It is the first Shabbat immediately following the holidays, known as Shabbat Bereishit (or Shabbos Bereishis in European Hebrew). Why is it thus named? Every week of the year we read another portion of the Torah.

The name of the Parshah, "Bereishit," means "In the beginning" and it is found in Genesis 1:1. G‑d creates the world in six days. On the first day He makes darkness and light. On the second day He forms the heavens, dividing the “upper waters” from the “lower waters.”

Oct 20, 2006 · Shabbos Bereishis is usually the last Shabbos in the month of Tishrei. As such, it is a bridge between the elevated times of the ‘spiritual season,’ and the mundane days that lie ahead as the winter peeks out from around the corner.

Shabbos Bereishis is not like any other Shabbos nor even like any other Shabbos Mevarchim. It is something quite different. As my revered father-in-law explains in the sichah of [last] erev Sukkos,78 it is comprehensive: the spiritual light and vitality that are diffused on Shabbos Bereishis are continuous throughout the entire year.

Parashat Bereshit is the 1st weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. Next read on 18 Oct 2025 / 26 Tishrei 5786. Torah Portion: Genesis 1:1-6:8. Bereishit (“In the Beginning”), the first parashah in the annual Torah reading cycle, begins with God’s creation of …

This cluster of Tishrei holidays is culminated and concluded with Shabbat Bereshit, when we start the new annual cycle of reading the Torah. Not surprisingly, Shabbat Bereshit follows the same pattern of unification of past, present, and future.

Bereshit, Bereishit, Bereshis, Bereishis, or B'reshith (בְּרֵאשִׁית ‎—Hebrew for "in beginning" or "in the beginning," the first word in the parashah) is the first weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה ‎, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. The parashah consists of Genesis 1:1–6:8.

SHABBAT BERESHIT (Heb. שַׁבַּת בְּרֵאשִׁית, "the Sabbath of Genesis"), the first Sabbath after *Sukkot on which the new annual cycle of the Torah reading in synagogue begins (see also *Triennial Cycle), the previous cycle having been completed on *Simḥat Torah.

When Torah is studied properly, the person’s soul becomes firmly attached with the spiritual holiness of the Torah and its Giver, and the Shechinah — Divine Presence — is drawn down into this world elevating the person’s soul to a higher level.

The first Shabbat immediately following the holidays of Tishrei is known as Shabbat Bereishit (or Shabbos Bereishis). But not only the Torah reading sets this day aside from all the rest Shabbat days of the year.