Pentateuch

In the Sada Eshak Vayra P'A

To the Re'am, Shalom Rav,

The division into verses is accepted by Moses, as the Gemara says: "Every verse that Moses did not decree is not decreed by us." Likewise, the division into sections, in the sense of "open section" and "closed section," is accepted by tradition, and a Sada is not kosher if its sections are not punctuated according to tradition.

On the other hand, the division into weekly sections is a custom that was practiced in the days of Chazal in order to end the reading in a one-year cycle, as was practiced in Babylon. In the Torah, which was completed in three (or three and a half) years, there was a division into "orders", lists of which were preserved in the Genizah, and some of the midrashim are also divided according to these "orders".

With blessings, Ya'akov Levi