis through Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers to Deuteronomy, each year. (Originally, this was a strictly Babylonian custom.) In some synagogues the entire weekly portion is read while in others just a few verses are read; but everyone is reading from the same set portion of the Torah. Occasionally the second day of a festival will occur on the Sabbath, but only (of course) in the Diaspora, leaving Israel (and some congregations elsewhere) reading a week ahead of the rest of the Jewish world. But before too long Diaspora Jews combine a couple of shorter portions and catch back up with Israel. In this way, the entire Torah is completed in the course of a single year, Sabbath after Sabbath—with one exception.
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