This Shabbat, Jews everywhere will read Bereishit, the first portion of the Torah. The annual cycle of daily Torah study has already begun, and for anyone who has thought about learning the Torah from start to finish, there won’t be a better week to start.
The idea of studying the weekly Torah portion goes back centuries, and early in his leadership, the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad-Lubavitch, taught that “one must live with the times.” His brother, Rabbi Yehudah Leib, explained what he meant: to live with the week’s Torah portion, and with the section assigned to that day.
Each weekly portion is divided into seven portions, one for each day. Learn a section a day, seven days a week, and you will have covered the entire Chumash, the Five Books of Moses, by next Simchat Torah. Many add a daily portion of Tehillim (Psalms) and Tanya as well, a study regimen known as Chitas, instituted by the Sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, of righteous memory, and championed by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, as a source of Divine blessings.
Whether you prefer to listen on a morning commute, read the text in Hebrew and English, or explore the Rebbe’s teachings on each week's portion, here are 8 ways to start.
1. Daily Study on Chabad.org
Tens of thousands of people turn to Chabad.org each day for their daily learning. With classes on Chumash, Tanya and Rambam (Maimonides) by several teachers that run concurrently as users follow the text, the Daily Study app is an invaluable resource for Torah Study.
The late master teacher Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin (Josh) Gordon was a pioneer of teaching Chitas, and his humor, erudition and teaching ability have made his classes, recorded for posterity on Chabad.org, a household name for generations of Torah students worldwide, even a decade after his passing. The Daily Studies with Rabbi Gordon App is a go-to resource for the thousands of students who still learn with him every day, while Chabad.org podcasts, available everywhere, feature classes by him and other teachers updated daily.
Chabad.org also features a comprehensive Parsha Section, complete with the original text of the Torah, translations, summaries, in-depth insights from classical commentaries, and the teachings of the Rebbe. Contemporary essays, classes, and videos are also presented each week.
The Scroll is Chabad.org’s print newsletter for every Shabbat, when offline inspiration is needed. Packed with commentaries, stories, and teachings, it is a must for every home.
2. Selections From Likkutei Sichos
For in-depth study of the weekly Torah portion, Likkutei Sichos—the Rebbe’s 39-volume magnum opus containing his collected and edited talks from thousands of hours of teachings—is the essential resource. Originally published in Yiddish and Hebrew, ‘Selections in Likkutei Sichos’ was recently released by Sichos in English, bringing the Rebbe’s insights into clear, contemporary English alongside the original text.
3. Project Likkutei Sichos
Project Likkutei Sichos is a worldwide initiative to learn and complete the entire Likkutei Sichos within eight years, two talks at a time, each week tied to that week’s Torah portion. Classes are offered in English, Hebrew, Yiddish, Portuguese and Spanish, with downloadable texts, translations and summaries, plus live classes, podcasts and an app.
4. ‘Torah Studies’ by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the late Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, adapted a selection of the Rebbe’s talks on the weekly Torah readings and Jewish holidays into English. Published in 1996 and given a modern update in recent years by Kehot Publication Society, Torah Studies follows the order of the weekly Torah portion, with a short introduction to each chapter outlining the central question the Rebbe addresses as well as his answer. The full book can be read on Chabad.org.
5. Shabbat deLights
Published by Chabad.org, in collaboration with Ezra Press, an imprint of Kehot, Shabbat deLights is a collection of essays on the Torah portion by Chabad.org author, editor and podcaster, Chana Weisberg. For each Torah portion, Weisberg shares concise and impactful essays rooted in Biblical text and chasidic thought, providing practical, empowering tools for dealing with contemporary life’s most pressing challenges. The book is available here.
6. Daily Wisdom
Translated and adapted by Rabbi Moshe Wisnefsky and published by Chabad House Publications of California, Daily Wisdom summarizes each daily Torah reading and presents an original insight based on the Rebbe’s teachings for every day of the year. Daily Wisdom’s 378 daily lessons offer a accessible taste of the Rebbe’s profound teachings, filled with love for G‑d, Torah, and the Jewish people. The complete volume is available on Chabad.org.
7. ‘Studies in Rashi’
For more than 25 years, beginning in late 1964 after the passing of his mother, to whom he dedicated this initiative, the Rebbe regularly devoted part of his Shabbat addresses to a close reading and study of a single comment of Rashi on the weekly portion. Kehot’s Studies in Rashi, translated by Rabbi Y. Eliezer Danzinger, brings those talks to English readers in a bilingual Hebrew-English set.
8. For Hebrew Readers
For Hebrew readers, an additional wealth of the Rebbe’s teachings is available. Shulchan Shabbat offers a collection of adapted Sichot for each parsha, while Otzar Likkutei Sichos translates selected talks for each Torah portion into Hebrew. Additional volumes can be browsed and purchased on Kehot’s website.
