About PORTION

Hebrew Name

נַחֲלָה

English Name

PORTION

Phonetic Spelling

NAH-CHA-LA

What does PORTION mean?

The grammatical root of nachala is nachal, meaning “stream.”

לֹֽא־יִ֠הְיֶ֠ה לַכֹּהֲנִ֨ים הַלְוִיִּ֜ם כׇּל־שֵׁ֧בֶט לֵוִ֛י חֵ֥לֶק וְנַחֲלָ֖ה עִם־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִשֵּׁ֧י יְהֹוָ֛ה וְנַחֲלָת֖וֹ יֹאכֵלֽוּן׃
The levitical Kohanim, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no territorial portion with Yisrael. They shall live only off Hashem's offerings by fire as their portion,
lo yi-HE-yeh la-ko-ha-NEEM ha-le-vee-YEEM kol SHE-vet le-VEE KHE-lek v'-na-kha-LAH im yis-ra-AYL, i-SHE-y a-do-NAI v'-na-kha-LA-to yo-KHE-lun
Deuteronomy 18:1

וְאֶתְכֶם֙ לָקַ֣ח יְהֹוָ֔ה וַיּוֹצִ֥א אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִכּ֥וּר הַבַּרְזֶ֖ל מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם לִהְי֥וֹת ל֛וֹ לְעַ֥ם נַחֲלָ֖ה כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃
but you Hashem took and brought out of Egypt, that iron blast furnace, to be His very own people, as is now the case.
va-TEL-ed a-DAH et ya-BAL, HU ha-YAH a-VEE yo-SHEV o-HEL u-mik-NEH
Deuteronomy 4:20

Description about PORTION

Upon the completion of the Israelite’s conquest of the land of Israel, the land was divided up into twelve nachalot, twelve “portions,” one for each tribe. Levi, the only tribe that did not receive a particular portion like the others, was scattered among the lands of the other tribes, in 48 different Levite cities. The Levites subsisted on agricultural tithes that the other tribes were obligated to give them from the produce of their fields. This freed the Levites to perform their designated duties in the Temple in Jerusalem and to serve as religious teachers for the nation. The children of Israel are referred to in the Bible as “God’s portion.” “But God took you and brought you out of Egypt… to be God’s very own portion” (Deuteronomy 4:20). God did not free the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt simply to become an independent nation like many other nations in the world. Rather, He took the people of Israel to make them His chosen nation, a nation that would bring the light of God to the world. God said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the God of the Hebrews: Let My people go to worship Me’” (Exodus 9:1). The people of Israel must be free in order to worship God. The grammatical root of nachala is nachal, meaning “stream.” Though the land of Israel does not have many lakes, it was blessed with many flowing streams, as it says in the verse, “For your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill” (Deuteronomy 8:7).

Attribute of PORTION

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