Rabbi Kaganoff
Question #1: The Missing Speaker
The audience waited patiently for the guest speaker from America who never arrived, notwithstanding that he had marked it carefully on his calendar and was planning to be there. What went wrong?
Question #2: The Missing Reading
“I will be traveling to Eretz Yisroel this spring, and will miss one of theparshiyos. Can I make up the missing kerias haTorah?”
Question #3: The Missing Parshah
“I will be traveling from Eretz Yisroel to the United States afterPesach. Do I need to review the parshah twice?”
Question #4: The Missing Aliyah
“May I accept an aliyah for a parshah that is not the one I will be reading on Shabbos?”
Introduction:
The Jerusalem audience is waiting for the special guest speaker. The scheduled time comes and goes, and the organizer is also wondering why the speaker did not apprise him of a delay. Finally, he begins making phone calls and discovers that the speaker — is still in Brooklyn!
What happened? Well… arrangements had been made for the speaker to speak on Wednesday of parshas Behar. Both sides confirmed the date on their calendars — but neither side realized that they were not talking about the same date!
This year we have a very interesting phenomenon that affects baalei keriyah, calendar makers, those travelling to or from Eretz Yisroel, and authors whose articles are published in Torah publications worldwide. When Acharon shel Pesach falls on Shabbos in a leap year, there is a difference in the weekly Torah reading between what is read in Eretz Yisroel and what is read in chutz la’aretz – for a very long period of time – over three months – until the Shabbos ofMatos/Masei, during the Three Weeks and immediately beforeShabbos Chazon. Although Acharon shel Pesach falls on Shabbos fairly frequently, most of the time this is in a common year, and the difference between the observances of chutz la’aretz and of Eretz Yisroel last for only a few weeks. The last time Acharon shel Pesachfell on Shabbos in a leap year was back in 5755.
Why the different reading?
When the Eighth Day of Pesach, Acharon shel Pesach, falls on Shabbos, in chutz la’aretz, where this day is Yom Tov, we read a special Torah reading in honor of Yom Tov that begins with the words Aseir te’aseir. In Eretz Yisroel, where Pesach is only seven days long, this Shabbos is after Pesach (although the house is still chometz-free), and the reading is parshas Acharei Mos, which is always the first reading after Pesachin a leap year (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 428:4). On the subsequent Shabbos, the Jews of Eretz Yisroel already read parshas Kedoshim, whereas outside Eretz Yisroel the reading is parshasAcharei Mos, since for them it is the first Shabbos after Pesach. Until mid-summer, chutz la’aretz will consistently be a week “behind” Eretz Yisroel. Thus, in Jerusalem, the Wednesday of parshas Behar is the 10th of Iyar or May 18th. However, in chutz la’aretz, the Wednesday ofparshas Behar is a week later, on the 17th of Iyar or May 25th.
This phenomenon, whereby the readings of Eretz Yisroel and chutz la’aretz are a week apart, continues until the Shabbos that falls on August 6th. On that Shabbos, in chutz la’aretz parshiyos Matos andMasei are read together, whereas in Eretz Yisroel that week is parshasMasei, parshas Matos having been read the Shabbos before.
The ramifications of these practices affect not only speakers missing their engagements, and writers, such as myself, who live in Eretz Yisroel but write parshah columns that are published in chutz la’aretz. Anyone traveling to Eretz Yisroel during these three months will miss a parshah on his trip there, and anyone traveling from Eretz Yisroel to chutz la’aretz will hear the same parshah on two consecutive Shabbosos. Those from Eretz Yisroel who spent Pesach inchutz la’aretz discover that they have missed a parshah. Unless, of course, they decide to stay in Eretz Yisroel until the Nine Days. But this latter solution will not help someone who is living temporarily inEretz Yisroel and therefore observing two days of Yom Tov. Assuming that he attends a chutz la’aretz minyan on Acharon shel Pesach, he will miss hearing parshas Acharei Mos.
Several halachic questions result from this phenomenon: Is a traveler or someone who attended a chutz la’aretz minyan on Acharon shelPesach required to make up the missed parshah, and, if so, how? During which week does he review the parshah shenayim mikra ve’echad Targum? If he will be hearing a repeated parshah, is he required to review the parshah again on the consecutive week? Can he receive an aliyah or “lein” on a Torah reading that is not “his”parshah?
Why doesn’t chutz la’aretz catch up earlier?
First, let us understand why this phenomenon lasts for such a long time! After all, there are numerous weeks when chutz la’aretz could “double up” two parshiyos and thereby “catch up” to Eretz Yisroel. Why don’t they double up Acharei Mos/Kedoshim the week afterPesach, or Behar/Bechukosei, which is only a few weeks later, rather than reading five weeks of sefer Vayikra and virtually all of sefer Bamidbar before straightening out the problem?
As you can imagine, we are not the first to raise this question. The question is discussed by one of the great sixteenth-century halachicauthorities, the Maharit (Shu”t Maharit, Volume II, Orach Chayim #4). He answers that the reason why chutz la’aretz does not double theparshah earlier is because this would make Shavuos fall earlier than it should, relative to the parshiyos. Ideally, Shavuos should be observed between Bamidbar and Naso, and combining either Acharei Mos withKedoshim, or Behar with Bechokosai pushes Shavuos until afterparshas Naso.
Shavuos after Bamidbar
Why should Shavuos be after Bamidbar? The Gemara establishes certain rules how the parshiyos should be spaced through the year. The Gemara (Megillah 31b) explains: Ezra decreed that the Jews should read the curses of the tochacha in Vayikra before Shavuos and those of Devarim before Rosh Hashanah. Why? In order to end the year together with its curses! [The Gemara then comments:] We well understand why we read the tochacha of Devarim before Rosh Hashanah, because the year is ending, but why is that of Vayikra read before Shavuos? Is Shavuos the beginning of a year? Yes, Shavuos is the beginning of a new year, as the Mishnah explains that the world is judged on Shavuos for its fruit”.
We see from this Gemara that we should plan the parshiyos in such a way that we read from the beginning of Bereishis, which we begin onSimchas Torah, until parshas Bechukosai at the end of Vayikra beforeShavuos. We then space our parshiyos so that we complete the secondtochacha in parshas Ki Savo before Rosh Hashanah.
One week or two?
However, this Gemara does not seem to explain our practice. Neither of these parshiyos, Bechukosai or Ki Savo, is ever read immediatelybefore Shavuos or Rosh Hashanah. There is always at least one other Shabbos wedged between. This practice is already noted by Tosafos (Megillah 31b s.v. Kelalos). The Levush (Orach Chayim 428:4) explains that without the intervening Shabbos as a shield, the Satan could use the tochacha as a means of accusing us on the judgment day. The intervening Shabbos, when we read a different parshah, prevents theSatan from his attempt at prosecuting, and, as a result, we can declare: End the year together with its curses!
The Maharit explains that not only should we have one interveningShabbos between the reading of the tochacha and the judgment day, we should preferably have only one Shabbos between the two. That is why chutz la’aretz postpones doubling a parshah until after Shavuos. (Indeed, parshas Naso is read in Eretz Yisroel before Shavuos in these years, but that is because there is no better option. In chutz la’aretz, since one can have the readings occur on the preferred weeks,Shavuos is observed on its optimal Shabbos reading.)
Why not Chukas/Balak?
However, the Maharit points out that this does not explain why theparshiyos of Chukas and Balak are not combined, although he notes that, in his day, some communities indeed did read the two together when Acharon shel Pesach of a leap year fell on Shabbos. The Syrian communities followed this practice and in these years combinedparshiyos Chukas and Balak together, and read Matos and Masei on separate weeks. There is no Jewish community in Syria anymore today that reads kerias haTorah according to this custom – for that matter, there is unfortunately no longer any Jewish community in Syria that reads kerias haTorah according to any custom. I am under the impression that the communities of Aleppo Jews currently living in Flatbush and in Deal, New Jersey, do not follow this approach, notwithstanding their strict adherence to the customs that they have practiced for centuries. I am not familiar with the custom of other Syrian communities.
To explain the common custom that does not combine the parshiyosof Chukas and Balak, the Maharit concludes that, once most of the summer has passed and the difference is only what to read on threeShabbosos, we combine Matos with Masei which are usually combined, rather than Chukas and Balak, which are usually separate. The two parshiyos, Matos and Masei, are almost always read together, and are separated only when the year requires an extra Shabbosreading, as it does this year in Eretz Yisroel. Truthfully, we should view Matos and Masei as one long parshah (making the combination the largest parshah in the Torah) that occasionally needs to be divided, rather than as two parshiyos that are usually combined.
One could explain the phenomenon more simply: Matos and Maseiare read on separate weeks only when there simply are otherwise not enough readings for every Shabbos of the year.
In these occasional years when Matos and Masei are read separately,parshas Pinchas falls out before the Three Weeks — and we actually get to read the haftarah that is printed in the chumashim for parshasPinchas, Ve’yad Hashem, from the book of Melachim. In all other years, parshas Pinchas is the first Shabbos of the Three Weeks, and the haftarah is Divrei Yirmiyahu, the opening words of the book ofYirmiyahu, which is appropriate to the season. The printers of chumashim usually elect to print Divrei Yirmiyahu as if it is the haftarah for parshas Matos, and then instruct you to read it, on most years, instead as the haftarah for Pinchas. It is actually more logical to label Divrei Yirmiyahu as the hatarah appropriate for the first of the Three Weeks, and to print both Ve’yad Hashem and Divrei Yirmiyahu after Pinchas; Ve’yad Hashem for the occasional year when Pinchas falls before the 17th of Tamuz, and Divrei Yirmiyahu for the far more frequent year when it falls after, and instruct people that when there is a haftarah to be read just for parshas Matos, they should read Divrei Yirmiyahu which is located as the second haftarah printed afterparshas Pinchas. But, then, the printers do not usually ask me what to do, electing instead to mimic what previous printers have done. This phenomenon affects practical halachah, but that is a topic for a different time. However, the printers’ insistence to call Ve’yad Hashem the “regular” haftarah for parshas Pinchas has led to interesting questions.
Searching for a Missing Parshah
At this point, let us examine some of our opening questions. “I will be traveling to Eretz Yisroel this spring, and will miss one of theparshiyos. Can I make up the missing kerias haTorah?”
To the best of my knowledge, all halachic authorities rule that there is no requirement upon an individual to make up a missing parshah(Yom Tov Sheini Kehilchasah, page 239, notes 40 and 41, quoting Rav Shlomoh Zalman Auerbach, Rav Elazar Shach, and disciples of Rav Moshe Feinstein, in his name). Nevertheless, there is a widespread practice to try to find ways of reading through the entire extraparshah. Among the approaches I know are the following:
Read the entire missed parshah together with the kohen’s aliyah.
On the Shabbos mincha of the week before one leaves chutz la’aretz, read the entire coming week’s parshah, rather than only until sheini,as we usually do (Yom Tov Sheini Kehilchasah, page 241).
Individual versus tzibur
We should note that there is a major difference in halachah whether an individual missed the week’s reading, or whether an entire tziburmissed the reading. There is longstanding halachic literature ruling that, when an entire tzibur missed a week’s Torah reading, a situation that transpired occasionally due to flooding, warfare or other calamity, the tzibur would be required to make up the reading that was missed by reading a double parshah the following week (Rema, Orach Chayim 135:2, quoting Or Zarua).
Which parshah?
At this point, let us examine the next of our opening questions:
“I will be traveling from Eretz Yisroel to the United States afterPesach. Do I need to review the parshah twice?”
Let me explain the background to the question. The Gemara (Brachos8a-b) states: “A person should always complete his weekly parshiyoswith the community by reading the Scriptures twice and the targumonce (shenayim mikra ve’echad targum).” The targum referred to here is the Aramaic translation of the chumash known as Targum Onkelus. We will leave the details of this mitzvah for a different time, but we should be aware that the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 285:2) states that one who “fears Heaven” should read both the targum and Rashi.
Our questioner is asking as follows: He will have read each parshahaccording to the weekly schedule in Eretz Yisroel, and then he will be traveling to chutz la’aretz, where the previous week’s Eretz Yisroelreading will be read. Does the requirement to read the weeklyparshah “with the community” require him to read the same parshahagain, the next week, since for this week, he is part of that community, notwithstanding that he just read through that entireparshah the week before?
This exact issue is raised by Rav Avraham Chaim Na’eh, one of the great halachic authorities of mid-twentieth century Yerushalayim. Rav Na’eh, usually referred as the Grach Na’eh, authored many Torah works, among them Shiurei Torah on the measurements germane tohalachah, and Ketzos Hashulchan, which is an easy-to-read, practical guide to daily halachah. Aside from being a very excellent source ofhalachah that can be studied by both a layman and a skilled talmid chacham, the Grach Na’eh had a specific unwritten goal to accomplish. Whenever the Mishnah Berurah disputes an approach of the Gra”z (also known as the Shulchan Aruch Harav), the Grach Na’eh presents a brilliant approach explaining how the Gra”z understood the topic and thus justifying that position. The Grach Na’eh himself was a Lubavitcher Chassid, and, therefore, felt a personal responsibility to explain any difficulty that someone might pose with a halachic position of the Gra”z, the founder of Chabad Chassidus.
Returning to our original question, the Grach Na’eh (Ketzos Hashulchan, Chapter 72, footnote 3) rules that a ben Eretz Yisroel is not required to read shenayim mikra ve’echad targum a second time the next week, since he already fulfilled the mitzvah of reading it together with the Israeli tzibur. However, a ben chutz la’aretz who is in Eretz Yisroel should read shenayim mikra ve’echad targum for bothparshiyos the week he is in Eretz Yisroel. Since he will be part of anEretz Yisroel tzibur, he should read that parshah, and he also must read the one of chutz la’aretz, because otherwise, he’ll completely miss studying that parshah this year.
Which one first?
This last point leads us to a new question. Assuming that our chutz la’aretz traveler is now required to read through two parshiyosduring the week that will be his first Shabbos in Israel, which parshahdoes he read first? Does he read the two parshiyos according to their order in the Torah, or does he read first the Eretz Yisroel parshah, which is second in order in the Torah?
Why would he read the two parshiyos out of order?
The reason to require this is because the mitzvah is to read theparshah with the tzibur, and the Torah reading our traveler will be hearing that week is the second parshah since Eretz Yisroel’s reading is a week ahead.
We actually find a responsum on a related question. The Maharsham, one of the greatest halachic authorities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was asked a question by Rav Yitzchak Weiss, who is identified as a rav of Pressburg, Hungary. (You won’t find this city in any map of Hungary today, for two very good reasons: This city is known today as Bratislava, and it is no longer in Hungary, but serves as the capital of Slovakia.)
The question concerns someone who did not complete being maavir sedra one week. Should he complete the parshah that he is missing before beginning the current week, in order to do his parshiyos in order, or should he do the current week first, and then make up the missed part of the previous week?
The Maharsham concludes that he should do the current week first and then the makeup (Shu”t Maharsham 1:213). If we consider our case to be parallel to his, then one should do the two parshiyos in reverse order. However, one could, perhaps, argue that our traveler has an equal chiyuv to complete both parshiyos, since he is now considered a member of two different communities regarding the laws of the week’s parshah. In this case, he should do them in order.
Which aliyah?
At this point, let us look at our final question. “May I accept an aliyahfor a parshah that is not the one I will be reading on Shabbos?”
All halachic authorities that I have heard contend that one may receive an aliyah and/or lein without any concerns. The basis for this approach is that there is no requirement to hear a specific Torah reading each week. One is required to hear a Torah reading, and that reading should follow a consecutive pattern. But these details are not requirements that govern an individual’s mitzvah.
This year in Jerusalem…
In these occasional years when Matos and Masei are read separately, parshas Pinchas falls out before the Three Weeks — and we actually get to read the haftarah that is printed in the chumashim for parshas Pinchas, Ve’yad Hashem, from the book of Melachim. In all other years, parshas Pinchas is the first Shabbos of the Three Weeks, and the haftarah is Divrei Yirmiyahu, the opening words of the book ofYirmiyahu, which is appropriate to the season. The printers ofchumashim usually elect to print Divrei Yirmiyahu as if it is thehaftarah for parshas Matos, and then instruct you to read it, on most years, instead as the haftarah for Pinchas. What is more logical is to label Divrei Yirmiyahu as the hatarah appropriate for the first of the Three Weeks, and to print both Ve’yad Hashem and Divrei Yirmiyahu after Pinchas; Ve’yad Hashem for the occasional year when Pinchas falls before the 17th of Tamuz, and Divrei Yirmiyahu for the far more frequent year when it falls after, and instruct people that when there is a haftarah to be read just for parshas Matos, they should read Divrei Yirmiyahu which is located as the second haftarah printed after parshas Pinchas. But, then, the printers do not usually ask me what to do, electing instead to mimic what previous printers have done. This phenomenon affects practical halachah, but that is a topic for a different time. However, the printers’ insistence to call Ve’yad Hashem the “regular” haftarah for parshas Pinchas has lead to interesting questions.
Wrong haftarah
The Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, was asked the following shaylah. A shul read the haftarah Ve’yad Hashem for parshas Pinchas when it fell during the Three Weeks, which is the wrong haftarah (they should have read Divrei Yirmiyahu), and now it is parshas Matos/Masei. Which haftarah do they read, Divrei Yirmiyahu which is the one for the first of the Three Weeks, or the one for the second of the Three Weeks, which begins with the words Shim’u dvar Hashem?
He says that because these two chapters, Divrei Yirmiyahu and Shim’u dvar Hashem are next to one another, they should begin with Divrei Yirmiyahu and read them in order, both together, as one longhaftarah (Shu”t Tzemach Tzedek, quoted by Maharsham). Those who are unhappy about this decision of reading what is, in essence, a doubled haftarah, should take it up with their gabbai, or, if they prefer, with the printers, who should have placed Divrei Yirmiyahuafter parshas Pinchas!
End of Shim’u dvar Hashem – Nice or near?
By the way, there is a difference between the way the Sefardim and the Ashkenazim end this haftarah. The passage Shim’u dvar Hashemdoes not end on the most pleasant topic, and we try to close ourhaftaros on a positive note. For this reason, both Ashkenazim and Sefardim skip ahead to find a nice way to end the haftarah, but we don’t jump to the same place. Ashkenazim skip to the pasuk Halo Mei’atah, which is twelve pesukim ahead, whereas Sefardim jump ahead further, to the two heart-warming pesukim that begin with Im tashuv Yisroel, which are over thirty pesukim ahead. In this instance, it appears that Sefardim elected to go with the nicer conclusion, whereas Ashkenazim elected the nearest appropriate ending.
Conclusion
We see the importance of reading through the entire Torah every year. We should place even more importance in understanding the Torah’s portion well every week and putting it into practice.
Question #1: The Missing Speaker
The audience waited patiently for the guest speaker from America who never arrived, notwithstanding that he had marked it carefully on his calendar and was planning to be there. What went wrong?
Question #2: The Missing Reading
“I will be traveling to Eretz Yisroel this spring, and will miss one of theparshiyos. Can I make up the missing kerias haTorah?”
Question #3: The Missing Parshah
“I will be traveling from Eretz Yisroel to the United States afterPesach. Do I need to review the parshah twice?”
Question #4: The Missing Aliyah
“May I accept an aliyah for a parshah that is not the one I will be reading on Shabbos?”
Introduction:
The Jerusalem audience is waiting for the special guest speaker. The scheduled time comes and goes, and the organizer is also wondering why the speaker did not apprise him of a delay. Finally, he begins making phone calls and discovers that the speaker — is still in Brooklyn!
What happened? Well… arrangements had been made for the speaker to speak on Wednesday of parshas Behar. Both sides confirmed the date on their calendars — but neither side realized that they were not talking about the same date!
This year we have a very interesting phenomenon that affects baalei keriyah, calendar makers, those travelling to or from Eretz Yisroel, and authors whose articles are published in Torah publications worldwide. When Acharon shel Pesach falls on Shabbos in a leap year, there is a difference in the weekly Torah reading between what is read in Eretz Yisroel and what is read in chutz la’aretz – for a very long period of time – over three months – until the Shabbos ofMatos/Masei, during the Three Weeks and immediately beforeShabbos Chazon. Although Acharon shel Pesach falls on Shabbos fairly frequently, most of the time this is in a common year, and the difference between the observances of chutz la’aretz and of Eretz Yisroel last for only a few weeks. The last time Acharon shel Pesachfell on Shabbos in a leap year was back in 5755.
Why the different reading?
When the Eighth Day of Pesach, Acharon shel Pesach, falls on Shabbos, in chutz la’aretz, where this day is Yom Tov, we read a special Torah reading in honor of Yom Tov that begins with the words Aseir te’aseir. In Eretz Yisroel, where Pesach is only seven days long, this Shabbos is after Pesach (although the house is still chometz-free), and the reading is parshas Acharei Mos, which is always the first reading after Pesachin a leap year (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 428:4). On the subsequent Shabbos, the Jews of Eretz Yisroel already read parshas Kedoshim, whereas outside Eretz Yisroel the reading is parshasAcharei Mos, since for them it is the first Shabbos after Pesach. Until mid-summer, chutz la’aretz will consistently be a week “behind” Eretz Yisroel. Thus, in Jerusalem, the Wednesday of parshas Behar is the 10th of Iyar or May 18th. However, in chutz la’aretz, the Wednesday ofparshas Behar is a week later, on the 17th of Iyar or May 25th.
This phenomenon, whereby the readings of Eretz Yisroel and chutz la’aretz are a week apart, continues until the Shabbos that falls on August 6th. On that Shabbos, in chutz la’aretz parshiyos Matos andMasei are read together, whereas in Eretz Yisroel that week is parshasMasei, parshas Matos having been read the Shabbos before.
The ramifications of these practices affect not only speakers missing their engagements, and writers, such as myself, who live in Eretz Yisroel but write parshah columns that are published in chutz la’aretz. Anyone traveling to Eretz Yisroel during these three months will miss a parshah on his trip there, and anyone traveling from Eretz Yisroel to chutz la’aretz will hear the same parshah on two consecutive Shabbosos. Those from Eretz Yisroel who spent Pesach inchutz la’aretz discover that they have missed a parshah. Unless, of course, they decide to stay in Eretz Yisroel until the Nine Days. But this latter solution will not help someone who is living temporarily inEretz Yisroel and therefore observing two days of Yom Tov. Assuming that he attends a chutz la’aretz minyan on Acharon shel Pesach, he will miss hearing parshas Acharei Mos.
Several halachic questions result from this phenomenon: Is a traveler or someone who attended a chutz la’aretz minyan on Acharon shelPesach required to make up the missed parshah, and, if so, how? During which week does he review the parshah shenayim mikra ve’echad Targum? If he will be hearing a repeated parshah, is he required to review the parshah again on the consecutive week? Can he receive an aliyah or “lein” on a Torah reading that is not “his”parshah?
Why doesn’t chutz la’aretz catch up earlier?
First, let us understand why this phenomenon lasts for such a long time! After all, there are numerous weeks when chutz la’aretz could “double up” two parshiyos and thereby “catch up” to Eretz Yisroel. Why don’t they double up Acharei Mos/Kedoshim the week afterPesach, or Behar/Bechukosei, which is only a few weeks later, rather than reading five weeks of sefer Vayikra and virtually all of sefer Bamidbar before straightening out the problem?
As you can imagine, we are not the first to raise this question. The question is discussed by one of the great sixteenth-century halachicauthorities, the Maharit (Shu”t Maharit, Volume II, Orach Chayim #4). He answers that the reason why chutz la’aretz does not double theparshah earlier is because this would make Shavuos fall earlier than it should, relative to the parshiyos. Ideally, Shavuos should be observed between Bamidbar and Naso, and combining either Acharei Mos withKedoshim, or Behar with Bechokosai pushes Shavuos until afterparshas Naso.
Shavuos after Bamidbar
Why should Shavuos be after Bamidbar? The Gemara establishes certain rules how the parshiyos should be spaced through the year. The Gemara (Megillah 31b) explains: Ezra decreed that the Jews should read the curses of the tochacha in Vayikra before Shavuos and those of Devarim before Rosh Hashanah. Why? In order to end the year together with its curses! [The Gemara then comments:] We well understand why we read the tochacha of Devarim before Rosh Hashanah, because the year is ending, but why is that of Vayikra read before Shavuos? Is Shavuos the beginning of a year? Yes, Shavuos is the beginning of a new year, as the Mishnah explains that the world is judged on Shavuos for its fruit”.
We see from this Gemara that we should plan the parshiyos in such a way that we read from the beginning of Bereishis, which we begin onSimchas Torah, until parshas Bechukosai at the end of Vayikra beforeShavuos. We then space our parshiyos so that we complete the secondtochacha in parshas Ki Savo before Rosh Hashanah.
One week or two?
However, this Gemara does not seem to explain our practice. Neither of these parshiyos, Bechukosai or Ki Savo, is ever read immediatelybefore Shavuos or Rosh Hashanah. There is always at least one other Shabbos wedged between. This practice is already noted by Tosafos (Megillah 31b s.v. Kelalos). The Levush (Orach Chayim 428:4) explains that without the intervening Shabbos as a shield, the Satan could use the tochacha as a means of accusing us on the judgment day. The intervening Shabbos, when we read a different parshah, prevents theSatan from his attempt at prosecuting, and, as a result, we can declare: End the year together with its curses!
The Maharit explains that not only should we have one interveningShabbos between the reading of the tochacha and the judgment day, we should preferably have only one Shabbos between the two. That is why chutz la’aretz postpones doubling a parshah until after Shavuos. (Indeed, parshas Naso is read in Eretz Yisroel before Shavuos in these years, but that is because there is no better option. In chutz la’aretz, since one can have the readings occur on the preferred weeks,Shavuos is observed on its optimal Shabbos reading.)
Why not Chukas/Balak?
However, the Maharit points out that this does not explain why theparshiyos of Chukas and Balak are not combined, although he notes that, in his day, some communities indeed did read the two together when Acharon shel Pesach of a leap year fell on Shabbos. The Syrian communities followed this practice and in these years combinedparshiyos Chukas and Balak together, and read Matos and Masei on separate weeks. There is no Jewish community in Syria anymore today that reads kerias haTorah according to this custom – for that matter, there is unfortunately no longer any Jewish community in Syria that reads kerias haTorah according to any custom. I am under the impression that the communities of Aleppo Jews currently living in Flatbush and in Deal, New Jersey, do not follow this approach, notwithstanding their strict adherence to the customs that they have practiced for centuries. I am not familiar with the custom of other Syrian communities.
To explain the common custom that does not combine the parshiyosof Chukas and Balak, the Maharit concludes that, once most of the summer has passed and the difference is only what to read on threeShabbosos, we combine Matos with Masei which are usually combined, rather than Chukas and Balak, which are usually separate. The two parshiyos, Matos and Masei, are almost always read together, and are separated only when the year requires an extra Shabbosreading, as it does this year in Eretz Yisroel. Truthfully, we should view Matos and Masei as one long parshah (making the combination the largest parshah in the Torah) that occasionally needs to be divided, rather than as two parshiyos that are usually combined.
One could explain the phenomenon more simply: Matos and Maseiare read on separate weeks only when there simply are otherwise not enough readings for every Shabbos of the year.
In these occasional years when Matos and Masei are read separately,parshas Pinchas falls out before the Three Weeks — and we actually get to read the haftarah that is printed in the chumashim for parshasPinchas, Ve’yad Hashem, from the book of Melachim. In all other years, parshas Pinchas is the first Shabbos of the Three Weeks, and the haftarah is Divrei Yirmiyahu, the opening words of the book ofYirmiyahu, which is appropriate to the season. The printers of chumashim usually elect to print Divrei Yirmiyahu as if it is the haftarah for parshas Matos, and then instruct you to read it, on most years, instead as the haftarah for Pinchas. It is actually more logical to label Divrei Yirmiyahu as the hatarah appropriate for the first of the Three Weeks, and to print both Ve’yad Hashem and Divrei Yirmiyahu after Pinchas; Ve’yad Hashem for the occasional year when Pinchas falls before the 17th of Tamuz, and Divrei Yirmiyahu for the far more frequent year when it falls after, and instruct people that when there is a haftarah to be read just for parshas Matos, they should read Divrei Yirmiyahu which is located as the second haftarah printed afterparshas Pinchas. But, then, the printers do not usually ask me what to do, electing instead to mimic what previous printers have done. This phenomenon affects practical halachah, but that is a topic for a different time. However, the printers’ insistence to call Ve’yad Hashem the “regular” haftarah for parshas Pinchas has led to interesting questions.
Searching for a Missing Parshah
At this point, let us examine some of our opening questions. “I will be traveling to Eretz Yisroel this spring, and will miss one of theparshiyos. Can I make up the missing kerias haTorah?”
To the best of my knowledge, all halachic authorities rule that there is no requirement upon an individual to make up a missing parshah(Yom Tov Sheini Kehilchasah, page 239, notes 40 and 41, quoting Rav Shlomoh Zalman Auerbach, Rav Elazar Shach, and disciples of Rav Moshe Feinstein, in his name). Nevertheless, there is a widespread practice to try to find ways of reading through the entire extraparshah. Among the approaches I know are the following:
Read the entire missed parshah together with the kohen’s aliyah.
On the Shabbos mincha of the week before one leaves chutz la’aretz, read the entire coming week’s parshah, rather than only until sheini,as we usually do (Yom Tov Sheini Kehilchasah, page 241).
Individual versus tzibur
We should note that there is a major difference in halachah whether an individual missed the week’s reading, or whether an entire tziburmissed the reading. There is longstanding halachic literature ruling that, when an entire tzibur missed a week’s Torah reading, a situation that transpired occasionally due to flooding, warfare or other calamity, the tzibur would be required to make up the reading that was missed by reading a double parshah the following week (Rema, Orach Chayim 135:2, quoting Or Zarua).
Which parshah?
At this point, let us examine the next of our opening questions:
“I will be traveling from Eretz Yisroel to the United States afterPesach. Do I need to review the parshah twice?”
Let me explain the background to the question. The Gemara (Brachos8a-b) states: “A person should always complete his weekly parshiyoswith the community by reading the Scriptures twice and the targumonce (shenayim mikra ve’echad targum).” The targum referred to here is the Aramaic translation of the chumash known as Targum Onkelus. We will leave the details of this mitzvah for a different time, but we should be aware that the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 285:2) states that one who “fears Heaven” should read both the targum and Rashi.
Our questioner is asking as follows: He will have read each parshahaccording to the weekly schedule in Eretz Yisroel, and then he will be traveling to chutz la’aretz, where the previous week’s Eretz Yisroelreading will be read. Does the requirement to read the weeklyparshah “with the community” require him to read the same parshahagain, the next week, since for this week, he is part of that community, notwithstanding that he just read through that entireparshah the week before?
This exact issue is raised by Rav Avraham Chaim Na’eh, one of the great halachic authorities of mid-twentieth century Yerushalayim. Rav Na’eh, usually referred as the Grach Na’eh, authored many Torah works, among them Shiurei Torah on the measurements germane tohalachah, and Ketzos Hashulchan, which is an easy-to-read, practical guide to daily halachah. Aside from being a very excellent source ofhalachah that can be studied by both a layman and a skilled talmid chacham, the Grach Na’eh had a specific unwritten goal to accomplish. Whenever the Mishnah Berurah disputes an approach of the Gra”z (also known as the Shulchan Aruch Harav), the Grach Na’eh presents a brilliant approach explaining how the Gra”z understood the topic and thus justifying that position. The Grach Na’eh himself was a Lubavitcher Chassid, and, therefore, felt a personal responsibility to explain any difficulty that someone might pose with a halachic position of the Gra”z, the founder of Chabad Chassidus.
Returning to our original question, the Grach Na’eh (Ketzos Hashulchan, Chapter 72, footnote 3) rules that a ben Eretz Yisroel is not required to read shenayim mikra ve’echad targum a second time the next week, since he already fulfilled the mitzvah of reading it together with the Israeli tzibur. However, a ben chutz la’aretz who is in Eretz Yisroel should read shenayim mikra ve’echad targum for bothparshiyos the week he is in Eretz Yisroel. Since he will be part of anEretz Yisroel tzibur, he should read that parshah, and he also must read the one of chutz la’aretz, because otherwise, he’ll completely miss studying that parshah this year.
Which one first?
This last point leads us to a new question. Assuming that our chutz la’aretz traveler is now required to read through two parshiyosduring the week that will be his first Shabbos in Israel, which parshahdoes he read first? Does he read the two parshiyos according to their order in the Torah, or does he read first the Eretz Yisroel parshah, which is second in order in the Torah?
Why would he read the two parshiyos out of order?
The reason to require this is because the mitzvah is to read theparshah with the tzibur, and the Torah reading our traveler will be hearing that week is the second parshah since Eretz Yisroel’s reading is a week ahead.
We actually find a responsum on a related question. The Maharsham, one of the greatest halachic authorities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was asked a question by Rav Yitzchak Weiss, who is identified as a rav of Pressburg, Hungary. (You won’t find this city in any map of Hungary today, for two very good reasons: This city is known today as Bratislava, and it is no longer in Hungary, but serves as the capital of Slovakia.)
The question concerns someone who did not complete being maavir sedra one week. Should he complete the parshah that he is missing before beginning the current week, in order to do his parshiyos in order, or should he do the current week first, and then make up the missed part of the previous week?
The Maharsham concludes that he should do the current week first and then the makeup (Shu”t Maharsham 1:213). If we consider our case to be parallel to his, then one should do the two parshiyos in reverse order. However, one could, perhaps, argue that our traveler has an equal chiyuv to complete both parshiyos, since he is now considered a member of two different communities regarding the laws of the week’s parshah. In this case, he should do them in order.
Which aliyah?
At this point, let us look at our final question. “May I accept an aliyahfor a parshah that is not the one I will be reading on Shabbos?”
All halachic authorities that I have heard contend that one may receive an aliyah and/or lein without any concerns. The basis for this approach is that there is no requirement to hear a specific Torah reading each week. One is required to hear a Torah reading, and that reading should follow a consecutive pattern. But these details are not requirements that govern an individual’s mitzvah.
This year in Jerusalem…
In these occasional years when Matos and Masei are read separately, parshas Pinchas falls out before the Three Weeks — and we actually get to read the haftarah that is printed in the chumashim for parshas Pinchas, Ve’yad Hashem, from the book of Melachim. In all other years, parshas Pinchas is the first Shabbos of the Three Weeks, and the haftarah is Divrei Yirmiyahu, the opening words of the book ofYirmiyahu, which is appropriate to the season. The printers ofchumashim usually elect to print Divrei Yirmiyahu as if it is thehaftarah for parshas Matos, and then instruct you to read it, on most years, instead as the haftarah for Pinchas. What is more logical is to label Divrei Yirmiyahu as the hatarah appropriate for the first of the Three Weeks, and to print both Ve’yad Hashem and Divrei Yirmiyahu after Pinchas; Ve’yad Hashem for the occasional year when Pinchas falls before the 17th of Tamuz, and Divrei Yirmiyahu for the far more frequent year when it falls after, and instruct people that when there is a haftarah to be read just for parshas Matos, they should read Divrei Yirmiyahu which is located as the second haftarah printed after parshas Pinchas. But, then, the printers do not usually ask me what to do, electing instead to mimic what previous printers have done. This phenomenon affects practical halachah, but that is a topic for a different time. However, the printers’ insistence to call Ve’yad Hashem the “regular” haftarah for parshas Pinchas has lead to interesting questions.
Wrong haftarah
The Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe, was asked the following shaylah. A shul read the haftarah Ve’yad Hashem for parshas Pinchas when it fell during the Three Weeks, which is the wrong haftarah (they should have read Divrei Yirmiyahu), and now it is parshas Matos/Masei. Which haftarah do they read, Divrei Yirmiyahu which is the one for the first of the Three Weeks, or the one for the second of the Three Weeks, which begins with the words Shim’u dvar Hashem?
He says that because these two chapters, Divrei Yirmiyahu and Shim’u dvar Hashem are next to one another, they should begin with Divrei Yirmiyahu and read them in order, both together, as one longhaftarah (Shu”t Tzemach Tzedek, quoted by Maharsham). Those who are unhappy about this decision of reading what is, in essence, a doubled haftarah, should take it up with their gabbai, or, if they prefer, with the printers, who should have placed Divrei Yirmiyahuafter parshas Pinchas!
End of Shim’u dvar Hashem – Nice or near?
By the way, there is a difference between the way the Sefardim and the Ashkenazim end this haftarah. The passage Shim’u dvar Hashemdoes not end on the most pleasant topic, and we try to close ourhaftaros on a positive note. For this reason, both Ashkenazim and Sefardim skip ahead to find a nice way to end the haftarah, but we don’t jump to the same place. Ashkenazim skip to the pasuk Halo Mei’atah, which is twelve pesukim ahead, whereas Sefardim jump ahead further, to the two heart-warming pesukim that begin with Im tashuv Yisroel, which are over thirty pesukim ahead. In this instance, it appears that Sefardim elected to go with the nicer conclusion, whereas Ashkenazim elected the nearest appropriate ending.
Conclusion
We see the importance of reading through the entire Torah every year. We should place even more importance in understanding the Torah’s portion well every week and putting it into practice.
