A cycle of three years, in the course of which the whole Law is
read on Sabbaths and festivals. This was the practise in
Palestine, whereas in Babylonia the entire Pentateuch was read
in the synagogue in the course of a single year (Meg. 29b). The
modern practise follows the Babylonian; but as late as 1170
Benjamin of Tudela mentioned Egyptian congregations that took
three years to read the Torah ("Itinerary," ed. Asher, p. 98).
The reading of the Law in the synagogue can be traced to at
least about the second century The Masoretic divisions known as
"sedarim" and variously indicated in the text, number 154 in the
Pentateuch, and probably correspond, therefore, to the Sabbath
lessons of the triennial system, as was first surmised by
Rapoport ("Halikot Ḳedem," p. 11). The number varies, however,
so that Menahem Me'iri reckoned 161 divisions, corresponding to
the greatest number of Sabbaths possible in three years; the
Yemen grammars and scrolls of the Pentateuch enumerate 167 (see
Sidra); and the tractate Sofe