Considered to be one of the holiest items in Judaism, the Torah is a very large handwritten scroll made on parchment with the Jewish Bible written inside. The Torah is dived into sections, with each section being called a “Parsha”, which is read on Shabbat. The first Parsha is about the creation of the world and the last Parsha is about Moses blessing the 12 Tribes of Israel before they enter Israel and Moses dying. Over the holiday of Simchat Torah at the end of Sukkot, which is still the beginning of the new year, the last Parsha is read, followed by the first- and then throughout the year we go through the cycle of reading the entire Torah, one Parsha at a time. There are 54 Parshas that are read throughout the year, with some weekends doubling up on them. A Torah cannot be touched with bare hands and must be handled with extreme care, which is why a yad is used when reading. When not in use, the Torah is put in a special Aron (ark) for safekeeping and to show it is something holy.