Three Readers of the Torah
21b
On Mondays and [on] Thursdays [during the morning service] and on Shabbat during the afternoon service, three [people] read [from the Torah].
Corresponding to what were these three [readers instituted]? R. Assi 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. But [with regard to] this [baraita] that R. Shimi taught: One may not decrease [to fewer than] ten [the number of] verses [read during a public Torah reading] in the synagogue, [and a generic verse, e.g.,] “And [God] spoke [to Moses saying],” is included in the count, to what do these ten [verses] correspond? [Why specifically the number ten?] R. Joshua ben Levi said: [They] correspond to the ten idlers that are in the synagogue, [i.e., ten men who have the leisure not to work, and instead sit in the synagogue and are available to attend to communal needs]. R. Joseph said: [They] correspond to the Ten Commandments that were spoken to Moses at Sinai. R. Levi said: [They] correspond to the ten [psalms of] praise [that] David said in the book of Psalms. And R. Yoḥanan said: They correspond to the ten utterances with which the world was created. [ . . . ]
31b
The sages taught: [With regard to] the place [in the Torah] where [the congregation] concludes [the reading] on Shabbat morning, [it is from] there [that] they [continue to] read in the afternoon [service on Shabbat. Where they conclude] in the afternoon [service on Shabbat, from] there they [continue to] read on Monday [morning. Where they conclude] on Monday, [from] there they [continue to] read on Thursday [morning. Where they conclude] on Thursday, [from] there they [continue to] read on the coming Shabbat. [This is] the statement of R. Meir. R. Judah says: [With regard to] the place [in the Torah] where they conclude [the reading] on Shabbat morning, [it is from] there [that] they [continue to] read in the afternoon [service on Shabbat]. And [from that same place] they [continue to] read on Monday [morning], and on Thursday [morning], and on the coming Shabbat.
R. Zeira said: The halakhah [is that with regard to] the place where they conclude [the reading] on Shabbat morning, [it is from] there [that] they [continue to] read in the afternoon [service on Shabbat]. And [from that same place] they [continue to] read on Monday [morning], and on Thursday [morning], and on the coming Shabbat. [If so,] let him [simply] say: The halakhah is in accordance with [the opinion of] R. Judah.
Notes
Words in brackets appear in the original translation.
Credits
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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