** Announcement- This coming Tuesday night, April 20th, American Friends of Mishmeres Hasholom presents Rabbi Eli Mansour and Rabbi Yechiel Spiro who will both speak to Women only- 'Transforming the World, One Word at a Time.' Will take place at 8:00 PM at Ateres Chynka at 129 Elmwood Ave in Brooklyn. **
Today's Halacha:
The obligation of "Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum" requires one to read the weekly Parasha. One reads the actual text twice and then a third time in translation. It occasionally happens that one misses a week of Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum, and must therefore make up the reading the next week. In such a case, which should he read first – the Parasha that he missed, so that he reads the Parshiyot in the proper sequence, or the current Parasha?
At first glance, one might compare this situation to that of a person who misses one of the daily prayers. One who misses Shaharit, for example, recites an extra Amida prayer at Minha to make up for the missed prayer. In such a case, he first recites an Amida for the obligation of Minha, and only then recites the make-up prayer for Shaharit. Seemingly, then, this sequence should be followed when making up a missed reading of Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum, as well. Here, too, we might think, one should first read the current Parasha, and only then make up the Parasha that he missed.
In truth, however, the two cases are not comparable. When a person misses a prayer service, he can only make it up in the context of the next prayer service. The Sages instituted the concept of Tashlumin (making up a missed prayer) only when praying the next Tefila; they did not allow one to make up a prayer anytime he wishes. Therefore, one must first pray the current prayer, because only after praying the current prayer does he become able to then make up the missed prayer. In the case of Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum, by contrast, one can read the missed Parasha whenever he wishes, and not only in the context of reading the next week’s Parasha. Therefore, to the contrary, it is preferable to follow the sequence of the Parashiyot in the Torah, and to first read the Parasha that he missed, before reading the current week’s Parasha.
This case commonly arises during periods when communities in Eretz Yisrael do not read the same Parasha as communities in the Diaspora. For example, if the first day of Shabuot falls on a Friday, then Diaspora communities observe the holiday on Friday and Shabbat, whereas in Israel, where only one day of Shabuot is observed, the holiday is celebrated only on Friday. On that Shabbat, congregations in Israel read the weekly Parasha (usually Parashat Naso), whereas congregations throughout the rest of the world read a special Yom Tob reading. This results in a one-Parasha discrepancy between Israel and the Diaspora, which continues until congregations in the Diaspora combine two Parashiyot (usually Hukat and Balak) and thereby "catch up" to the Jews of Eretz Yisrael. The Hid"a (Rav Haim Yosef David Azulai, 1724-1806) ruled that if an Israeli resident spends Shabuot in the Diaspora in such a case, he does not read Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum that week. Since he is currently in the Diaspora, where the weekly Parasha is not read that Shabbat, he is not required to read Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum. When he returns to Israel, having missed a Parasha, he should make up the missed the Parasha and then read the current week’s Parasha, as discussed.
If a Diaspora resident spends Shabuot in Israel in such a case, then he should read Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum for the Parasha which is read on that Shabbat in Israel. Upon returning home after Shabuot, he does not have to read Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum that week, since in the Diaspora they read that week the Parasha which he has already completed. He resumes Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum the following week.
If an Israeli resident visits the Diaspora after Shabuot in this case, such that he had already read the current week’s Parasha the previous week, he does not have to repeat Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum for that Parasha. This is the ruling of Hacham Ovadia Yosef, in his work Hazon Ovadia – Shabbat (vol. 1, p. 314; listen to audio recording for precise citation).
Summary: If a person misses one week of his Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum reading, the following week he should first make up the reading that he missed, and then read that week’s Parasha. During periods when communities in Israel are one Parasha ahead of Diaspora communities, a person who was in Israel and read Shenayim Mikra Ve’ehad Targum does not have to repeat the reading if he then goes to the Diaspora.
