In Parshio, you can now click or tap on any word in the pointed (“with vowels”) text to get a link to what the word means.
There are any number of enhancements I could choose to make to Parshio. For example, some users would like the text to appear in columns as it does in the Torah (more like a traditional “tikkun”). So, why did I prioritize this enhancement instead?
One of the main reasons I created Parshio was to find better ways to approach Torah study and preparing to read Torah in public. Within the Jewish tradition, we study texts to understand them. Even when we prioritize reading in a language we don’t understand (i.e., Hebrew or Aramaic for someone whose native language is neither of these), it’s certainly ideal to read with understanding. As far as reading in public, Sha’arei Ephraim says, “a reader should pay attention to understanding the portion that they read” (Sha’ar 3, section 3, quoted in my teacher Joshua R. Jacobson’s Chanting the Hebrew Bible, second, expanded edition, p. 453).
Aside from reading in public, Jewish tradition has the idea of an obligation to read the weekly parashah to yourself, which is also to increase understanding. This is known as shnayim mikra and it takes a particular form, which is to read the text in Hebrew twice and then in translation once (based on the statement in the Talmud, shnayim mikra v’echad targum—Bible twice and translation once). Even more interestingly, this has come to mean reading the Targum (“the translation”), the classical Aramaic translation attributed to Onkelos. Which begs the question, how is reading a translation in a nearly-dead language a good way to increase understanding? This question was asked early on, and answered by the medieval commentary on the Talmud, the Tosafot:
The (Aramaic) Targum explains items that cannot be understood from the Hebrew, as can be found in many places. [For example], Rabbi Yosef said, (Megillah 3a) “If it were not for the (Aramaic) Targum of this verse, I would not know what it is speaking of.”
In modern times, the OU has even released an English translation of the Targum, saying, “Our Sages instituted the weekly study of Targum Onkelos as a means to fully understanding each week’s Torah portion.”
From this we can conclude that in the Jewish tradition, it is an ideal to read Torah not just with understanding, but in its original language with understanding. And this is now something you can do with help from Parshio.
We also know from science that understanding can help us remember something. Via Psychology Today:
Information transfer to long term memory is believed to be based on criteria such as sense and meaning (Bein, & Maril, 2014). Sense refers to the idea that we make sense of what we learn and how it fits with what we already know (Souza, 2017). Meaning reflects whether the item is relevant and personal to the individual (Souza, 2017).
Understanding the meanings of the words, then, along with the grammar and the structure of the trope, can help one be successful with public readings from an unpointed Torah scroll where trope and exact pronunciations need to be memorized. Plus, it makes the reading more beautiful when you chant with appropriate inflection of the words.
Lastly, Parshio is an attempt to be innovative. If you simply want the text in columns, there are other places to find that. (And, God willing, I’ll still add that in the future. Or maybe I should add Onkelos?)
I hope that you find meaning in the Torah and that maybe, Parshio can help you with that.
