Dear Friends,
Here we go again.
In the past week, we received both the promising news of a Covid-19 vaccine and at the same time we are looking at weeks and possibly months of restrictions to our daily life as numbers surge in Illinois and throughout the nation.
Several days ago, the mayor of Chicago asked residents to cancel their Thanksgiving plans and to stay indoors to curb the rising cases.
We are facing the prospect of a winter with few chances to gather with loved ones, or for the regular out-of-home activities that bring joy, peace, and well-being to our lives.
Once again, we are called to bunker down.
Yet, we, at Temple Har Zion, will continue to be there for you to provide interesting lectures, programs, and services.
While we cannot come together as a community in person, we are planning to create opportunities for all of you to share Shabbat meals on Zoom, to have ‘game nights’ online, challah baking get-togethers, and more. Stay tuned for more details soon.
We are also planning to create opportunities for our members to take the lead in interfacing with each other. Have you always wanted to know the ins and outs of a certain member’s profession or area of interest? If you have an area of expertise that you would enjoy telling our other members about – whether it is neuroscience, a medical specialty, an area of academic research, please be in touch with me and we will help facilitate.
From our own homes, we can continue to build the social fabric.
Throughout these times, if you are in need of any assistance, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me or the office.
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Now for our weekly question. On Shabbat, Juli Geldner asked: What is the triennial reading?
The triennial reading, used throughout the majority of Conservative synagogues (as well as Reconstructionist, and some Renewal and Reform congregations) is one of those customs that both reflects our movement’s pragmatism and meshugas (craziness).
Simply, to shorten the weekly Torah reading on Shabbat, Reform and Conservative synagogues in the past century experimented with dividing the weekly reading into three parts. Instead of completing the Torah every year, the Torah would be read in its entirety every three years. Eventually, a distinct triennial reading emerged following halachic considerations and is now predominately used.
The oldest system of dividing the books of the Torah (predating chapter and verse) were the parshiyot (the plural of parashah), portions of the Torah that we still use. Most of us remember our bar or bat mitzvah parashah. For over 2000 years, every week, Jews have chanted a portion of the Torah in synagogue.
In the traditional annual cycle, the congregation read the entire parashah/ portion in synagogue every Shabbat. For example, this week’s parashah, (my bar mitzvah portion) Chayey Sarah starts at Genesis 23:1 and continues through to Genesis 25:18. Next week, Toldot will begin with the next verse, 25:19. Throughout the year, they publicly chant the 54 parshiyot in the Torah and on Simchat Torah, celebrate the conclusion of the book of Deuteronomy.
The triennial reading on the other hand divides each parashah into three parts and we only complete the Torah once every three years. On year 1 of the cycle, we read the first third of every portion. During the second year, the second third, and so on.
For example, this year, we are reading the 2nd triennial, corresponding this Shabbat to Genesis 24:10-24:52.
Now for our weekly question. On Shabbat, our president Juli Geldner asked: What is the triennial reading?
The triennial reading, used throughout the majority of Conservative synagogues (as well as Reconstructionist, and some Renewal and Reform congregations) is one of those customs that both reflects our movement’s pragmatism and meshugas (craziness).
Simply, to shorten the weekly Torah reading on Shabbat, Reform and Conservative synagogues in the past century experimented with dividing the weekly reading into three parts. Instead of completing the Torah every year, the Torah would be read in its entirety every three years. Eventually, a distinct triennial reading emerged following halachic considerations and is now predominately used.
The oldest system of dividing the books of the Torah (predating chapter and verse) were the parshiyot (the plural of parashah), portions of the Torah that we still use. Most of us remember our bar or bat mitzvah parashah. For over 2000 years, every week, Jews have chanted a portion of the Torah in synagogue.
In the traditional annual cycle, the congregation reads the entire parashah/ portion in synagogue every Shabbat. For example, this week’s parashah, (my bar mitzvah portion) Chayey Sarah starts at Genesis 23:1 and continues through to Genesis 25:18. Next week, Toldot will begin with the next verse, 25:19. Throughout the year, they publicly chant the 54 parshiyot in the Torah and on Simchat Torah, celebrate the conclusion of the book of Deuteronomy.
The triennial reading on the other hand divides each parashah into three parts and the congregation only completes the Torah once every three years. On year 1 of the cycle, they read the first third of every portion. During the second year, they read the second third, and so on.
For example, this year, we are reading the 2nd triennial, corresponding this Shabbat to Genesis 24:10-24:52.
Why read the triennial?
I remember when I first attended a synagogue that used the triennial reading. Immediately, I noticed that they were reading much more slowly, clearly, and could properly chant the tropes. They were only reading 1/3 of the parashah!
In synagogues where the whole portion was read, the Torah service would either take three times longer or the reader would chant extremely quickly and members who could not read Hebrew fluently would find it impossible to keep up with the chanting.
The practice caught on as it made the Torah reading more accessible and meaningful for the majority of congregants. But the Conservative and Reform movements did not invent the practice! The triennial reading was the custom of the Jews in Israel in the centuries after the destruction of the 2nd Temple, while the Jews in Babylon read the entire portion. The Babylonian custom became prevalent by the Middle-Ages while the triennial’s use declined.
As Conservative Jews, we are always looking to balance the integrity of the tradition while believing in the necessity of navigating the realities of modern life. With the triennial solution, the leaders of our movement found a custom that authentically drew from earlier practice.
As the sun sets this evening, I leave with you with an Israeli pop song released back in October, in the midst of Israel’s second wave of Corona virus, ‘Shavua Tov’ by Avraham Tal (click on it!).
Here are the words:
Just start playing, give us some rhythm/
Whatever will be here will be/
Let it be a good week.
Shabbat shalom and an early Shavua tov,
Rabbi Adir Glick
