Septennial
(Shmita - שמיטה) Torah Cycle
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
How does the Septennial cycle work?
Septennial (Triennial) Sources
Fifty
and Forty-nine-Year Cycles.
“The
object of the whole Torah is that man should become a Torah himself.”[1]
“Every
living soul is a letter of the Torah, wherefore all souls taken together make
up the Torah.”[2]
In this study I would like to examine the organization and
the rules for the Shmita Torah reading cycle. The Hebrew
word Shmita - שמיטה, literally release,
is normally translated as Sabbatical.
The Shmita, aka[3]
Sabbatical, cycle is a cycle of seven years, which HaShem
commanded His people to observe.[4]
Additionally, I would like to examine the relationship between the Shmita cycle
for maaser[5]
and release as it is reflected in the ancient synagogue
Torah reading cycle.
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, my beloved teacher, and I have been researching and studying the triennial Torah cycle for many years. Much of the detail if this study was learned from His Eminence or worked out in many study sessions. I am deeply indebted to my teacher for his piercing insights.
Every Sabbath, Jews all over the world will read a portion of the Torah and the Prophets as part of the normal synagogue service. Today, most Orthodox synagogues read a portion of the Torah, usually around five chapters, from a lectionary known as the Annual Torah reading.
During Temple times, however, most Orthodox Jews read through the Torah twice in seven years. The portion read on Shabbat, for this seven year cycle, is about a chapter in length. I will refer to this seven year Torah cycle as the Septennial[6] cycle. Half of the Septennial cycle has become known as the triennial Torah cycle. The triennial cycle is three and a half years long.
As we shall see, the Nazarean Codicil[7], which was written during and shortly after the second Temple, followed the ancient synagogue Torah reading cycle known as the Septennial cycle or Triennial cycle[8]. Thus, all of the Torah reference in the Nazarean Codicil have reference only to the Septennial cycle.
An interesting feature of the Septennial cycle is that it tends to put the Torah in chronological order. We will explore some of these chronological connections later in this paper.
When do we start the
Septennial Torah cycle?
The three and a half year triennial cycle has a built-in way to determine what year we begin the cycle and therefore we can know for certain where in the cycle we are supposed to be, in any given year. We know this because two triennial (a septennial cycle) cycles exactly fit into one Sabbatical cycle (Shmita) of seven years, and the Torah reading cycle is always synchronized with the Sabbatical cycle.[9]
To understand when the Septennial cycle begins, we need to
first understand how to calculate when the Shmita, or Sabbatical, year begins.
The Gaonim[10] had a
tradition of how the count of the Shmita was actually practiced. According to
the Gaonim, any Anno Mundi[11]
year that is evenly divisible by seven, is a Shmita year. Thus Jews in Eretz Israel, the
Let me use an example to illustrate how we calculate the start of a Shmita year:
The year 5768 A.M. (2006-2007) was a Shmita year, according to the Gaonim,[12] the Ran,[13] and that of Tosafot.[14] 5768 is evenly divisible by seven (5768 / 7 = 824 with no remainder), which gives us a quick and easy way to calculate the Shmita year. This is a halachic matter and the Rama,[15] in Shulchan Aruch,[16] rules like the Gaonim. Since the septennial cycle starts when the Shmita (Sabbatical) cycle starts, we know that the reading of the Torah, according to the septennial cycle, must start in Tishri 5768.
Thus all Jewish calendar years[17] which are evenly divisible by seven, are Shmita, or Sabbatical years.
Our Sages teach us that we start the Tishri cycle on Simchat Torah and we start the Nisan cycle just before Pesach. Thus, once in seven years we finish with our brothers who follow the Annual cycle.
In Devarim (Deuteronomy) 31:9-13, we read about HaShem’s command, to His people, to observe a special time at the end of a Shmita cycle. This special time is used to read the Torah and is called Hakhel.[18]
Thus we can see that the Shmita year has a calculated beginning which corresponds with the start of the reading of the Torah. It also has a defined ending that is demarcated by another special reading of the Torah by the King of Israel.
This coincides with the
statement of Sefer Yetzirah, "the end is enwedged in
the beginning."
Sefer Yitzirah 3:1 Ten
Sefirot out of nothing. Stop your mouth from speaking, stop your heart
from thinking, and if your heart runs (to think) return to a place of which it
is said "they ran and returned"; and concerning this thing the
covenant was made; and they are ten in extent beyond limit. Their end is
infused with their beginning, and their beginning with their end like a flame
attached to a glowing ember. Know, think [reflect, meditate] and imagine that
the Creator is One and there is nothing apart from Him, and before One what do
you count?
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel
shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
If we start in Tishri, then the Septennial cycle fits exactly into the seven year Shmita (Sabbatical) cycle.
In this study I want to set forth the understanding and rules for the Septennial Torah[19] cycle used in Israel during Temple times. This Torah lectionary resonates with the Shmita cycle. The Shmita year, the Sabbatical year, is each seventh year. The Shmita cycle refers to the seven years that lead up to and including the Shmita year.
This paper will detail the support Chazal,[20] our Sages, bring for the Septennial cycle. I intend to show the relationship between the Septennial Torah lectionary cycle (Triennial Torah lectionary cycle) and the Shmita, or Sabbatical years, cycle. In order to accomplish this goal, we will also take a look at the Shmita cycle for tithing, slaves, and the land. We will explore the connections between the Shmita and the Septennial Torah cycle (Triennial Torah cycle).
I would also like to explore the relationship between the Septennial lectionary (Triennial lectionary) and the meaning of the number seven.
The Torah tells us that HaShem
gave the laws of Shmita to Moshe on
The term: Triennial Cycle, applies to a practice of
reading through the Torah in three and a half years (minhag Eretz
Most Jews today read through the Torah is a year. This lectionary is called the annual lectionary cycle.
The Septennial cycle is composed of two Triennial cycles. The first Triennial cycle begins in Tishri[21] and ends in Nisan[22]. The second Triennial cycle begins in Nisan and ends in Tishri. The Septennial, therefore, starts and ends in Tishri. Through out the rest of this paper we shall refer to these two Triennial cycles as the Tishri cycle and the Nisan cycle. When these two cycles are juxtaposed in a single table we learn a LOT of very interesting connections that Chazal have mentioned. I built such a chart and annotated it to expose some of the connections. This table is awesome! The table is named: Bimodal. I also wrote a paper that documents the bimodality or bifurcation of the year. The first six months of the year have a nearly identical structure to the last six months of the year. This paper is named: Rains.
The months of the year may be counted in two ways: starting from the month of Nisan, or from the month of Tishri. The Nisan year is the service of tzaddikim;[23] the Tishri year is that of the Baalei teshuv.[24] These two countings allude to the Septennial cycle. The Mishna gives us some details about these new years:
Rosh HaShana 2a MISHNA. THERE ARE FOUR NEW YEARS. ON THE FIRST
OF NISAN IS NEW YEAR FOR KINGS AND FOR FESTIVALS.
ON THE FIRST OF ELUL IS NEW YEAR FOR THE TITHE OF
CATTLE. R. ELEAZAR AND R. SIMEON, HOWEVER, PLACE THIS ON THE FIRST OF TISHRI.
ON THE FIRST OF TISHRI IS NEW YEAR FOR YEARS, FOR
RELEASE AND JUBILEE YEARS, FOR
The following details the events of the Tishri new year:
The Calendar for
Gentile Kings
The First Day of Tishri is Rosh HaShanah for the following five matters[25]:
1. For Gentile Kings - They count their reigns from the first of Tishri, such that even if a King began his reign at the end of Elul, once Nisan began, it would be considered as the second year of his reign.
2. The Shmita (Sabbatical) cycle and the Yovel (Jubilee) cycle begin – With the beginning of the month of Tishri in a Shmita or Yovel year, it is forbidden by the Torah to plow or plant in the land of Israel.
3. Years[26] – The first of Tishri is regarded as the new year for counting years.
4. For Planting Trees – The produce of fruit trees is forbidden as orlah for the first three years after the tree is planted. If a tree is planted more than forty-four days before the first of Tishri, then the first of Tishri marks the beginning of the second year of the tree’s life.
5. For Produce – The first of Tishri is regarded as the beginning of the year as regards the separation of Terumot[27] and Ma’asrot[28] from produce.
The Nisan new year has the following associated events:
The First Day of Nisan is Rosh HaShanah for the following five matters[30]:
1. Kings of Israel - They count their reigns from the first of Nisan, such that even if a King began his reign at the end of Adar, once Nisan began, it would be considered as the second year of his reign.
2. Pilgrim Festivals - The festival which occurs in Nisan, namely Pesach, is considered the first of the three pilgrimage festivals: Pesach, Shavuot, and Succoth. This period is used to complete an oath.
3. Months - Nisan is considered the first of the months. The Torah refers to other months as second, third, …, twelfth with reference to Nisan.
4. Leap Years - The Court may proclaim a "Leap Year" only until the first of Nisan. Once that date has arrived, the time for "Leaping" has "Leapt".
5. Donation of Shekalim[31] - All communal sacrifices brought from this day forward are paid from the Shekalim collected in the current year; last year's Shekalim are no longer used for this purpose.
Thus we can see that the Septennial cycle with its two Triennial cycles, mirrors the two major new years of our calendar.
A second allusion to the Septennial cycle found in the calendar is seen in the bi-modality of the months. The axioms, for this bi-modality, is that “Nisan is Like Tishri” and “the fall festivals are like the spring festivals”. So, just as Pesach[32] is seven days in length (in Nisan), so too is Succoth seven days in length (in Tishri). I have written extensively on the bi-modal aspects of the calendar in my study titled: Rains.
Both the Annual and the Septennial Torah lectionaries are interrupted for a special Torah reading for the festivals. The festival lectionary supersedes both the Annual and the Septennial Torah reading cycles. This is a very important concept. Additionally, the Septennial cycle is also interrupted for Rosh Chodesh, the new moon.
There are some who interpret references to a Triennial cycle, as meaning three years.[33] This presents a few problems. First, it means that there is no way to reconcile the sources which state explicitly that the cycle has a term of three and a half years. Second, it means that there is no way to determine what year of the cycle we are currently in. In other words, we do not know when to start, or end, a reading cycle. Third, a strict three year cycle fails to account for the festive nature of Rosh Chodesh. The Septennial cycle resolves these issues. As we shall see, the Septennial cycle has special readings for Rosh Chodesh which preserve its festive nature.
We will review the sources which show a Septennial cycle later in this paper. For now, we will examine how a three and a half year triennial cycle has a built-in way to determine what year we begin the cycle and therefore we can know for certain where in the cycle we are supposed to be, in any given year.
To understand when the Septennial cycle begins, we need to
first understand how to calculate when the Shmita, or Sabbatical, year begins. The
Gaonim[34]
had a tradition of how the count of the Shmita was actually practiced. The
Rambam[35],
said that even though he did not understand the Gaonim's tradition we must
follow it. His lack of understanding should not change halacha.
According to the Gaonim, any Anno Mundi (A.M. – the
year since the creation of the world)
year that is evenly divisible by seven, is a Shmita
year. Thus Jews in Eretz
Israel, the
The year 5761 A.M. (2000-2001) was a Shmita year. 5761 is evenly divisible by seven (5761 / 7 = 823 with no remainder), which gives us a quick and easy way to calculate the Shmita year. This is a halachic matter and the Rama in Shulchan Aruch[36], rules like the Gaonim.
Our Sages teach us that we start the Nisan cycle just before Pesach and we start the Tishri cycle on Simchat Torah. Thus, once in seven years we finish with our brothers who follow the Annual cycle:
The chart in appendix “A” is an attempt to understand which month, Nisan or Tishri, should be used to start the Septennial cycle Torah readings. I found that if we start in Nisan, then we overflow the seventh year by six months. Thus we must start the cycle in Tishri. If we start in Tishri, then the Septennial cycle fits exactly into the seven year Shmita cycle.
I have attempted to list an entire Shmita cycle starting with 5762, as 5761 (5761 / 7 = 823 – a whole number with no remainder) was a Sabbatical year. With this in mind, we can see that since we are currently in the year 5765 (2005) we need to begin a second Triennial cycle in Nisan (5762 (Tishri) + 3.5 years = 5766 in Nisan. The Septennial cycle will conclude in Tishri of 5769, at the very beginning of the first year of a Shmita cycle). Thus, the Septennial cycle will conclude in 5769 when we complete the two Triennial cycles of three and a half years.
The reading of portions of the Torah was given to us by Moshe. The Midrash tells us this explicitly.
Midrash Tanhuma Yelammedenu on Shemot (Exodus) 30:1-38 R. Simeon the son of Lakish, R. Akiba, and R. Simeon the son of Yohai
said: His disciples do not permit him to sleep
undisturbed in his grave, as it is said: Moving gently the lips of those
that are asleep (Song 7:10). Hence, The satiety of the rich will not
suffer him to sleep. Similarly, Moses taught the
Torah to the Israelites, trained them in the observance of the Law, arranged the order of the chapters of the Torah, and assigned
the chapters to be read each Sabbath, on Rosh Chodesh, and on the holy
days. And they call him to mind as they read each Torah portion.
While this teaches us that there was a Torah lectionary it does not give us the detail. As we shall see, a critical clue to the detail will be given to us in the Talmud.
The earliest source we have on the Septennial cycle custom
is the Nazarean Codicil.[37]
According to the narrative in Luqas (Luke) 4:16-21, Yeshua
returns to his hometown,
It is unclear, from this passage in Luqas, why the book is
opened at this particular passage: Does Yeshua open
it at that specific point or does the Chazzan (cantor), who was in charge at
the synagogue, deliberately open it at this chapter?
Christians often interpret this incident as a miracle whereas Jewish Torah scholars
interested in the Jewish tradition of Ashlamatot (plural) will conclude that
the reading of a passage from the Prophets after the Torah portion on the Sabbath was an accepted custom in Israel several
decades before the destruction of the Second Temple,
and that it's thus possible that the custom also existed elsewhere. Similar
evidence can be found in II Luqas (Acts) 13:15, where the narrative refers to a
Jewish community in
The Septennial (two Triennial cycles) lectionary cycle is mentioned in the Talmud, in a section dealing with the laws governing the reading of the Torah on Shabbat:
Megillah 29b … There is a justification for the
one who says that ‘When thou takest’ should be read, because he thus makes a
difference between this New Moon and other New
Moons. But the one who says that ‘Command the children
of Israel’ should be read — what difference does he make? — He does make a
difference, because on other New Moons six read in the portion of the day and one that of New
Moon, whereas on this occasion all read in that of New Moon. This is a good
answer for one who says that [when the Mishna says
that the ‘REGULAR ORDER’ IS RESUMED it means] ‘the regular order of portions’;
but according to the one who says that [what it means is that] the order of
haftarahs[38]
is resumed [and the order of Pentateuch portions has not been interrupted],
what difference is there [between this New Moon and others]? — There is a
difference, because on other New Moons, six read in the
portion of the day and one the special portion for New Moon, whereas on this
occasion three read in the portion of the day and four in that of New Moon.
The
following was then cited in objection: ‘If it [the New Moon of Adar] falls on
the portion next to it [the portion of Shekalim],
whether before or after, they read it and repeat it’. Now this creates no
difficulty for one who holds that ‘When thou takest’ is read because [the
regular portion containing this passage] falls about that time.
But according to the one who says that ‘My food which
is presented to ‘me’ is read — does [the portion containing that passage] fall
about that time? — Yes, for the people of
A very important but relatively unknown Gaonic work called ספר החילוקים בין אנשי מזרח ובני ארץ ישראל – The book that records difference in customs between Bavel and Eretz Yisrael, this three and a half year cycle is once again reported:
The inhabitants of Babylonia observe Simchat Torah
annually…The inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael celebrate Simchat
Torah only every three
and a half years…[39].
According to the Mishna[40] the first portion of Bereshit (Genesis) was Bereshit 1:1 - 2:3. (This matches the Septennial cycle, but does not match the annual cycle)
But in a composition from the period of the Gaonim we read
that there are differences between how the Easterners, from Babylonia, read the
Torah and how the people of the land of Israel read the Torah. We find a slightly
different testimony concerning the custom prevalent in the
"The
easterners (communities of Babylonia) celebrate Simchat Torah every year, while the
communities of Eretz
Israel celebrate it once in THREE AND A HALF YEARS."
The
communities of Babylonia observe Simchat Torah each year on Succoth, and the communities of
As late as 1170 CE we have reports that Jews in
There
[in
The Rambam[42] briefly mentions the Septennial cycle in Mishneh Torah Hilchot Tefilah[43] 13:1-5.
The
Jewish Encyclopedia, under the
heading “Triennial Cycle”, speaks about the number of
sedarim:
“The Masoretic divisions
known as "sedarim" and variously indicated in the text, number 154 in
the Pentateuch, [44]
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 and the
tractate Soferim (xvi. 10) gives the number as 175 (comp. Yer. Shab. i. 1). It
is possible that this last division corresponds to a further development by
which the whole of the Pentateuch was read twice in seven
years, or once in three and a half years.”
Thus we see that the cycle followed in the land of Israel was to complete the Torah twice in each Shmita cycle (a Sabbatical cycle, a period of seven years) and therefore the cycle actually took seven years.
Piyutim[45] – Liturgical Poetry
The classical payatanim wrote their compositions according to the Triennial cycle of Torah reading. “The first piyutim are followed by verse chains of which the first citation indicates the first and second verses of the Torah lection and the first verse of the Prophet reading respectively. Allusions to these verses are very often made by transitional words in the last lines of the closing strophes”[46].
The Septennial Torah reading model is also used by the various homiletical midrashim. This is particularly evident in the Tanchuma Yelamdenu and Vayikra Rabbah. These midrashim are organized according to the sedarim of the Septennial Torah cycle, and typically comment on the first verse of each sedra.[48]
The Midrash Vayikra Rabbah consists mainly of a collection of
homiletics surrounding the book of Vayikra (Leviticus). In all the Midrashim
that preceded Vayikra Rabbah (such as the Mechilta[49]
on the book of Shemot or Midrash Bereshit Rabbah) homiletic writings were
collected according to the verses of the biblical book, verse after verse, but
this task was impossible with respect to the book of Vayikra, which is filled
with laws and statutes, which leads to a dry and pointed
involvement with matters of ritual law: forbidden foods,
issues of sexual prohibitions, lists of festivals and other related issues. The editor solved
this problem by dealing only with certain selected verses from the book of
Vayikra based on the Triennial cycle.
The editor wrote down the verses at which it was customary to begin on the various Sabbaths the units of the book of Vayikra and around these verses he built his work, in which he dedicates to each verse a long and comprehensive discussion on a topic that arises from it. Sometimes the topic can be found explicitly in the language of the verse, such as dealing with wine and inebriation as a result of the verse “do not drink wine and intoxicating beverages”[50], and sometimes the topic is linked indirectly to the verse, such as a discussion of lashon hara,[51] on the verse “this is the law of the leper”[52] by interpreting the Hebrew word for leper as two Hebrew words meaning “brings out bad [language/speaking]”. In the same vein the editor deals with the question of peace (shalom) and its importance when discussing the verse “this will be the law of the shelamim [peace offering]” (chapter 9).
Tanchuma Yelamdenu
The Tanchuma Yelamdenu is a group of Aggadic Midrashim complete or fragmentary, published or still in manuscript, attributed to Rabbi Tanchuma. It is homiletical Midrash, i.e., a Midrash divided according to the old Palestinian division of the reading of the Pentateuch in a Triennial cycle, and containing homiletical explanations (derashot) to the first verse (or sometimes to the first two of three verses) of each sedra of the triennial cycle. Many of its sedarim open with a distinctive halachic poem, using the formula: "Yelamdenu Rabbenu, etc...?" "May our teacher instruct us, etc”
On the whole Torah; its homilies often consist of a halachic introduction, followed by several poems, exposition of the opening verses, and the Messianic conclusion.
The Jewish Encyclopedia (Bereshit Rabbah, By : Marcus Jastrow J. Theodor) says:
“The principle of division followed in the parashiyot of the Bereshit Rabbah was evidently that of the Biblical text itself as fixed at the time of the compilation of this Midrash, in accordance with the "open" (Petuchot - פתוחות) and "closed" (Setumot - סתומות) paragraphs of Genesis. There are separate parashiyot, portions, in the Midrash to almost all these sections as they are still found in Genesis, with the exception of the genealogical passages. But there are parashiyot that bear evidences of relation to the pericopes ("sedarim") of the Palestinian triennial cycle, and a careful investigation of these may lead to the discovery of an arrangement of sedarim different from that heretofore known from old registers. However, there are parashiyot, as mentioned above, especially in the beginning of the Midrash, in which only one or a few verses at a time are expounded. The sedarim of the customary one-year cycle are not regarded at all in the divisions of the Bereshit Rabbah, neither are they marked in the best manuscripts or in the editio princeps of the Midrash; the parashiyot,[53] therefore, can not be regarded as mere subdivisions of the sedarim, as which they appear in later editions of this Midrash.”
Midrash Rabbah -
Lamentations Prologue XXV R. Jonathan said: Three and a
half years3 the Shechinah abode upon the Mount of Olives
hoping that Israel would repent, but they did not;
while a Bath Kol[54]
issued announcing, ’Return, O backsliding children (Jer. III, 14), Return unto
Me, and I will return unto you (Mal. III, 7).’ When they did not repent, it
said, ’I will go and return to My place (Hos. V, 15).’ Concerning that time it
is said, ’Give glory to the Lord your God, before it grow dark’ (Jer. XIII,
16): before it becomes dark to you for lack of words of Torah, before it
becomes dark to you for lack of words of prophecy, ’and before your feet
stumble upon the mountains of twilight.’ ' And while ye look for light,’ in
Babylon, ’He turn it into the shadow of death,’ in Media, ’and make it gross darkness’
in Greece.
Tehillim - Psalms
The Septennial Torah cycle is also expounded by Tehillim, the Psalms, as we have written extensively elsewhere. As there are five books of the Torah, so there are five books of Tehillim. As the middle of the Torah is denoted by a large letter, so the middle of Tehillim is denoted by a large letter. There is also a verbal connection between Tehillim and Torah. From this we learn that Tehillim are meant to explain and clarify the Torah.
|
Psalms |
Torah |
Megillot |
|
|
Tehillim 1-41 |
(Book I) |
Bereshit[55] |
Shir HaShirim[56] |
|
Tehillim 42-72 |
(Book II) |
Shemot[57] |
Ruth |
|
Tehillim 73-89 |
(Book III) |
Vayikra[58] |
Eicha[59] |
|
Tehillim 90-106 |
(Book IV) |
Bamidbar[60] |
Kohelet[61] |
|
Tehillim 107-150 |
(Book V) |
Devarim[62] |
Esther |
The Shmita cycle is detailed in the Torah:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:1 And HaShem spake
unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2 Speak unto the children
of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you,
then shall the land keep a sabbath unto HaShem. 3 Six years thou shalt
sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the
fruit thereof;
4
But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest
unto the land, a sabbath for HaShem: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor
prune thy vineyard. 5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou
shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the
land. 6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for
thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, 7 And for thy
cattle, and for the beast that are
in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
Hakhel (Assembly)
Hakhel, the reading from Devarim in the “eighth” year, the day after Succoth in the first year of the new Shmita cycle. This glorious celebration seems to be the focus and purpose of the Septennial Torah cycle according to Prof. Shlomo Naeh:
The question arises:
what is that fixed date when the seven year cycle of
reading is meant to conclude? … The cycle of Torah reading taking seven years can have only one explanation,
which is clear to us from the mitzva in the Torah, the mitzva of hakhel.
The date of Hakhel is
after the last day of the festival of Succoth in the eighth year, following the
Shmita year. The seven year reading cycle is therefore meant to conclude, like
its one year counterpart, on the day after the festival of Succoth: the day of Simchat Torah.
Both customs seem to arise from the same parasha in the Torah, in which Moshe commands that the entire Torah be read once every seven years.
It is reasonable to assume that the Sages who adopted this model [a reading
over the period of seven years] preferred to spread the reading over the entire
seven-year period, in order to fulfill the command, 'In order that they will
hear and in order that they will learn….' There is no point in dividing the Torah in such a way that it will be
read in a single seven-year cycle, since the portions yielded by such a division
are too short; therefore, they chose the system of two cycles that together
make up seven years[63].
The fact that this cycle is geared towards Hakhel indicates
its connection to that ancient
Once in every seven years, at the termination of the Sabbatical year (Shmita), there was a public reading of certain passages of the book of Devarim. This reading, known as Hakhel, is commanded in:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 31:10-12 At the end of every seven years, in the time of the year of release,
during the Feast of Tabernacles [Succoth] when all of Israel appears before the
Lord your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this Torah
before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble [Hakhel] the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and
your stranger that is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may
learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this
Torah."
In ancient times, Hakhel was observed on the first day of Chol HaMoed Succoth (or on “the day after the end of Succoth”[64]) during the day time. Members of the Jewish people would gather at the Ezrat Nashim, the Women's Courtyard, where they would hear portions of the Torah read by the King of Israel. After the High Priest brought the Torah out, the King would open the Torah, say a blessing and would read from the Book of Devarim from Chapter 1-6, verse 10, and later from Chapter 11 13:-22, and he would then conclude his recitation with Chapter 14, verse 22, until the end of Chapter 28. Afterward, the King would roll the Torah together, and he would add seven more blessings. {Mishna Torah, Hilchot Chagigah Chapter 3}.
According to the Kli Yakar, the purpose of Hakhel is to foster unity.
Hakhel also
stresses the importance of welcoming the Ger Tzadik, the righteous "Jews
by Choice" who have embraced the Jewish faith and community. All Jews are
welcomed and nobody is asked to prove his Jewish credentials or lineage. Some
authorities [Ibn Ezra's commentary to Devarim 31:10-12] say that even gentiles
residing in
The Shmita year prepares for the mitzva of Hakhel in the eighth year, when men, women and children gather in the Beit HaMikdash during the Holiday of Succoth. Shmita serves as a preparation for Hakhel very much like Friday prepares for Shabbat.
Sotah 41a MISHNAH. WHAT WAS THE PROCEDURE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PORTION READ BY THE KING? AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE FIRST DAY OF THE FESTIVAL [OF TABERNACLES] IN THE EIGHTH, I.E., THE END OF THE SEVENTH, THEY ERECT A WOODEN DAIS IN THE TEMPLE COURT, UPON WHICH HE SITS; AS IT IS SAID, AT THE END OF EVERY SEVEN YEARS, IN THE SET TIME etc. THE SYNAGOGUE-ATTENDANT TAKES A TORAH-SCROLL AND HANDS IT TO THE SYNAGOGUE PRESIDENT, AND THE SYNAGOGUE-PRESIDENT HANDS IT TO THE [HIGH PRIEST'S] DEPUTY. HE HANDS IT TO THE HIGH PRIEST WHO HANDS IT TO THE KING. THE KING STANDS AND RECEIVES IT, BUT READS SITTING.
It is interesting to note that the
The purpose of Hakhel, in the words of the scriptures, is: "In order that you may hear and in order that you may learn to fear the Lord your God." This, too, is cited as the purpose of Matan Torah (see, e.g., Shemot 20:18), where the entire nation congregated to hear the words of HaShem.
In the Yovel year, this assumed greater significance, as all slaves were freed on Yom Kippur and were, thus, able to participate in the communal acceptance of the Torah that took place on Hakhel. Thus, the Sefirat HaYovel was in fact a countdown to the freedom from slavery and embracing of the Torah. By way of comparison, it follows that Sefirat HaOmer expresses the same idea.
Hakhel is the prime exception to the "rule" that women are exempt from time-related positive mitzvot. The reason is simple - The Torah states that the mitzva applies to women.
The completion of the reading of the Torah at the end of a Shmita year (in Tishri at the beginning of the first year of the Shmita cycle) is commanded in the Torah and really aimed towards a major public finale once in seven years - the Hakhel:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 31:10-13 "And Moshe commanded them, saying: At
the end of every seven years, after the sabbatical year, on the festival of Succoth, when all Israel
comes to see the presence of the Lord your God in the place that I will choose,
read this Torah before all of Israel to their ears. Assemble the entire nation:
men, women, and children, and the strangers who dwell
within your gates, in order that they hear, and in order that they learn to
fear the Lord their God and keep the words of this Torah. And their children,
who do not know, will listen and will learn to fear the Lord your God, all the
days that you live upon the land which you are crossing the Jordan to inherit."
The Hakhel is the finale to the seven year crescendo of Torah reading.
In the Annual cycle there are 54 Sedarim (the Torah portion read each Shabbat) read during the year.
In the triennial cycle there are 141 - 175 Sedarim read during the three and a half year cycle.
The Masoretic text used in all synagogues around the world shows the Torah divided into 154 - 167 portions corresponding to the number of Sabbaths in the triennial cycle! (the Biblia Hebraica Stutgardensia – BHS has 167 sederim). The Talmud speaks of these Sedarim, these portions:
Soferim,
XVI, 10 “Rabbi Joshua b. Levi said: I have never looked into a book of aggadda except once when I looked and found written
therein that the one hundred and seventy-five sections of the Torah, in which
occurs any expression of speaking, saying or
commanding, correspond to the number of years of our father Avraham (175 years
– Genesis 25:7); for it is written, “Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led
captivity captive; Thou hast received gifts (i.e. Torah
at Mt. Sinai) for the sake of man (i.e. Avraham),” and it is also written:
“The greatest man (i.e. Avraham) among the Anakim” (Joshua 14:15). On this
account the Rabbis instituted one hundred and seventy-five orders (Sedarim) in
the Torah to be read in public every Sabbath as
regular as the continual burnt-offering.”
His Eminence, Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, helps us understand one of the perplexing rules of the lexicon: Concerning the difference in the citations and counting of Sedarim in the Torah of between 154 Sedarim in the Torah Scroll to the 175 Sedarim cited in Soferim, XVI, 8, that is, the difference between these two numbers amounting to around 21 Sedarim, may have an easy explanation. (Here is the cited passage)
Megillah
3:4. IF THE NEW MOON OF ADAR FALLS ON SABBATH, THE PORTION OF SHEKALIM
IS READ [ON THAT DAY]. IF IT FALLS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK, IT IS READ ON THE
SABBATH BEFORE, AND ON THE NEXT SABBATH THERE IS A
BREAK. ON THE SECOND [OF THE SPECIAL SABBATHS] ZAKOR
IS READ, ON THE THIRD THE PORTION OF THE RED HEIFER,
ON THE FOURTH THIS MONTH SHALL BE TO YOU.’ ON THE
FIFTH THE REGULAR ORDER IS RESUMED. [THE REGULAR
If to the 154 Sedarim we add the special festival Sedarim that displace the regular Sedarim when these fall on a Sabbath that would give us on a three and half year cycle, about six Sabbaths per year reserved for festivals, and new moons. (Under the category of festivals we also should include special Sabbaths such as Shabbat Shekalim and Shabbat Parah, amongst others as well as Shabbats that are Chol HaMoed, intermediate Sabbaths of a Festival). That is, six special Sabbaths times three years plus three special Sabbaths of a half year, this brings us to the mysterious 21 Sedarim that when added to the regular 154 Sedarim produces 175 Sedarim mentioned in the text of Soferim. Thus, in our view the difference in numbers of Sedarim can be perfectly reconciled.
However, though this explanation seems elegant and simple at first sight, yet, reality does not conform to such simple explanations. Take for example the following readings:
New moon falling on a
Sabbath:
Numbers 28:9-15 = 7 verses
Shabbat Shekalim:
Exodus 30:11-16 = 6 verses
Deut. 25:17-19 = 3 verses
Numbers 19:1-22 = 22 verses
Exodus 12:1-20 = 20 verses
None
As can be seen, it would be an extremely clumsy arrangement to have three verses as in the case of Shabbat Zakhor to be read by the seven readers for that Shabbat and then again by the Maftir. This would mean that these three verses would have been read repeatedly for eight times!
Some Triennial Cycle proponents side with the interpretation that the Rabbis, defending the use of the annual cycle, make of:
Mishna
Megillah 3:4 IF THE NEW MOON OF ADAR FALLS ON
SABBATH, THE PORTION OF SHEKALIM IS READ [ON THAT DAY]. IF IT FALLS IN THE
MIDDLE OF THE WEEK, IT IS READ ON THE SABBATH BEFORE, AND ON THE NEXT SABBATH
THERE IS A BREAK. ON THE SECOND [OF THE SPECIAL SABBATHS] ZAKOR IS READ, ON THE
THIRD THE PORTION OF THE RED HEIFER, ON THE FOURTH
THIS MONTH SHALL BE TO YOU.’ ON THE FIFTH THE REGULAR ORDER IS RESUMED. [THE
REGULAR
When the Ma’amadot fall on Monday or on Thursday, they do not read from the weekly Torah passage, but rather a passage related to the day
On the Ma’amadot - the Ma’amadot assemblies
of
Dealing with the readings for the four special Shabbats in Adar, as “additional” prescribed readings, normally said by the Maftir. According to this scheme then, the twenty-one missing Sedarim must be found in the twenty-one Sedarim of the normal weekly cycle that consist of forty-two or more verses and can therefore admit each being split into two Sedarim as Mann[66] shows.
Buechler,[67] on the contrary opines that the reading of the annual cycle proponents of Megillah 3:4 is incorrect, and he further states that in Talmud:
Megillah 29b The following was then cited in objection: ‘If it [the New Moon of Adar] falls on
the portion next to it [the portion of Shekalim], whether before or after, they
read it and repeat it’. Now this creates no difficulty for one who holds that
‘When thou takest’ is read because [the regular portion containing this
passage] falls about that time. But according to the one who says that ‘My food which is presented to ‘me’ is read — does [the
portion containing that passage] fall about that time? — Yes, for the people of
[In this passage] one
of the Rabbis remarks that in
In the Midrash of Pesiqta de Rab Kahana,[68] in Pisqa Three, the Midrash treats not only the passage of Deut. 25:17-19, but also passages within the Torah Sidra of Deut. 24:19 – 25:19! In other words on the special Sabbath called “Shabbat Zakhor” the whole Torah Sidra in which we find Deut. 25:17-19 – i.e. Deut. 24:19 – 25:19, is fully read.
Now, according to this, for Shabbat Shekalim the Torah Sidra containing the prescribed verses by the Mishna (Exodus 30:11-16) is in fact Exodus 30:1-38 (38 verses); for Shabbat Zakhor the Torah Sidra containing the prescribed verses by the Mishna (Deut. 25:17-19) is in fact the Torah Sidra of Deuteronomy 24:19 – 25:19 (= 23 verses); for Shabbat Parah the Torah Sidra containing the prescribed verses (Numbers 19:1-22 ) is Numbers 19:1 – 20:13 (= 35 verses); and so on. In other words, the Mishna is not telling us exactly what to read, but rather that we should read the whole Torah Sidra in which these prescribed verses appear. If we then follow this scheme as suggested by Buechler, then the model that we started with, i.e. that twenty-one missing Sedarim are to be accounted by the formula: 6 x 3 + 3 =21, is not only practicable but elegant and parsimonious at the same time.
His Eminence is telling us again that when we see a small number of verses as the proposed reading, it is a “Pars Pro Toto”[69] where the quoted small portion speaks to a larger portion. This is similar to saying to a child, “Please tell me your ABCs.” The child will immediately spit out the whole alphabet.
Earlier we mentioned that there were two Triennial Torah reading cycles in a single Shmita cycle, Prof. Shlomo Naeh ties this together with the number of sederim to help us understand the three and half year Triennial cycle:
In his article, "Sidrei Keriat ha-Torah be-Eretz Yisrael: Iyun Mechudash" (The Torah Reading Cycle in Early Palestine: A Re-Examination.[70]), Prof. Shlomo Naeh proves that the picture painted by the scholars is inaccurate. The Eretz Israel reading custom was attached to fixed times in the calendar, and was comprised of two reading cycles that together made up seven years, a single Shmita cycle. Naeh writes:
"It appears that these divisions of the parashiyot do not present different systems of Torah reading, but rather different components of a single custom, adapted to the needs of different years… There could be only one purpose of such a system: to adapt the reading cycle to an event – or to events – in the calendar. In other words, the cycle is geared towards a certain point on the calendar, and in order to reach that point with precision, it was necessary in certain years to add to or diminish from the number of 'sedarim' to be read on Shabbatot."
Further on, Naeh presents us with the fact that there is a fixed ratio between the number of sedarim in each of the three reading systems: the different between 141 and 154, and between 154 and 167, is 13:
"It
seems, therefore, that these were not three separate systems, but rather just two (which were really one and the same): in one system a
complete reading cycle comprised two sets of 154 readings, while in the other
the greater cycle was composed of a set of 141 sedarim, in the first round, followed by a set of 167 sedarim in the second round."
In Eretz Israel the custom was to
interrupt the regular weekly readings not only on a festival
that fell on Shabbat (which was customary in
Within the framework of seven years, it is difficult to know, in the first few years, how the coming years will fall and exactly how many 'sedarim' will fill them. This is a real problem where the calendar is not fixed and systematic, but rather based principally on sighting of the moon, and it becomes much more difficult if there is no way of predicting when leap years will fall… as was the case in the period of the Mishna and the Talmud… Since the only point to which the cycle as a whole was geared was the end of the seven years, the guiding principle was a pragmatic 'postponement of problems' wherever possible, or, in other words, to concentrate the greatest possible measure of flexibility towards the end of the cycle… Therefore, instead of two cycles of 154 'sedarim,' it was preferable that the first cycle consist of the smallest number of 'sedarim' – 141, with their reading following a completely continuous progression, with no divisions and no joining of 'sedarim,' leaving the possibilities that had not been used up in this round (i.e., dividing some of the 'sedarim' into two) to add to the second round. The second round, in which all the adjustments of the readings to the yearly calendar were made, would therefore have to consist of 167 'sedarim… The three types of cycles of 'sedarim'… therefore represent two possibilities for reading the entire Torah twice during seven complete years… This is an exact system that is intended to conclude with fixed regularity and at a known date. The cycle takes seven years… Despite the clear integrity of the system, it still allows for differing customs: some will read the Torah in two equal cycles of 154 'sedarim,' while others will read in unequal cycles – 141 'sedarim' the first time and 167 'sedarim' the next time. Clearly, then, the completion of the reading of the Torah after the first round will not take place at the same time for both types of communities, and the 'sedarim' read on each Shabbat will likewise not be the same… What we have here is a discrepancy in the internal arrangement of a single, fixed and universally observed cyclical regularity."
* * *
The Shmita year was proclaimed on Rosh HaShanah, on the first day of the Jewish year.
Sefirat HaOmer, the count which leads to Shavuot, is like seven Shmita cycles count which leads to “Yovel," the Jubilee Year, the fiftieth year. As we count seven weeks and fifty days from Pesach to Shavuot, we also count seven sabbatical years and fifty years from one Jubilee to the next.
The link between the Yovel year and the Shmita year is made amply clear by a number of factors. The juxtaposition in the Torah, the idea of the land lying fallow, the concept of counting to seven, all of these indicate that there is a connection between the two. There is, however, another mitzva to which Yovel is clearly related, and that is the mitzva of Sefirat HaOmer. Both mitzvot are introduced with the word which means: "you will count". Both find us counting similar numbers, seven sets of seven, days and weeks in the case of Omer, years and Shmita cycles in the case of Yovel. The one difference in the description is between the difference between the plural form, of "you will count", in describing Omer and the singular in describing the Yovel.
As the Midrash Torat Kohanim[72] points out, There is a mitzva to count the years between each Yovel, “in the court” (Sanhedrin). This is as opposed to Sefirat HaOmer, which we all count individually.
In the Land of Israel, all agricultural work is suspended on the seventh year and the land’s produce is declared free for the taking for all. Also suspended on the Shmita year are all private debts and the terms of servitude of indentured servants.
Why is
1. Both occasions are preceded by a counting of seven sevens.
2. Both are proclaimed with lengthy blasts of the shofar.
3. As during a sabbatical, planting and grazing were
forbidden on
Evidently, it wishes to draw our attention to the thematic connection between the giving of the Torah (which, according to the traditional calculation, occurred on Shabbat), as the fulfillment of a prolonged anticipation, and the Yovel. These two modes of religious time are entwined in the very essence of Torah.
The counting of the omer leads to Shavuot, the giving of the
Torah. The Shmita year which is a time of being totally involved in Torah, is
also a time of counting seven sevens. One of the reasons that we have the annual Torah readings is to make the best use of our
extra hours during the Yovel year when we do not work the land. It is a time of
working and studying Torah. Thus we find that the septennial / triennial cycle is used during the forty-nine years which
are not Yovel years. During Yovel years (the fiftieth year) we use the annual Torah cycle.
* * *
The 154 or 167 Sedarim of the triennial cycle are marked with an ornamental oversized samek in the Masorah:
These ornamental samechs are printed is some versions of the Tanakh. I found them in the Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia and The Jerusalem Bible by Koren Publishers. Additionally, the Masorah also includes paragraph marks which are a single פ “pe” or a ס “samek” for petuah (open) or setumah (closed) type paragraphs. These are different from the samech which parks a Torah portion (parasha).
The list of the triennial sidrot (portions) is also found in
a
Although there is no formal acknowledgement of the Sidra divisions, of the triennial cycle, in most printed Tanakhs[76], those divisions underlie some of the Masoretic divisions into paragraphs, as well as the structure of most classical midrashic works from the Talmudic era.
The selection of Masoretic notes attached to the Mikraot
Gedolot was compiled by Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adoniyahu, a Spanish Jew who
fled to
We have noted that the weekly parasha, for both the annual and the Triennial portions, and its latent messages relate and are integrally connected to the time of year during which the parasha is read. The Torah reading started on Tishri the first, which was regarded as the Jewish New Year; while the reading of each of the five books of the Torah started on one of the New Years mentioned in the Mishna,[77] as can be seen in the following list: The reading of the book of:
Bereshit (Genesis) started and ended on the 1st of Tishri in the first year of the cycle. The new year for counting years.
Bereshit
(Genesis) started on the 1st of Nisan in the third year
of the cycle. The new year for counting months.
Bereshit
(Genesis) ended on Tu
B’Shevat in the fourth year
of the cycle. The new
year for trees.
Shemot
(Exodus) started on the 15th of Shevat (Tu B’Shevat)
in the fifth year of the cycle. The new year for trees.
Shemot
(Exodus) started on the 1st of Tishri in the third year of the cycle. The new year for counting years.
Vayikra (Leviticus) ended on Tu
B’Shevat in the second year
of the cycle. The new
year for trees.
Bamidbar (Numbers) started on Tu
B’Shevat in the third year
of the cycle. The new
year for trees.
Bamidbar (Numbers) ended on the 1st of Nisan in the fifth
year of the cycle. The new year for counting months.
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) started on the 1st of Elul in the third
year of the cycle. The new year for tithing cattle.
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) started on the 1st of Nisan in the seventh year of the cycle. The
new year for counting months.
The following example shows us
this relationship:
In this grouping, I have juxtaposed the two triennial cycles to see if I
can glean anything from this grouping. The red colored entries are those that
are new years.
Bereshit = Tishri 1, 5769 till Tishri 1, 5770
Bereshit = Nisan 1, 5772 till Shevat 15, 5773
Shemot = Tishri 1, 5770 till Tammuz 15,
5770
Shemot = Shevat 15, 5773 till Kislev 1,
5774
Vayikra = Tammuz 15, 5770 till Shevat 15, 5771
Vayikra = Kislev 1, 5774 till Tammuz 1, 5774
Bamidbar = Shevat 15, 5771 till Elul 1, 5771
Bamidbar = Tammuz 1, 5774 till Nisan 1, 5775
Devarim = Elul 1, 5771 till Nisan 1, 5772
Devarim = Nisan 1, 5775 till Tishri 1, 5776
The cycle of readings was carefully planned.
As a result, certain stories from the Torah
landed regularly on specific dates:
(1) The story of creation was read in Nisan (in the first year of the cycle) because that was the time of
creation.
(2) The story of Cain killing Abel
(Bereshit 4) was always read on the third Sabbath in Nisan (Passover!). This
led to the tradition (found in the Midrash Pirke D’Rebbi Eliezer) that Cain
offered his sacrifice on Passover.
(3) In the first year
of the three year cycle, the story of Rachel giving birth to Joseph
(after having been barren for years... Bereshit. 30:22ff.), always landed at
the beginning of Tishri. It is probably not coincidental that our sages
suggested that Joseph was born on Rosh HaShanah.
(4) In the second year of the three
year cycle, Shemot 12, the story of the Exodus
from Egypt, landed in Nisan (second year),
coinciding with the Passover festival.
(5) In the second year of the three
year cycle, the reading of the Ten Commandments
(Shemot 20:1–14) landed on the 6th of Sivan, Shavuot.
(6) In the second year of the three year cycle, the story of Moshe receiving the second set of tablets (Shemot
34) landed on the last Shabbat of Av. It is probably
not coincidental that two traditions developed about the time of Moses' return
with the second set of commandments. One tradition says that this happened on Yom Kippur; the other tradition maintains that he
returned on... the 29th of Av.
(7) In the third year of the three year cycle, Bamidbar (6:22ff) landed at the beginning of Nisan. This
corresponds to the Torah
statement that Moses consecrated the Tabernacle in
Nisan.
(8) In the third year of the three year cycle, the death of Moses, Devarim 34, landed at the beginning of Adar. There is a tradition that Moses died on the 7th of Adar.
(9) Parashat Miketz, in the Nisan cycle, is read on the Sabbath of Chanukah. In the Tishri cycle, of the triennial cycle, this sedra is read in early Kislev.
(10) We always read the Torah portion of Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2) during the days of the counting of the Omer, the period of preparation for receiving the Torah on Shavuot. [Tebet 4, Iyar 24]
I have detailed MANY more of these date correspondences in the study titled: Bimodal.
Ezra the scribe instituted the
public reading of the Tochachah[78]
in Vayikra (26:14-43) [Tebet 18, Sivan 16]
before Shavuot, and that of Devarim (28:15-68) [Shebat 11, Ab 23] before Rosh HaShanah. Why is
that? In order that the past year finish along with all of the curses
associated with it.... Is Shavuot, then, a New
Year's day? Yes, it is. As the Mishna[79]
states, "There are four periods when the world is
judged; on Pesach... on Shavuot... on Rosh HaShanah...
and on Succoth....":
Megillah 31b It has been
taught: R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: Ezra made a regulation for Israel that they
should read the curses in Leviticus before Pentecost
and those in Deuteronomy before New Year. What is the
reason? — Abaye — or you may also say Resh Lakish said: So that the year may
end along with its curses. I grant you that in regard to the curses in
Deuteronomy you can say, ‘so that the year should end along with its curses’.
But as regards those In Leviticus — is Pentecost a
New Year? — Yes; Pentecost is also a New Year, as we have learnt: ‘On Pentecost
is the new year for [fruit of] the tree’.
Our custom is to read a Parasha
that does not mention Tochachah the Shabbat before
Rosh Hashanah [and to read the Tochachah ‘two’ weeks before Shavuot and Rosh HaShanah,]
in order not to read Tochachah immediately prior to Rosh Hashanah.[80]
(1) The Tochachah of Vayikra are
associated with Shavuot and those of Devarim with Rosh HaShanah.
(2) Those who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle could also keep
Ezra's institution. If the Tochachah,[81]
in such a cycle, was to be read
shortly after a Rosh HaShanah, it would be pushed up and read earlier. Ezra
made no institution bidding us to “arrange” to read the Tochachah before
Shavuot or Rosh Hashanah!
It must be noted that it is our custom to read the Torah portion of Devarim always on the Sabbath before Tisha B’Av (the Ninth day of the month of Av) [Elul 4, Adar 29]. The three weeks before Tisha B’Av, and also the nine days from the start of Av until the fast day, are days of sadness and national stocktaking which at its basis is also self rebuke. In light of the constant connection between the Torah portion of Devarim and Tisha B’Av, and in light of the word “Eicha” in the Scroll of Lamentations and the Torah portion, can we assume that the understanding of the introduction to the Book of Devarim as words of rebuke and reprimand were born out of the atmosphere of the days on which they read this portion in the synagogues? In contrast to this captivating possibility, it must be stated that in the period of the Tannaic Midrashim the annual Torah reading cycle had not yet been established as a one year cycle and therefore the portion of Devarim did not always fall before Tisha B’Av.
From the similarity of the wording of the commands for Shabbat and Yom tov (festival), and for Shmita and Yovel (it shall be for you), we learn the following relationship:
Shmita is to Yovel as Shabbat is to Yom tov.
The tithes of the septennial cycle are:
Year 1 - Maaser Sheni - Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in Jerusalem.
Year 2 - Maaser Sheni - Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in Jerusalem.
Year 3 - Maaser Ani - Tithe to be given to the poor, doesn't have to be eaten in Jerusalem.
Year 4 - Maaser Sheni - Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in Jerusalem.
Year 5 - Maaser Sheni - Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in Jerusalem.
Year 6 - Maaser Ani - Tithe to be given to the poor, doesn't have to be eaten in Jerusalem.
Year 7 - Shemittah - No Terumah / No Maaser Rishon / No Maaser Ani or Sheni / No Terumat Maaser (Given by Levi to Kohen).
Twice every seven years, on the day before Pesach of the fourth and seventh years of every Shmita cycle, every crop owner must make sure that he has delivered all the tithes to their proper destination, and on the last day of Pesach of the fourth and seventh years, he recites the confession (viduy ma'asrot) found in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 26:13-15. This ceremony is called a "confession of tithes" and is preferable to take place at the Temple, but it may be recited anywhere.
In a typical year, the Jewish farmer in eretz
What becomes of the second tithe (the 8.82%)? The answer to this question is not the same every year. Part of the Jewish calendar is the seven year Shmita cycle of which the first six years are set aside for agricultural pursuits, and the seventh for leaving the land fallow in recognition of the fact that it is HaShem, not our own labor, that is the true source of our sustenance. In the first, second, fourth, and fifth years of the cycle, the second tithe becomes "Maaser Sheni" (second tithe) and is kept by its owner to be eaten when he next travels to Jerusalem. In the third and sixth years of the Shmita cycle, this tithe is given as charity and is therefore called "Maaser Ani", the tithe for the poor. (In the seventh year, the Shmita year, since the land is not cultivated, no tithes are given.)
The Mishna speaks of these tithes and the penalty for not paying them:
Avot 5:9 There are four time-periods when plagues
increase: on the fourth and
seventh years [of the sabbatical cycle], on the year following the
seventh, and following the festivals of each year. On the fourth year, because
of [the neglect of] the tithe to the poor that must be given on the third year;
on the seventh, because of the tithe to the poor that must be given on the
sixth; on the year after the seventh, because of the produce of the sabbatical
year; and following each festival, because of the robbing of the poor of the
gifts due to them.
The Mishna, in Pirke Avot 5:9,
states that neglecting to observe the Shmita year leads to the punishment of
exile; the Gemara, in Shabbat 33a, adds that when
the Jews are exiled for abandoning this mitzva, they
are replaced in their land by others. This Mishna also indicates that the
misuse of the produce of this year results in plagues
and pestilence in the land.
Why Was The Tithe Of The Third Year
So Important?
By Hakham Dr Yosef ben
Haggai
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) 26:11-12 "And
thou shalt rejoice in all the good which Ha-Shem thy G-d hath given unto thee,
and unto they house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is in the
midst of thee. When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithe of thine
increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it
unto the Levite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that
they may eat within thy gates, and be satisfied."
Note first, in verse 11,
that the stranger, the Ger Toshav who
is also known as the B'ne Noach, participated in the tithings and in the
rejoicing in Jerusalem when the tithes were brought. In the third year all
tithes were surrendered. Verse 12 says, "when
thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithe of thine increase in the third
year, which is the year of (final) tithe."
Why was the tithe of the Third Year so important? Why the Third Year? Does not everything in
Judaism revolve around the number seven? Odd, is it not, that so much stress
was laid of the Tithe of the Third Year? In normal counting you number
1-2-3-4-5-6-7. The middle of that counting would not be the third but the
fourth. Why not the Tithe of the Fourth Year instead of the third year? It
seems out of balance, tilted somewhat heavily toward the end one, two, three and then four, five, six,
and seven. So what is the mystery of the Third Year?
Six days shalt thou work
and on the seventh day shall be Shabbat, yes?
Seven Sabbaths are
between Pesach (Passover) and Shabuot
(Pentecost), true?
Counting from Tishri, the
month of the High Holy Day to Passover are seven months, right?
Or counting from Nisan
(Passover) to the High Holy Days in Tishri are also seven months.
Are there not seven years
in the Sabbatical Year?
Are there not seven
Sabbatical Years in a Shabbaton or Jubilee on the fiftieth year?
Did not Daniel the
Apocalyptic Prophet say seventy Jubilees were determined on the fall and redemption of Jerusalem?
So what was so important
about this Third Year Tithe? The Jubilee
system of calculation of time is the answer to
why the tithe of the third year is so important! The days Four,
Five, Six ascend to the Seventh
Day or Shabbat, then descend to the First, Second and to the Third Day of the
week (Tuesday). We see this clearly in the Talmud as
well:
Gittin
77a Our Rabbis taught: [If he says,
‘This is your Get if I do not return] till after the septennate,’ we wait an
extra year; ‘till after a year’, we wait a month; ‘till after a month’, we wait
a week. If he Says, ‘till after the Sabbath’, what
[do we do]? — When R. Zera was once sitting before R. Assi, or, as others
report, when R. Assi was sitting before R. Johanan, he said: The first day of
the week and the second and third are called ‘after the Sabbath’; the fourth
and fifth days and the eve of Sabbath are called ‘before the Sabbath.’
So did the counting of
the Sabbatical Year! Therefore, the Third Year was the final year of the ascent
from the Fourth Year to the apex of the Seventh Sabbatical Year, or Year of
Release. Then, the descent from the Sabbatical Year through the First, Second
and final Third Year ended the Tithe Cycle. The cycle could not end on the
Seventh Year because it was not a tithed year as there was no planting.
Therefore, all tithes had to be closed out before the new cycle could begin.
Also, the Third Year, like the Third Day has a double blessing if they obey the
commandment to empty-out all the tithes in their house according to Deut.
26:11-12 and Malachi 3:6-16.
Now that we understand how the seven are counted:
3, 2, 1, 7, 6, 5, 4. Now lets continue this example to understand that maaser,
the tithe.
On the
eve of Passover of the fourth and seventh
years, one would have to rid himself of all tithes and priestly gifts (Maaser Sheni 5:6).[82]
Then, on the seventh day of Passover in the afternoon, one would make the
declaration.[83] Passover
occurs six months into the year which always begins in Tishri. Passover of the
fourth year would be three and a half years into the seven year Shmita cycle.
Thus the declaration was
made at the end of three and half years and again at the end of seven years.
The Pattern of Seven
Maaser
Since our Sages teach us
that all sevens are related, it follows that there is a pattern to the sevens
such that we can begin to learn how the first three and a half are related to
the second three and a half.
Lets start by examining
the maaser, the tithe, which was taken in six of the seven years:
|
Maaser Ani First Tithe |
Maaser Sheni Second Tithe |
Maaser Sheni Second Tithe |
No Maaser |
Maaser Ani First Tithe |
Maaser Sheni Second Tithe |
Maaser Sheni Second Tithe |
As we look for the
pattern, we notice that the only time we transition from Ani (first) to Sheni
(second) is between the third and fourth years. We also note a clear pattern
of: Ani-Sheni-Sheni on both sides of the seven, on either side of the seventh year where no maaser
is taken.
So, one of the patterns
is that we transition from the first (Ani) to the second (Sheni).
The Creation
In the creation
we see the pattern in a slightly different way. We see that the first three
have a direct relationship with the last three. For
example: The light was created on the first day, but the planetary bodies which
give light were not created till the fourth day. The waters were separated on
the second day, but the critters who “swim” in the waters above (birds) and the
critters that swim in the waters below (fish) were not created till the fifth
day. Finally, we see that God created the land and plants on the third day, but
the critters that walk on the land and eat the plants, were not created until
the sixth day.
|
A 3rd Day God created dry land God created plants. |
A 2nd Day God separated waters above from Waters below. |
One Day God created the heavens and earth and separated light from darkness. |
The 7th Day God Rested. |
The 6th Day God created beasts. God created men. |
A 5th Day God created birds and fishes. |
A 4th Day God created the sun, moon, and stars. |
Thus we see a one-to-four
relationship with the transition between the creation of the environment with
their associated example occurring between the third and the fourth days.
For more patterns within
the number seven, see the following studies: 7CHART
and SEVEN.
|
Year 3 Rishon was given to the Levites and
Priests Ani was given to the poor. rishon & ani |
Year 2 Rishon was given to the Levites and
Priests Sheni was taken to Jerusalem and
eaten. rishon & sheni |
Year 1 Rishon was given to the Levites and Priests Sheni was taken to Jerusalem and
eaten. rishon & sheni |
Year 7 Sabbatical No tithe |
Year 6 Rishon was given to the Levites and
Priests Ani was given to the poor. rishon & ani |
Year 5 Rishon was given to the Levites and
Priests Sheni was taken to Jerusalem and
eaten. rishon & sheni |
Year 4 Rishon was given to the Levites and
Priests Sheni was taken to Jerusalem and
eaten. rishon & sheni |
There is a dispute, in Arachin 12b, between R' Yehuda and Rabbanan. According to R' Yehuda, the Yovel year, the 50th year of the 50 year Jubilee cycle, counts as the first year of the next 50 year cycle. Therefore, the cycle is really 49 years with the 50th/1st year being a Yovel. Rabbanan, however, hold that the cycle is actually 50 years and only after the Yovel year does the cycle begin again. The consensus is that, at least after the destruction of the Temple, the halacha is like R' Yehuda that the cycles are 49 years.
In The Jewish Encyclopedia:
There is a difference of
opinion in the Talmud as to whether the jubilee year was included in or excluded from the
forty-nine years of the seven cycles. The majority of rabbis hold that the
jubilee year was an intercalation, and followed the seventh Sabbatical
year, making two fallow years in succession. After both had passed, the next cycle began. They adduce this theory from the plain
words of the Law to "hallow the fiftieth
year," and also from the assurance of God's promise of a yield in the
sixth year sufficient for maintenance during the following three
years:
Vayikra
(Leviticus) 25:22 "until the ninth year,
until her fruits come in"
Which, they say, refers to
the jubilee year.
Now that we know that the Torah was read through in three and a half years, I thought it prudent to examine the other Torah related items which also follow a three and a half year cycle.
Two meshichim,[87] Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben David are represented by the triennial, or Shmita, Torah reading cycle. The Master of Nazareth (Yeshua), Mashiach ben Yosef, is said to have had a ministry of three and a half years – one triennial Torah cycle! Thus we would we would expect that Mashiach ben David would also have a ministry of three and a half years in order to complete the septennate and the second triennial cycle.
The following quotes from the Tanach and the Nazarean Codicil[88] speak of a period of three and a half years:
Elijah caused the rain to stop for three and a half years. 1 Kings 17:1 - 18:1, as the Nazarean Codicil confirms:
Luqas (Luke) 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of
Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save
unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
Yaaqov (James) 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as
we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not
rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three
years and six months.
Daniel 7:25 And he
shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of
the most High, and think to change times and laws: and
they shall be given into his hand until a time and
times and the dividing of time.
Revelation 11:2 But
the court which is without the temple leave out, and
measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles:
and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
Revelation 11:3 And I
will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall
prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days,
clothed in sackcloth.
Revelation 12:14 And
to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a
time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
The following quotes also speak of a period of three and a half years:
There is a custom among especially righteous Jews to have their Tefillin and Mezuzot checked each year during Elul. According to the strict Halacha, Mezuzot must be checked once every three and a half years.
The Bar Kochba Revolt in 132-135 C.E., which "apparently lasted about three and a half years".[89]
During the Maccabean revolt the temple was desecrated for roughly three and a half years, a figure which has often been pivotal for millennial exegesis.
The following quotes from the oral law speak of a period of three and a half years:
Ezekiel describes the movement of the Shechinah from the Holy of Holies to the Mount of Olives. The Shechinah remained there for a complete Triennial Torah cycle of three and a half years:
Midrash Rabbah - Lamentations Prologue XXV "R. Jonathan said: Three and a half years
the Shechinah abode upon the Mount of Olives hoping
that Israel would repent, but they did not; while a Bath Kol issued announcing,
'Return, O backsliding children (Jer. III, 14), Return unto Me, and I will
return unto you (Mal. III, 7).' When they did not repent, it said, 'I will go
and return to My place (Hos. V, 15).' Concerning that time it is said, 'Give
glory to the Lord your God, before it grow dark' (Jer. XIII, 16): before it
becomes dark to you for lack of words of Torah, before it becomes dark to you
for lack of words of prophecy, 'and before your feet stumble upon the mountains
of twilight.'"
The Talmud (in Yoma 11a) and the Shulchan Aruch (291:1) states that mezzuzot must be checked twice in seven years. Many poskim explain this to mean every three and a half years.
Yoma 11a …For it has been taught: The mezuzah of an individual's [house] should
be examined twice every seven years, and of public
buildings twice every fifty years.
All Tefillin and mezzuzot must be checked periodically to verify their kashrut. Everyone is required to check his Tefillin and mezzuzot twice in seven years, or once every three and a half years, since it is an established fact that over a period of time Tefillin and mezzuzot are liable to become invalid.
Rabbi Meir, speaking about the Red Heifer, says that [the animal is designated as] a "cow" when it is three and a half years old:
Midrash Rabbah -
Lamentations Prologue XXV
"R. Jonathan said: Three
and a half years the Shechinah abode upon the Mount
of Olives hoping that Israel would repent, but they did not; while a Bath
Kol issued announcing, 'Return, O backsliding children (Jer. III, 14), Return
unto Me, and I will return unto you (Mal. III, 7).' When they did not repent,
it said, 'I will go and return to My place (Hos. V, 15).' Concerning that time
it is said, 'Give glory to the Lord your God, before it grow dark' (Jer. XIII,
16): before it becomes dark to you for lack of words of Torah, before it becomes dark to you
for lack of words of prophecy, 'and before your feet stumble upon the mountains
of twilight.'"
The four letter name of HaShem was taught twice in seven years:
Kiddushin 71a Rabbah
b. Bar Hanah said in R. Johanan's name: The [pronunciation of the Divine] Name of four letters the
Sages confide to their disciples once a septennate — others state, twice a septennate. Said R. Nahman b. Isaac: Reason
supports the view that it was once a septennate, for it is written, this is my name for ever [le'olam] which is written le'allem. Raba
thought to lecture upon it at the public sessions. Said a certain old man to
him, It is written, le'allem [to be kept secret].
Maintenance to the Holy of Holies was also done twice in seven years:
Pesachim 86a Come and
hear: Abba Saul said: The upper chamber of the Holy of Holies was more
stringent than the Holy of Holies, for the High Priest
entered the Holy of Holies once a year, whereas the upper chamber of the Holy
of Holies was entered only once a septennate — others say, twice a septennate —
others say, once in a Jubilee — to see what it
required?
Meam Loez[90]
also speaks of a three and a half year period:
Nebuchadnezzar started an attack. He remained in
the suburbs of
On the eve of Passover of the fourth and seventh years, one would have to rid himself of all tithes and priestly gifts (Maaser Sheni 5:6). This unusual mitzvah performed only twice every seven years. It is called "Viduy Maaser" - literally, 'Tithing Confession.' But this is not a confession in the usual sense. The individual goes to Jerusalem and publicly declares that he has fulfilled all obligations regarding terumot and ma'aserot, the various tithes of produce distributed to the kohanim, the Levites, and the poor. The Torah commands us to take inventory twice in seven years to assure we have distributed all the maaser, other gifts and taxes that are required of us.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 26:13-15
When thou hast made an end of tithing
all the tithes of thine increase the third year, which is the year of tithing,
and hast given it unto the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,
that they may eat within thy gates, and be filled; 13 Then thou shalt say before HaShem thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things
out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the
stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy
commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy
commandments, neither have I forgotten them: 14
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning,
neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought
thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of HaShem my God, and
have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. 15 Look down from thy holy habitation, from
heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as
thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
Passover occurs six months into the year which always begins in Tishri.
Passover of the fourth year would be three and a half years into the seven year
Shmita cycle. Thus the declaration was made at the end of three and half years
and again at the end of seven years.
So, what connects these
events that they should all be associated with three and a half and seven?
A prophet is not
accepted in his own country – famine – no rain. No Torah.
Luqas (Luke) 4:25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in
Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
Shechinah moved out of
the Temple waiting for repentance. Was not accepted in that place. No Torah
"R. Jonathan said: Three and a half years
the Shechinah abode upon the Mount of Olives hoping
that Israel would repent,
Mezzuzah guards a
house. It causes us to remember the commands of HaShem. So there will be Torah
The mezuzah of an
individual's [house] should be examined twice every seven
years.
The name of “Loving Kindness” – The essential
name in the Torah.
Name of four letters the Sages confide to their
disciples once a septennate — others state, twice a
septennate.
The location of the Torah (luchot) and Moshe’s scroll.
the Holy of Holies was entered only once a septennate — others say, twice a
septennate.
I did what the Torah required.
On the eve of Passover of the fourth and seventh
years, one would have to rid himself of all tithes and priestly gifts (Maaser Sheni 5:6).
Each of these issues seems to be about remembering HaShem and His Torah. This dovetails nicely with the septennial lectionary cycle which has as its main purpose to cause us to
Simchat Torah is the only time of the year when the Torah reading is done at night time.
By rabbinic tradition, Shemini Atzeret
celebrates the conclusion of the annual and the triennial cycle of the reading of the Torah. This
celebration is known as Simchat Torah. In the Diaspora (exile) Shemini Atzeret
is a two-day festival, with the Torah reading
concluded on the second day, and it is common to refer to the second day as Simchat
Torah and only to the first day as Shemini Atzeret. In
The central features of the Simchat Torah celebrations are the hakafot, the circuits around the synagogue, with the participants carrying the scrolls of the Torah, to the accompaniment of joyous singing and dancing. The hakafot are held both in the Arbit and in the Shacharit services. After the morning hakafot, three scrolls are taken from the Holy Ark for the Torah reading service. From the first scroll, the final portion of Devarim is read to conclude the entire Torah; from the second scroll, the first chapter of Bereshit with a few additional verses in order to indicate there is no pause in the cycle of the Torah readings; while from the third scroll, the appropriate Maftir is read relating to the sacrificial service for Shemini Atzeret. According to custom, everyone is called for an aliyah to the Torah.
In 1989 Dr. Yosef Ofer published a full and updated list of all the Haftorot that were read according to the three-and-a-half year custom (except for two). Dr. Ofer writes the following concerning the three-year system:
“The first verse of the haftarah, of the triennial cycle, includes a sort of “gezerah shavah” (inference by analogy) to the first (or second) verse of the portion read from the Torah. This usually meant two or three words common to both, and sometimes also some common content.”
To wit, as opposed to the Babylonian custom of choosing a passage from the Prophets which is similar in theme or content to the parallel Torah reading (as indicated in Megillah 29b), the custom of Eretz Israel (the “Palestinian” custom, which is also called the Triennial cycle) was to find an appropriate passage from the Prophets based on a unique word found at the beginning of the Torah reading, even if the content was dissociate. Dr. Ofer points out that the haftarah of Malachi 3:4 (And the offering [Minchah] of Yehuda and Jerusalem will be sweet) which was the haftarah for the “sedra” beginning This is the sacrifice of Aharon and his sons... a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a perpetual meal offering (Minchah tamid) (Vayikra 6:12-13).
The triennial Torah readings
are related to the Haftorah and the Psalm by the
verbal tally (vhk hnss or word-association), of
related words.
The annual Torah readings are
related to the Haftorah by their thematic tally.
The Torah is related to Matityahu and to Yochanan by a verbal tally. The Triennial cycle is related to Matityahu as Midrash and the festival readings are related to Yochanan as sod.
The Mishna and Gemara are related to Marqos and Luqas by thematic tally, not by verbal tally.
Melech David wrote the first commentary on the triennial cycle when He composed the 150 Psalms.
The triennial cycle is prophetic in that it is prophesy about things to come. This is why they are arranged chronologically. This is why Melech David cared about the triennial cycle; it is the cycle of kings who need to understand the future in order to rule properly.
Whilst our Ashlamata (Haftarah) can be chosen, our Torah and Psalm are fixed. This variable Ashlamata (Haftarah) can be determined from the corresponding verbal tally found in Matityahu. The first Torah portion, Bereshit 1:1 – 2:3 is tied to the closing verses of Matityahu. This gives us a connection to Simchat Torah and also gives us a bit of an understanding as to how the Nazarean Codicil connects our principles together.
The primary connection between a Torah reading and its corresponding Ashlamata (Haftarah) is a “verbal tally”. The key word in a Torah portion is also the key word in the Ashlamata. This very similar to Hillel’s second middot: “Gezerah shavah” (literally, "a comparison of equals"), in which the use of the same term in two distinct parts of the Torah allows the application of a detail from the one case to the other, unrelated case.
The term haftarah was chosen by the Babylonian schools as a designation for the reading from the Prophets, in the annual cycle. The Palestinian term for the reading from the Prophets, of the triennial cycle, was ashlamata, apparently meaning “that which finishes the readings” or “that which completes the Torah.”
The Haftorah (literally means “conclusion”, referring to the placement of this reading at the end of the reading of the Torah) reading is chosen based on word associations in the Torah reading. The Nazarean Codicil will help narrow the choice. The word tally should be based on precedents such as: How was a word used? The readings should be divided at the paragraph markings, in English, or the (+ space divisions in the Hebrew).
Many scholars see the triennial Torah and Ashlamatot readings as chaotic with different congregations having different readings. One who sees the Jews today, such as I, would have a very hard time dealing with such a chaotic condition. It is hard to believe that Jews were not completely unified in their Torah readings. When I see multiple Ashlamatot I do not think chaos. I think: How do they ALL fit, logically, into a grand scheme of readings? While I surely do not yet understand all of the pieces, I do have a glimmer.
My glimmer is that when we have only two variant readings, then one must pertain to the Nisan cycle and one must pertain to the Tishri cycle. Take, for example, the Ashlamatot associated with the Torah reading of Bereshit 6:9 – 7:24. The Ashlamatot associated with this Torah reading are:
(1) Isaiah 54:9-17 + 55:5
(2) Isaiah 60:18 – 61:4 +
9
Now,
if one looks at the subjects of these two readings, he will find that Isaiah
54-55 speaks about the flood, and that Isaiah 60-61 speak about the days of the
Mashiach’s return. When we examine the Tishri cycle, we find that Bereshit 6 is
read in the middle of Cheshvan. In the Nisan cycle we read this same portion
close to Lag B’Omer. This suggests that we would read Isaiah 54:9-17 + 55:5 during the Tishri cycle, and that Isaiah 60:18 – 61:4
+ 9 would be read during the Nisan cycle, because the subject matter concerns
the particular time of the year. Thus we see that rather than being chaotic,
the multiple Ashlamatot in fact help us connect our Torah reading to the time
of year when we read that particular ashlamata.
So, what do we do when we have more than two Ashlamatot associated with a particular Torah reading? My working hypothesis is that the additional Ashlamatot are associated with a particular month. For example, if a Torah seder is read in Cheshvan, then Ashlamata “A” would be read. If that same Torah seder happens, due to calendrical variation, to fall in Kislev, then we would read Ashlamata “B”. We will see how this works out as we continue to study this fantastic lectionary.
There are a minimum of ten verses for the Shabbat Haftorah which are divided seven to start and three to end. The Haftorah must end on a positive note.
The Abudraham (R. David Abudraham, 14th c.
Why do we read from the Neviim?
Since there was a decree against Israel preventing them from reading from the
Torah, corresponding to the seven who would come up to read from the Torah -
and no one reads fewer than three verses per Aliyah - they ordained that twenty-one
verses from the Neviim should be read... (This approach can also be found in
Tosafot Yom Tov, Megillah 3:4 - he cites the Sefer haTishbi who maintains that
the aforementioned decree was passed by the wicked Antiochus
Epiphanes IV).
As Abudraham points out, the minimum requirement for a reading of the Haftarah is twenty-one verses, although there are exceptions to this rule (generally, if the entire theme is exhausted in fewer than twenty-one verses). This does seem to suggest a correlation to the Torah reading (seven aliyot times three verses at minimum),
The rules regarding the regular Haftarah as found in the Talmud are:
1) One who reads the Torah should not read less than three verses and he should not read to the translator more than one verse [at a time]. In a Prophets, however, [he may give him] three at a time. If the three verses constitute three separate Parashiyot, he must read them [to the translator] one by one. The reader may skip [from place to place] in a Prophets but not in the Torah ... (Mishna Megillah 4:4)
2) He who says the Haftarah from the Prophets should read not less than twenty-one verses:
Megillah 23a The following was cited in objection to this: ‘He who says the
haftarah from the Prophet should read not less than twenty-one verses,
corresponding to [those read by] the seven who have read in the Torah’. Now if
it is as you say, there are twenty-four? — Since it is only out of respect for
the Torah [that he reads], no corresponding verses [to those read by him] are
required [in the prophetical reading]. Raba strongly demurred to this: There
is, he said, [the haftarah of] ‘Add your burnt-offerings’ in which there are
not twenty-one verses, and yet we read it! — The case is different there,
because the subject is completed [before twenty-one verses]. But where the
subject is not completed, do we then not [read less than twenty-one]? Has not
R. Samuel b. Abba said: Many times I stood before R. Johanan, and when I had
read ten verses he said, ‘Stop [both of] you’? — In a place where there is a
translator it is different, since R. Tahlifa b. Samuel has taught: This rule
was laid down only for a place where there is no translator, but where there is
a translator a stop may be made [earlier].
3) The reader may not skip from one Prophets to another. In the minor Prophets, he may skip, provided only that he does not skip from the end of the book to the beginning:
Megillah 24a MISHNAH. ONE WHO READS THE TORAH [IN SYNAGOGUE] SHOULD READ NOT LESS THAN THREE VERSES, AND HE SHOULD NOT READ TO THE TRANSLATOR
MORE THAN ONE VERSE [AT A TIME]. IN A PROPHET, HOWEVER, [HE MAY GIVE HIM] THREE
AT A TIME. IF THE THREE VERSES CONSTITUTE THREE SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS, HE MUST
READ THEM [TO THE TRANSLATOR] ONE BY ONE. THE READER MAY SKIP [FROM PLACE TO
PLACE] IN A PROPHET BUT NOT IN THE TORAH. HOW FAR MAY HE SKIP? [ONLY] SO FAR
THAT THE TRANSLATOR WILL NOT HAVE STOPPED [BEFORE HE FINDS HIS PLACE].
There are a minimum of twenty-one verses for each Shabbat with a minimum of seven readers with each reader reading a minimum of three verses. The verses must be consecutive without skipping. The verses are divided as follows:
8. Maftir
The following sources detail some of the rules that govern the Septennial cycle.
Berachoth
22b Our Rabbis taught: If a man
was standing saying the Tefillah and he remembered
that he was a ba'al keri, he should not break off but shorten the benedictions.
If a man was reading the Torah and remembered that he was a ba'al keri, he
should not break off and leave it but should go on reading in a mumbling tone.
R. Meir said: A ba'al keri is not permitted to read more than three verses in
the Torah.
Taanit
27b An objection was raised: [A
section of] six verses is read by two, but [a section
of] five verses by one; should, however, the first
person have read three verses then the second person reads the [remaining] two
and one verse from the following section; some say, he reads three verses [from
the following section] because we do not read from a [new] section less than
three verses. Now in accordance with the view of him who says that it should be
repeated, let then [the third verse of the first section] be repeated; and in
accordance with the view of him who says that it should be divided, let the
verse be divided? — There the position is different because he has plenty of
verses at his disposal.
Taanit
26ab ON SUNDAY [THEY READ],[91] IN
THE BEGINNING, AND, LET THERE BE A FIRMAMENT; ON MONDAY,[92] LET
THERE BE A FIRMAMENT, AND, LET THE WATERS BE GATHERED TOGETHER; ON TUESDAY,[93] LET
THE WATERS BE GATHERED TOGETHER, AND, LET THERE BE LIGHTS; ON WEDNESDAY,[94] LET
THERE BE LIGHTS, AND, LET THE WATERS SWARM; ON THURSDAY,[95] LET
THE WATERS SWARM, AND, LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH; ON FRIDAY,[96] LET
THE EARTH BRING FORTH, AND, AND THE HEAVENS [AND THE
EARTH] WERE FINISHED.
Megillah
21b ON MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS AND
ON SABBATH AT MINHAH THREE READ. What do these three
represent? — R. Assi said: The Pentateuch, the Prophets and the Hagiographa.
Raba said: Priests, Levites, and lay Israelites. But
now, in the statement of R. Shimi, ‘Not less than ten
verses [of the Torah] should be read in the synagogue,
the verse ‘and [God] spoke to [Moses saying]’ being counted as one’, — what do
these ten represent? — R.Joshua b. Levi said: The ten
men of leisure in the synagogue. R. Joseph said: The ten commandments which
were given to Moses on Sinai. (R. Levi said: The ten times hallel [praise]
which David uttered in the book of Psalms.) R. Johanan said: The ten utterances
with which the world was created. What are these? The expressions ‘And [God]
said’ in the first chapter of Genesis. But there are only nine?
— The words ‘In the beginning’ are also a [creative] utterance, since it is
written, By the word of the Lord the heavens were
made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
Raba
said: If the first reads four verses he is to be commended; if the second reads
four verses he is to be commended; if the third reads
four verses he is to be commended. ‘If the first reads four verses he is to be
commended’, as we have learnt: ‘There were three bags holding three se'ahs
each, in which the priests take up the
money-offerings out of the [shekel] chamber, and they were labeled Aleph, Beth,
Gimmel, so as to show which was taken out first, so that sacrifices could be
brought from that one first, since it is a religious duty to offer from the
first. ‘If the middle one reads four verses, he is to be commended’, as it has
been taught: ‘[The seven lamps] shall give light in
front of the candlestick; this teaches that they were made to face the western
lamp and the western lamp faced the Shechinah; and R. Johanan said: This shows
that the middle one is specially prized’. ‘If the last reads four verses he is
to be commended’: because of the principle that ‘in dealing with holy things we
promote but never degrade’. R. Papa was once in the synagogue
of Abe Gobar, when the first one [who was called up] read four verses, and R.
Papa commended him.
NEITHER
LESS NOR MORE [etc.]. A Tanna stated: The one who reads first makes a blessing
before the reading, and the one who reads last makes a blessing after it.
Nowadays that all make a blessing both before and after the reading, the reason
is that the Rabbis ordained this to avoid error on the part of people entering
and leaving synagogue.[97]
Megillah
21b ON NEW
MOONS AND ON THE INTERMEDIATE DAYS OF THE FESTIVAL
FOUR READ. ‘Ulla b. Rab enquired of Raba: How is the portion of New Moon[98] to
be divided? [The paragraph commencing] ‘Command the children of
Megillah
22a [This is not right], since we
do not read less than three verses together at the beginning of a paragraph. Shall
the reader read two from one and three from the other? Then only two verses are
left [to the end of the second paragraph]! — He replied: On this point I have
not heard [any pronouncement], but I have learnt the rule in a somewhat similar
case, as we have learnt: ‘On Sundays, [the ma'amad read the paragraph] "In
the beginning" and "let there be a firmament",[103]
and to this a gloss was added, "In the beginning" is read by two and
"let there be a firmament" by one’, and we were somewhat perplexed by
this. For that [the paragraph] ‘let there be a firmament’ can be read by one we
understand, since it has three verses, but how can ‘In the beginning, be read
by two, seeing that it has only five verses, and it has been taught, ‘He who
reads in the Torah should not read less than three verses’? And it was stated
[in answer] to this [question] that Rab says he should repeat,[104]
and Samuel says he should divide a verse. Rab said he should repeat. Why should
he not say ‘divide’? — He was of opinion that any verse which Moses had not
divided, we may not divide, whereas Samuel held that we may divide. But surely,
R. Hananiah the Bible teacher[105] said,
I was in great pain in the house of R. Hanina the great, and he would not allow
me to make [additional verse] divisions save for the school children, because
they are there to be taught? — Now what was the reason there [why he was
allowed to make divisions]? Because it could not be avoided; here[106]
too it cannot be avoided. Samuel said that he divides. Why did he not say that
he repeats? It is a precaution to prevent error on the part of those coming in
and going out.
An
objection [against both these views] 8 was brought from the following: ‘A
section of six verses may be read by two persons, a
section of five verses must be read by one. If the
first reads three verses, the second reads the remaining two
from this section and one from the next; some, however, say that he reads three
from the next, because not less than three verses should be read at the
beginning of a section’. Now if it is as you said,[107]
then according to the one who says he should repeat, let him repeat, and
according to the one who says he should divide, let him divide? — It is different
here,[108]
because this method is open to him.[109]
R.
Tanhum, said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: The halacha follows the
alternative opinion[110]
mentioned.
R.
Tanhum also said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi: Just as at the beginning of
a section not less than three verses should be read, so at the end of a section
not less than three verses should be left. Surely this is obvious! Seeing that
in regard to the beginning of a section where the First Tanna is not so strict
the alternative opinion is strict, is it not certain that in regard to the
verses left [at the end of the section] where the First Tanna is strict the
alternative opinion will also be strict? — You might argue that it is usual for
people to come in [to synagogue during the reading
of the law],[111]
but it is not usual for them to go out and leave the scroll of the law while it
is being read;[112]
therefore we are told [that we do not argue thus]. But now with regard to the
First Tanna: Why does he forbid [less than three
verses] to be left [at the end of the section]? On account of people going out
of synagogue,[113]
is it not? Then with regard to the beginning also he should take precautions on
account of people coming in? — I can answer that a person coming in enquires
[how much has been read].[114]
Rabbah
the son of Raba sent to enquire of R. Joseph: What is the law?[115] He
sent him back word: The law is that the verse is repeated, and it is a middle
reader[116]
who repeats.
THIS
IS THE GENERAL RULE: WHENEVER THERE IS A MUSAF etc. The question was raised:
How many read on a public fast day?[117]
Shall we say that on New Moon and the intermediate
days of the festival when there is an additional
sacrifice four read, but here where there is no additional sacrifice this is
not the case? Or shall we argue that here also there is an additional prayer? — Come and hear: ON NEW MOONS AND ON THE
INTERMEDIATE DAYS OF FESTIVALS FOUR READ’, from which
we conclude that on public fasts only three read. Look now at the preceding
clause: ‘ON MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS AND ON SABBATH AT
MINHAH THREE READ’, from which we may conclude that on a public fast four read!
The truth is that we cannot decide from here.
Come
then and hear [this]: ‘Rab happened to be at
Megillah
22b Come and hear: ‘The general
principle is that wherever the people would be hindered from their work, as on
a public fast and on the month of Ab, three read,
and where the people would not be hindered from their work, as on New Moons and the intermediate days of festivals,2 four read’. This settles the question.
Said R. Ashi: But we have learnt differently, viz., THIS IS THE GENERAL RULE:
WHEREVER THERE IS A MUSAF BUT NOT A FESTIVAL FOUR READ:
Now what is added [by the words ‘THIS IS THE GENERAL RULE’]? Is it not a public
fast and the month of Ab? But according to R. Ashi, whose view then is recorded
in the Mishna? It is neither that of the First Tanna
nor of R. Jose, as it has been taught: ‘If it [the month of Ab] falls on Monday
or Thursday, three read and one [of them] says a haftarah. If on Tuesday or
Wednesday, one reads and [the same] one says the haftarah. R. Jose, however,
says that in all cases three read and one [of them] says the haftarah’. But
still the words ‘THIS IS THE GENERAL RULE are difficult! — No. They add New
Moon and the intermediate days. But as these are stated explicitly: ON NEW MOONS AND THE INTERMEDIATE DAYS FOUR READ? — [The Mishna] is merely giving an indication that you
should not say that the festivals and the intermediate days have the same rule,
but you should take this as a general principle, that for every additional distinguishing mark an additional person reads. Hence
on New Moon and the intermediate days, when there is an additional sacrifice, four read; on festivals, when
[in addition] work is prohibited, five read; on the Day
of Atonement when [in addition] there is a penalty of kareth, six read; on Sabbath when there is a penalty of stoning, seven read.
ON
FESTIVALS FIVE READ, ON THE DAY OF ATONEMENT SIX etc.
Whose view does the Mishna embody? It is neither that of R. Ishmael nor of R.
Akiba, as it has been taught: ‘On festivals five read,
on the Day of Atonement six, and on Sabbath seven.
This number may neither be increased nor diminished. So R. Ishmael. R. Akiba
says: On festivals five read, on the Day of Atonement
seven and on Sabbath six. This number may not be diminished but it may be
increased’. Whom [does the Mishna follow]? If R. Ishmael, it conflicts with him
over the additional number, if R. Akiba, it conflicts with him over the
question of six and seven! — Raba said: The view is that of a Tanna of the
school of R. Ishmael, since in the school of R. Ishmael it was stated: ‘On
festivals five, on the Day of Atonement six, on Sabbath seven; this number may
not be diminished but it may be increased. So R. Ishmael.’ R. Ishmael is now in
conflict with himself! — Two Tannaim report R. Ishmael differently.
Who
is responsible for the statement which has been taught: ‘On festivals people
come late to synagogue and leave early. On the Day
of Atonement they come early and leave late. On Sabbath they come early and
leave early’? Shall I say it is R. Akiba who makes an extra man [read on the
Day of Atonement]? — You may also say it is R. Ishmael, [his reason being that]
the order [of the service] of the day is very long.
What
do these three, five and seven represent? — Different answers were given by R.
Isaac b. Nahmani and one who was with him, namely, R. Simeon b. Pazzi, or,
according to others, by R. Simeon b. Pazzi and one who was with him, namely, R.
Isaac b. Nahmani, or according to others, R. Samuel b. Nahmani. One said that
[these represent] the [respective number of Hebrew
words in the three verses of the] Priestly benedictions, while the other said
‘the three keepers of the door’. [The five represent] ‘five of them that saw
the king's face’ [and the seven] ‘seven men of them that saw the king's face’.
R. Joseph learnt: Three, five and seven: ‘three keepers of the door’, five of
them that saw the king's face’, and ‘seven that saw the king's face’. Said
Abaye to him: Until to-day your honor never explained the reason to us, he
replied: I never knew that you wanted to know. Did you ever ask me anything
which I did not tell you?
Jacob
the Min asked R. Judah: What do the six of the Day of
Atonement represent? — He replied: The six who stood at the right of Ezra
and the six who stood at his left, as it says, And Ezra the scribe stood upon a
pulpit of wood which they had made for the purpose, and beside him stood
Mattithiah, Shema and Anaiah and Uriah and Hilkiah and Maaseiah, on his right
hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael and Malchijah and Hashum and
Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, Meshullam. But these last are seven?
— Zechariah is the same as Meshullam. And why is he called Meshullam? Because
he was blameless [mishlam] in his conduct.
Our
Rabbis taught: All are qualified to be among the seven [who read], even a minor
and a woman, only the Sages said that a woman should not read in the Torah out
of respect for the congregation.
The
question was raised: Should the Maftir be counted among the seven? — R. Huna
and R. Jeremiah b. Abba answered differently. One said that he does count and
the other that he does not count. The one who says he does count points to the
fact that he actually reads [from the Torah also], while the one who says he
does not count relies on the dictum of ‘Ulla, who said: Why is it proper for
the one who reads the haftarah from the Prophet to read in the Torah first? To
show respect for the Torah. Since then he reads [only] out of respect for the
Torah, he should not be counted to make up the seven.
The
following was cited in objection to this: ‘He who says the haftarah from the
Prophet should read not less than twenty-one verses, corresponding to [those
read by] the seven who have read in the Torah’. Now if it is as you say, there
are twenty-four? — Since it is only out of respect for the Torah [that he
reads], no corresponding verses [to those read by him] are required [in the
prophetical reading]. Raba strongly demurred to this: There is, he said, [the
haftarah of] ‘Add your burnt-offerings’[123] in
which there are not twenty-one verses, and yet we read it! — The case is
different there, because the subject is completed [before twenty-one verses].
But where the subject is not completed, do we then not [read less than
twenty-one]? Has not R. Samuel b. Abba said: Many times I stood before R.
Johanan, and when I had read ten verses he said, ‘Stop
[both of] you’? — In a place where there is a translator it is different, since
R. Tahlifa b. Samuel has taught: This rule was laid down only for a place where
there is no translator, but where there is a translator a stop may be made
[earlier].
Megillah
23b MISHNAH.
ONE WHO READS THE TORAH [IN SYNAGOGUE] SHOULD READ
NOT LESS THAN THREE VERSES, AND HE SHOULD NOT READ TO THE TRANSLATOR MORE THAN
ONE VERSE [AT A TIME]. IN A PROPHET, HOWEVER, [HE MAY GIVE HIM] THREE AT A
TIME. IF THE THREE VERSES CONSTITUTE THREE SEPARATE
PARAGRAPHS, HE MUST READ THEM [TO THE TRANSLATOR] ONE BY ONE. THE READER MAY
SKIP [FROM PLACE TO PLACE] IN A PROPHET BUT NOT IN THE TORAH. HOW FAR MAY HE
SKIP? [ONLY] SO FAR THAT THE TRANSLATOR WILL NOT HAVE STOPPED [BEFORE HE FINDS
HIS PLACE].
Megillah
24a GEMARA.
What do these three verses represent? — R. Assi said: The Pentateuch, the
Prophets, and the Hagiographa.
HE
SHOULD NOT READ TO THE TRANSLATOR MORE THAN ONE VERSE. IN A PROPHET, HOWEVER,
HE MAY READ THREE. IF THE THREE VERSES CONSTITUTE THREE PARAGRAPHS, HE MUST
READ THEM ONE BY ONE. For instance, [the three verses], for thus saith the
Lord, ye were sold for naught; for thus saith the Lord God, my people went down aforetime to Egypt; Now therefore what do I
here, saith the Lord.
THE
READER MAY SKIP IN A PROPHET BUT NOT IN THE TORAH. A contradiction was pointed
out [between this and the following]: ‘He [the High Priest]
reads [on the Day of Atonement] "after the
death" and "only on the tenth day". But he is skipping? — Abaye
replied: There is no contradiction; in the one case the translator will have
come to a stop [before the place is found] in the other case he will not have
come to a stop. But it states in connection with this. THE READER MAY SKIP IN
THE PROPHET BUT HE MAY NOT SKIP IN THE TORAH. AND HOW FAR MAY HE SKIP? SO FAR
THAT THE TRANSLATOR WILL NOT HAVE STOPPED. From this we infer that in the Torah
he may not skip at all? — The truth is, said Abaye, that there is no
contradiction. In the one case [the reader deals] with one subject, in the
other case with two; and in fact it has been taught:
‘The reader may skip in the Torah [provided he keeps] to one subject, and in a
Prophet even if he goes on to another subject’; and in both cases only so far
that the translator will not have stopped [before he finds the place]. It has
been taught in another place: ‘The reader may not skip from one prophet to
another. In the Twelve Minor Prophets he may skip,
provided only that he does not skip from the end of the book to the beginning.’
Megillah
25a MISHNAH.
THE INCIDENT OF REUBEN IS READ IN SYNAGOGUE BUT NOT
TRANSLATED.[124]
THE STORY OF TAMAR[125] IS
READ AND TRANSLATED. THE FIRST ACCOUNT OF THE INCIDENT OF THE GOLDEN CALF[126] IS
BOTH READ AND TRANSLATED, THE SECOND[127] IS
READ BUT NOT TRANSLATED. THE BLESSING OF THE PRIESTS[128] IS
READ BUT NOT TRANSLATED. THE STORIES OF DAVID[129]
AND AMNON[130]
ARE READ BUT NOT TRANSLATED. THE PORTION OF THE CHARIOT[131] IS
NOT READ AS A HAFTARAH, BUT R.
GEMARA.
Our Rabbis taught: Some portions [of the Scripture] are both read and
translated, some are read but not translated, [and some are neither read nor
translated].[133]
The following are both read and translated: (Mnemonic: B'L'T’ ‘E'K'N’
N'SH'P'H’).[134]
The account of the creation[135] is
both read and translated. Certainly! — You might think that [through hearing
it] people are led to inquire what is above and what is below, and what is
before and what is after.1 Therefore we are told [that this is no objection].
The story of
Megillah
25b Mnemonic: R'E'B'D'N’). The
incident of Reuben is read but not translated. On one occasion R. Hanina b.
Gamaliel went to Kabul, and the reader of the congregation read, ‘And it came
to pass when Israel abode’, and he said to the translator, Translate only the
latter part of the verse, and the Sages commended his action. The second
account of the Calf is read but not translated. What is the second account of
the Calf? — From ‘And Moses said’ up to ‘and Moses saw’. It has been taught: A
man should always be careful in wording his answers, because on the ground of
the answer which Aaron made to Moses the unbelievers were able to deny [God],
as it says, And I cast it into the fire and this calf came forth.
The
priestly blessing is read but not translated. What is the reason? — Because it
contains the words, May he lift up.
The
accounts of David and Amnon are neither read nor translated. But you just said
that the story of Amnon and Tamar is both read and translated? — There is no
contradiction; the former statement refers to where it says ‘Amnon son of
David’, the latter to where it says ‘Amnon’ simply.
Megillah
29a MISHNAH.
IF THE NEW MOON OF ADAR FALLS ON SABBATH, THE
PORTION OF SHEKALIM IS READ [ON THAT DAY]. IF IT FALLS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
WEEK, IT IS READ ON THE SABBATH BEFORE, AND ON THE NEXT SABBATH THERE IS A
BREAK. ON THE SECOND [OF THE SPECIAL SABBATHS] ZAKOR IS READ, ON THE THIRD THE
PORTION OF THE RED HEIFER, ON THE FOURTH THIS MONTH SHALL BE TO YOU.’ ON THE
FIFTH THE REGULAR ORDER IS RESUMED. [THE REGULAR
GEMARA. We have learnt in another place: ‘On the first
of Adar proclamation is made with regard to the shekels and with regard to
diverse seeds. I can understand it being made for
diverse seeds, because it is the time for sowing. But what is the ground for
making it for the shekels? — R. Tabi said in the name of R. Josiah: Because
Scripture says, This is the burnt-offering of each
new moon in its renewal. The Torah herein says to us: As you renew the month, bring an offering from the new
contributions. And since it is in Nisan that we have to bring from the new
contributions, we read beforehand on the first of Adar so that shekels should
be brought [in time] to the Sanctuary. With whose
view does this accord? Not with that of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel. For if you take
the view of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel, he requires [only] two weeks’ [notice], as
it has been taught: ‘Moot points in the law of Passover are considered from thirty days before
Passover; R. Simeon b. Gamaliel, however, says, from two weeks before’. You may
even say it accords with the view of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel. For since a Master
has said that ‘on the fifteenth of this month [Adar] tables are set up in the
provinces and on the twenty-fifth in the Sanctuary’,
On account of the tables we read beforehand [on the first of Adar].
Megillah
29b What is the portion of
Shekalim? — Rab said, Commanded the children of
On
objection was raised: 2 ‘When the New Moon of Adar falls on Sabbath, the portion of Shekalim is read, and the
chapter of Jehoiada the Priest is said as haftarah’.
Now according to the one who says that ‘When thou takest’ should be said, there
is a good reason for reading Jehoiada the Priest as
haftarah because it is similar in subject, as it is written [there], the money
of the persons for whom each man is rated. But according to the one who says
that ‘My food which is presented to me’ is read, is there any similarity? —
There is, on the basis of R. Tabi's dictum.
Megillah
29b It has been taught in
agreement with Samuel: ‘When the New Moon of Adar falls on Sabbath, the portion
‘When thou takest’ is read, and the haftarah is about ‘Jehoiada the Priest’.
R.
Isaac Nappaha said: When the New Moon of Adar falls on Sabbath, three scrolls
of the Law are taken out [of the Ark], and read out of — from one the portion
of the day, from one the portion of New Moon, and from one ‘When thou takest’.
R. Isaac b. Nappaha also said: When the New Moon of Tebet falls on Sabbath,
three scrolls of the Law are brought and read out of; from one the regular
portion, from a second the portion of New Moon, and
from the third that of Hanukkah. Both statements
are required. For if only the latter had been given, [I might think that] in
this case R. Isaac required [three scrolls], but in the other case he followed
the view of Rab who said that the portion of Shekalim is ‘My food
which is presented to me’, and therefore two would be enough. Therefore we are
told that this is not so. But why not state the former [only] and the other
would not need to be stated? — One was inferred from the other.
It
was stated: If the New Moon of Tebet falls on a weekday, R. Isaac [Nappaha]
says that three read the portion of New Moon and one
the portion of Hanukkah. R. Dimi from Haifa, however, says that three read the
portion of Hanukkah and one that of New Moon. Said R. Mani: The opinion of R.
Isaac Nappaha is the more probable, because when it is a question between the
regular and the intermittent, the regular takes precedence. R. Abin, however,
said: The opinion of R. Dimi is the more probable. For what is it that causes a
fourth man to read? The New Moon. Therefore the fourth ought to read the
portion of the New Moon. What do we decide? — R. Joseph said: We take no notice
of New Moon, while Rabbah said, We take no notice of Hanukkah.
The law, however, is that we take no notice of Hanukkah,’ and New Moon is the
main consideration. It was stated: ‘If it [the Sabbath
of Shekalim] falls when the portion ‘And thou shalt command’ is read, then six
persons read from ‘And thou shalt command’ to ‘When thou takest’, and one from
‘When thou takest’ to ‘Thou shalt also make’. Abaye remarked:
* * *
The Haftorah Malachi 3:4-24 is read only when Shabbat HaGadol falls on erev Pesach. This passage tells of the tithe that was to be brought to the storehouse [of the Beit HaMikdash], and the time for clearing one's home of tithes (in the fourth and seventh years of the Sabbatical cycle) was erev Pesach.
Following the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch, end of sec. 430, after Minchah on Shabbat HaGadol we read part of the Haggada, from avadim hayinu until lechapeir al kol avonoseinu, because the redemption and the miracles began on the Shabbat
before Pesach.
In this section I will be examining each sedra and sharing the comments of our Beit Midrash.
The first reading from the Torah, according to the triennial cycle, is Bereshit 1:1 – 2:3. The parts for each of the readers are divided by a “:” and the letter Pey or Samek. Thus we see that Bereshit 1:1 – 2:3 shows the following divisions:
1:1 – 1:5
1:6 – 1:8
1:9 – 1:13
2:1 – 2:3
The seven readers are easily delineated,
yet we also require a Maftir. This eighth portion is derived by dividing
The Septennial cycle, therefore, follows the natural rhythm of the Torah scroll.
* * *
Hakham Jacob Mann[137] suggests that we will read at home: Isaiah 65:17 – 66:22 as the Haftorah portion for Bereshit 1:1 -2:3. But when we read this in the synagogue, we will read 65:17-25 and then skip to 66:22. This skipping was used to avoid ending on a negative note.
Hakham Yaaqov Mann indicates that the Sephardi tradition normally reads a Haftorah of Yeshayahu 42:5-13 plus 42:21. The verbal tally from the Nazarean Codicil and the Torah reading, suggest that this is the correct Haftorah for Nazareans. This Haftorah begins with the creating the heavens and spreading forth the earth. It goes on to indicate that the Messiah is going to reach out for the Gentiles. Since the theme of Matityahu is the sending of the Gentile Messiah it matches well with the verbal connection between Yeshua, in the NC, and the Gentiles, in the Haftorah.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 42:5-13 Thus
saith God HaShem, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth
the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the
people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 6 I HaShem have called
thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give
thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of
the Gentiles; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out
the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison
house. 8 I am HaShem: that is my name: and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the former things are come to
pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
10 Sing unto HaShem a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye
that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the
inhabitants thereof. 11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their
voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock
sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory unto
HaShem, and declare his praise in the islands. 13 HaShem shall go forth as a
mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea,
roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 42:21 21 HaShem is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he
will magnify the law, and make it honorable.
The Genesis of the Nazarean Codicil gives us a verbal tally the creating of our Haftorah and the creating of the Torah.
Another translation of Bereshit 1:1:
For the sake of the things called
first, G-d created the heavens and the earth.
This verbal tally also follows Tehillim 1 which the Midrash[138] links with Adam who is also called first.
1 Corinthians 15:45 And
so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was
made a quickening spirit.
Matityahu is a midrash with an overarching theme of concern for establishing justice. The opening verse introduces three men who are closely associated with justice: Yeshua, King David, and Avraham. This meshes well with the Haftorah of Yeshayahu chapter 42 which is also concerned with righteousness which is another way of speaking about justice.
We have previously learned that Yeshua is the Living Torah (Mashiach). This gives us another connection between our Haftorah in v.21, with the word Torah. This also correlates with the opening words of the Torah in Bereshit as we see from:
Yochanan (John) 1:1 In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This also gives us a verbal tally with Tehillim (Psalms) 1 which is also concerned with the law of the Lord.
The Peshitta (Tanach) was translated from the Hebrew, probably in the 2nd century. The Nazarean Codicil of the Peshitta, had become the standard by the early 5th century. Thus we see that the Peshitta represents a translation that reflects traditions that suggests that the triennial cycle was a tradition from very early post Temple times. In addition, the Peshitta includes divisions for the festival as well as the triennial cycles, which supports our understanding that the festival cycle supersedes the weekly cycle, whether the annual or the triennial.
The Jewish Encyclopedia gives us some very interesting detail:
That the Peshitta of the Pentateuch was in use in the synagogues is seen from the fact that it is divided
into the weekly lessons for the Palestinian or triennial cycle. Even those
parts which are read in the synagogue on various holy days are indicated; for
instance, before Lev. xvi. 1, the indication is given that the following part
is to be read on the Day of Atonement (comp. Meg.
30b). Other superscriptions show the rabbinical spirit of the translator, as
Ex. xxi.: "'esra pitgamin" (= "'aseret ha-dibrot" =
"decalogue"; Ber. 11b); Lev. xvii. 1: "namusa de-kurbane"
(= "parashat ha-korbanot" = "the chapter of sacrifices";
Meg. 30b). Later in the second century, when Biblical exegesis reached a higher
plane in the flourishing schools of Tiberias and Sepphoris, the Peshitta, which
is a somewhat literal translation, began to fall into disuse. It was finally
superseded in Palestine in the second century by the translation of Aquila,
which was made on the basis of Akiba's teaching, and in the third century in
Babylonia by the Targum of Onkelos, which was based on the Peshitta itself.
It has been already stated that the Peshitta, from its
earliest appearance, was accepted in the Church. This rendered necessary the
institution of the office of interpreter ("meturgeman") as in the
synagogues; for, besides the fact that the Peshitta, was written in Hebrew characters, the language itself and the mode of
interpretation were not familiar to Christians. It is evident, however, that
the Peshitta did not assume canonical authority till many centuries later, as
Bar Hebrćus gave the preference to the Septuagint (see above). It is worth
while mentioning that Nachmanides quotes, in the introduction to his commentary
on the Pentateuch, the Syriac translation of the Wisdom of Solomon ("Chukmeta
Rabbeta di-Shelomoh"), and in his commentary (on Deut. xxi. 14), the Book
of Judith ("Megillat Shushan").
Thus we see that the Peshitta gives us a triennial connection in post Temple times, which included both the Tanach and the Nazarean Codicil. Some have also suggested that the Babylonian Talmud makes references to the Peshitta in see Shabbat 10b; Rosh Hashanna 33b; and Megillat 10b.
The Yovel year follows the seventh Shmita year and is mentioned in:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:8-12 You shall count off seven weeks of years - seven times seven years - so that the period of seven
weeks of years gives you a total of forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the
horn loud; in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, the Day of Atonement, you shall have the horn sounded throughout your land and you shall hallow
the fiftieth year. You shall proclaim liberty ("release") throughout
the land for all the inhabitants thereof. It shall be a jubilee
for you: each of you shall return to his holding and each of you shall return
to his family. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee (Yovel) for you: you shall not sow, neither shall
you reap the after growth or harvest the untrimmed vines, for it is a jubilee.
It shall be holy to you: you may only eat the growth
direct from the field...
As the text states, the Yovel year comes in the 50th year, the year-long culmination of a succession of seven Shmita cycles (49 years).
The Yovel resembles the Shmita year very closely. Perhaps this is why we use the annual Torah lectionary during the Yovel year. When we are freed from the requirement to earn a living, we have the time to handle the larger Torah portions. The Annual cycle allows us to use the Yovel year to focus on HaShem and His sovereignty over us and over the land. This sovereignty is the goal of the Shmita year and the Yovel year.
The following links contain various views of the Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle):
Shmita Cycle readings of Matityahu for ordinary Shabbats. (Triennial cycle Torah portion.)
The Shmita cycle sedarim. (Triennial
cycle Torah portion.) Nisan 5765 - Elul 5768.
The Shmita cycle sedarim. (Triennial cycle Torah portion.) Tishri 5769 - Tishri 5776.
The Shmita cycle sedarim. (Triennial cycle Torah portion.) Tishri 5776 - Adar 5779.
Professor Wacholder's Triennial cycle Torah sedarim sources.
The Triennial cycle Torah sedarim as denoted by the Masorah, in Hebrew.
Three and a half year Torah cycle correlated with the Shmita and Yovel
cycles
|
Shmita |
Shmita Cycle Year |
Septennial Torah Cycle |
Festival
Shabbatot[139] which interrupt
the triennial cycle. |
Maaser |
|
One |
Year 1 5762 -5th year of the 19 year cycle. 5769 – 12th year of the 19 year cycle. Both are “normal” years - 354 days. |
Start
Triennial cycle in
Tishri Read Bereshit (10 months) |
Chol HaMoed Succoth Chol HaMoed Pesach Rosh Chodesh Iyar |
Maaser Sheni Eaten by owner Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in |
|
One |
Year 2 5763 - 6th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “full” leap year - 385 days. 5770 – 13th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “full” year – 355 days. |
Read Shemot (10 months) |
Succoth Chol HaMoed Succoth Chol HaMoed Pesach Rosh Chodesh Shevat Rosh Chodesh Iyar |
Maaser Sheni Eaten by owner Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in |
|
One |
Year 3 5764 -
7th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “full” Year - 355 days. 5771 – 14th year of the 19 year
cycle. It is a “full” leap year - 385 days. |
Read Vayikra (8 months) Read Bamidbar (8 months) |
Rosh HaShanah Succoth Chol HaMoed Succoth Shemini Atzeret Chanukah Chol HaMoed Pesach Rosh Chodesh Shevat |
Maaser ani Given to the poor. Doesn't have to be eaten in |
|
One 25 Sabbaths |
Year 4 5765 - 8th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “deficient” leap year - 383 days. 5772 – 15th year of the 19 year
cycle. It is a “normal” year - 354 days. |
Read Devarim (6 months) Start Triennial cycle in Nisan |
Chol HaMoed Succoth Chol HaMoed Pesach Rosh Chodesh Heshvan Rosh Chodesh Adar II Rosh Chodesh Av |
Maaser Sheni Eaten by owner Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in |
|
Shmita |
Shmita Cycle Year |
Festival Shabbatot[140]
which interrupt the triennial cycle. |
Maaser |
|
One 50 Sabbaths |
Year 5 5766 - 9th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “normal” year - 354 days. 5773 – 16th year of the 19 year
cycle. It is a “deficient” year – 353 days. |
Chol HaMoed Succoth Chol HaMoed Pesach Rosh Chodesh Iyar |
Maaser Sheni Eaten by owner Has a degree of sanctity, must be eaten only in |
|
One 51 Sabbaths |
Year 6 5767 - 10th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “full” Year - 355 days. 5774 - 17th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “full” leap year - 385 days. |
Succoth Chol HaMoed Succoth Chol HaMoed Pesach Rosh Chodesh Shevat |
Maaser ani Given to the poor Doesn't have to be eaten in |
|
One 54 Sabbaths |
Year 7 5768 - 11th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “deficient” leap year - 383 days. 5775 - 18th year of the 19 year cycle. It is a “normal” year - 354 days. |
Chol HaMoed Succoth Chol HaMoed Pesach Rosh Chodesh Heshvan Rosh Chodesh Adar II Rosh Chodesh Av |
All creditors must release their
debtors from their debts. The land lies fallow. All Jewish slaves must be
released from their servitude. No Terumah / No Maaser Rishon / No Maaser Ani or Sheni / No Terumat Maaser (Given by Levi to Kohen). |
/-----REGULAR-----\ /-----LEAP
YEAR-----\
Month DEF
NORM FULL DEF NORM
FULL
============================= ======================
Tishri 30
30 30 30 30 30
Heshvan 29 29 30
29 29
30
Kislev 29 30 30 29 30
30
Tevet 29 29 29
29 29
29
Shevat 30 30 30 30 30
30
Adar (I) 29
29 29 30 30
30
Adar II -- --
-- 29 29
29
Nisan 30 30 30 30 30
30
Iyyar 29 29 29 29 29
29
Sivan 30 30 30 30 30
30
Tammuz 29 29 29 29 29
29
Av 30 30 30 30 30
30
Elul 29 29 29 29 29
29
=====================================================
TOTALS 353 354 355 383 384