The Talmud on Priority in Reading
Abaye said [that] we have a tradition [that if] there is no priest there [in the synagogue at the time of the Torah reading], the bundle is separated [i.e., a Levite is not shown precedence over Israelites]. And Abaye said [that] we have a tradition [that if] there is no Levite there [in the synagogue], a priest reads [in his place].
Translation adapted from the Noé Edition of the Koren Talmud Bavli.
Notes
Words in brackets appear in the original translation.
Credits
From Koren Talmud Bavli, Noé Edition, trans. Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (Jerusalem: Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2019). Accessed via the William Davidson digital edition, sefaria.org. Adapted with permission of Koren Publishers Ltd.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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y. Berakhot 3:1, 6a
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The Mishnah on Priority in Reading
m. Gittin 5:8
These were the rules they laid down because of the ways of peace: A priest is called up first to read the Torah and after him a Levite and then an Israelite, because of the ways of peace.
The Mishnah on the Priestly Blessing
m. Megillah 4:3, 7
3. They do not recite the Shema‘ responsively, and they do not pass before the ark; and they [the priests] do not lift up their hands [ . . . ] except in the presence of ten. [ . . . ]…
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y. Berakhot 3:1, 6a
May a priest [kohen] defile himself for the lifting of hands? Gedilah, the brother of R. Abba bar Kohen, said before R. Yosi in the name of R. Aḥa: A priest defiles himself for the lifting of hands. R…