With today’s daf TB Megillah 21 we finish the second chapter of our massekhet and begin the third chapter. The first two chapters dealt with when and how we read the Megillah. The third chapter now transitions into the laws concerning the reading of the Torah.
“…The mishna records several laws
governing public Torah readings. On Mondays and Thursdays during the
morning service and on Shabbat during the afternoon service, three
people read from the Torah; one may neither decrease the number
of readers nor add to them. And one does not conclude with a reading
from the Prophets [haftara] on these occasions. Both the one
who begins the reading and the one who concludes the reading from the
Torah recite a blessing; one recites before the beginning of the reading
and one recites after its conclusion, but the middle reader does
not recite a blessing.
“On the days of
the New Moon and on the intermediate days of a Festival, four people read
from the Torah; one may neither decrease the number of readers nor
add to them. And one does not conclude with a reading from the Prophets.
Both the one who begins the reading and the one who concludes the
reading from the Torah recite a blessing. The first reader recites a
blessing before the beginning of the reading, and the last reader
recites a blessing after its conclusion, but the middle readers do not
recite a blessing.
“The mishna formulates a general
principle with regard to the number of people who read from the Torah on
different occasions. This is the principle: Any day on which there is
an additional offering sacrificed in the Temple and that is not a
Festival, i.e., the New Moon and the intermediate days of a Festival, four
people read from the Torah; on a Festival, five people read; on
Yom Kippur, six people read; and on Shabbat, seven people read. One
may not decrease the number of readers, but one may add to them. And
on these days one concludes with a reading from the Prophets.
Both the one who begins the reading and the one who concludes the
reading from the Torah recite a blessing; one recites before the
beginning of the reading and one recites after its conclusion,
but the middle readers do not recite a blessing.” (Sefaria.org translation)
If you ask a person what is the
holiest day in the Jewish year, the most likely answer would be Yom Kippur.
However, based on today’s Mishna we would come to a completely different
conclusion based on the number of people called up to the Torah. On a weekday,
i.e. Monday and Thursday, only three people are called to the Torah. The next
level up in holiness is Rosh Hodesh and
Hol Hamoed, the intermediate days of
a Festival, because four people are called up to the Torah. The next level up
in holiness is the festivals, Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, and Rosh Hashanah when
we call up five people to the Torah. The next level of holiness is Yom Kippur
when we call up six people to the Torah. The highest level of holiness has to
be Shabbat because seven people are called up to the Torah. Consequently,
Shabbat is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and we get to celebrate it
every week!
According to the Midrash Moses began
the practice of reading the Torah publicly three times a week. Just as people
needed water to quench their physical thirst, they also need a Torah to quench
their spiritual thirst. Remembering what three days without Torah did to the
people’s moods, Moses decided that three days should never go by without a
public reading from the Torah. Since Moses came down Mount Sinai on a Monday, Monday,
Thursday, and Shabbat were ideal days to read the Torah.
Another tradition states that Ezra
the scribe arranged to have the Torah read weekly. Because of the Babylonian
exile, the Jewish people forgot the Torah. Seeing this, Ezra publicly read the
entire Torah on Rosh Hashanah; consequently, the Jewish people celebrated
Sukkot appropriately for the first time in decades. Ezra understood that if the
people were to base their lives on the Torah, they must be constantly reminded of
its contents. So he arranged to have the Torah read publicly. Mondays and
Thursdays were chosen because they were market days when Jews came to town and
could easily participate in a minyan. Shabbat, when all work ceased and people
were free, was a perfect time to listen to the Torah and learn from it.
Rashi explains only three aliyot are read on weekdays and Shabbat
afternoons because people have to go to work and can’t dawdle in the synagogue.
The Gemara answers what the three weekday aliyot
correspond to. “We
learned in the mishna: On Mondays and on Thursdays during the
morning service and on Shabbat during the afternoon service, three
people read from the Torah. The Gemara asks: Corresponding to what
were these three readers instituted? Rav Asi said: They correspond to the three
sections of the Bible: Pentateuch, Prophets, and Writings. Rava said: They correspond to the
three components of the Jewish people: Priests, Levites, and Israelites.” (Sefaria.org translation)
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