Parshas Shekalim
[1] (Halacha 760)
The Gemara in Maseches Megillah1 states in the Mishnah: 'Rosh Chodesh Adar that falls on Shabbos - they read Parshas Shekalim; if it falls during the week, they advance it to the preceding [Shabbos], and they interrupt for the following Shabbos.'
This enactment of reading Parshas Shekalim on Rosh Chodesh Adar is an enactment of the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah as the Alter Rebbe wrote2: 'Rather, even on the days when the reading of the parsha in the second Sefer is from the enactment of the Anshei Knesses HaGedolah, such as Rosh Chodesh that falls on Shabbos and the four parshiyos in the month of Adar.'
And the reason for this matter is explained in the Gemara there: 'We learned there: On the first of Adar they announce concerning the shekalim... But concerning the shekalim, from where do we derive it? Rabbi Tavi said in the name of Rabbi Yoshiya: For the verse states "this is the burnt-offering of each month in its month" — the Torah said: renew and bring an offering from the new terumah. And since in Nissan one must offer from the new terumah, we advance and read on the first of Adar, so that the shekalim should be brought to the Mikdash.'
And it is written in the Midrash Pesikta Rabbasi3, brought in the Rokeach4: 'They would begin from Adar, from the beginning of Adar, to collect, and they would set aside terumah at the beginning of Nissan; so as not to press Israel, they would warn Israel from Rosh Chodesh Adar. Shlomo said, "the way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns"5. Rabbi Yaakov ben Yosi said: Scripture speaks of Elokim and of Esav. "The way of the lazy man" — this is Esav. What is "like a hedge of thorns"? Rather, just as this hedge of thorns clings to a man's garments, and he frees them from this side and it clings from the other side, so too is the kingdom of Esav: it collects the arnona [land-tax], and before it collects the arnona, behold the poll-tax comes upon them, and before this is collected, the tirbus comes upon them. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so; rather, "and the way of the upright is a smooth road"6, paved before Israel: they are announced to on the first of Adar and are collected on the first of Nissan — this is "and the way of the upright is a smooth road." If you should say they are collected more than they are able, they were not collected for a great matter, but only the half-shekel.'
And in the Talmud Yerushalmi Maseches Megillah7 it is stated: 'Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: The Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that the wicked Haman was destined to weigh out his silver against Israel; He said, "Better that the silver of My children should precede the silver of that wicked one"; therefore they advance and read Parshas Shekalim.'
And so it is in the Talmud Bavli8: '"If it please the king, let it be written to destroy them, and ten thousand talents of silver etc." Reish Lakish said: It was revealed and known before the One who spoke and the world came into being that Haman was destined to weigh out shekalim against Israel; therefore He caused their shekalim to precede his shekalim. And that is what we learned: On the first of Adar they announce concerning the shekalim and concerning the kilayim.'
And so it is written in Maseches Sofrim9: 'And on the first of Adar they announce concerning the shekalim. And why on the first of Adar? Because it was foreseen and revealed and known before the One who spoke and the world came into being that the wicked Haman was destined to weigh out his talents against Israel; therefore He preceded and said to Moshe that the shekalim of Israel should precede the shekalim of Haman.'
An interesting thing was written by the Tosafos10: 'I heard that ten thousand talents of silver amount to a half-shekel for each one of Israel, for they were six hundred thousand when they left Mitzrayim, and he said that he would give Achashverosh all their redemption; examine it and you will find it'11.
If so, we find two reasons why they enacted to mention and arouse concerning Parshas Shekalim on Rosh Chodesh Adar even though only on Rosh Chodesh Nissan did they begin to offer the offerings purchased from the shekalim: a) to hasten the people of Israel to donate on time, and not to wait until the last moment. b) in order to precede the shekalim that the wicked Haman weighed out12.
And the Chinuch wrote13: 'And now, in our iniquities, when we have no Mikdash and no shekalim, all Israel have the minhag, as a remembrance of the matter, to read in the shul every single year this parsha of Ki Sisa up to "and you shall take the silver of the atonements," on the Shabbos that is always before Rosh Chodesh Adar.'
And these are the words of the Levush14: 'Chazal enacted to read four parshiyos in the year, from Rosh Chodesh Adar until Rosh Chodesh Nissan, as a remembrance of four things, and these are they: The first is Parshas Shekalim, as a remembrance of the mitzvah of the half-shekel which will be explained shortly, which they were obligated to give every year to the chamber for the daily offering... Parshas Shekalim is read on the Shabbos adjacent to Rosh Chodesh Adar before it, or on the Shabbos that falls on Rosh Chodesh itself, because in Adar they would announce concerning the shekalim. And the reason is that in Nissan, on Rosh Chodesh, the year begins, as it is written "it shall be the first for you," and on it they begin to bring the daily offering from a new donation, the half-shekel from that year, and we derive it from the verse written regarding the daily offering: "this is the burnt-offering of each month in its month, for the months of the year" — and this "for the months" is superfluous, to say: renew the month and bring an offering from the new terumah, meaning that there is a fixed new day in the year on which they should bring the daily burnt-offering from the new shekalim that were brought anew. And Chazal15 derived from a gezeirah shavah, for it is written regarding Nissan "it shall be the first for you, for the months of the year": just as "the months of the year" stated there refers to Nissan, so too "the months of the year" stated here refers to Nissan. And therefore they would announce in Adar adjacent to it that they should bring their shekalim on Rosh Chodesh Nissan. And we fulfill the offerings of our lips through the reading of the parsha, and we read on Rosh Chodesh Adar or adjacent to it the parsha of announcing concerning the shekalim, which is the beginning of Parshas Ki Sisa in which the matter of the shekalim is written, "and they shall give each man a ransom for his soul etc., this they shall give etc., a half-shekel."'
If so, we have seen the reason for reading Parshas Shekalim on Rosh Chodesh Adar, and in the next halacha we will see the laws of the reading.
Notes:
1 כט, א ↩
2 שו"ע או"ח סי' רפב סי"ג ↩
3 פר' כי תשא פיסקא י ↩
4 הל' ארבע פרשיות סי' רלג ↩
5 משלי ט"ו י"ט ↩
6 שם משלי טו ↩
7 פ"א ה"ה, ופ"ג ה"ד ↩
8 מגילה יג, ב ↩
9 פכ"א ה"ב ↩
10 מגילה טז, א ↩
11 בביאור דברי התוס' ראה הנסמן בחזון עובדיה פורים דיני קריאת ארבע פרשיות הערה ג ↩
12 וראה לקו"ש ח"א ע' 219 ↩
13 פרשת כי תשא מצוה קה ↩
14 או"ח סי' תרפה ס"א ↩
15 ר"ה ז, א ↩
[2] (Halacha 761)
The study of this halacha is dedicated in the merit of the chosson HaTomim Yosef Yitzchok and the kallah Mrs. Chaya Mushka on the occasion of their wedding day, which should be in a good and successful hour
In the previous halacha we learned that on Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Adar, or on the Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh Adar, in addition to the weekly parsha they also read Parshas Shekalim.
Question: Does one read the additional reading from the Sefer Torah in which the weekly parsha was read, or must one l'chatchila read from an additional Sefer?
Answer: The Gemara in Maseches Yoma1 discusses the Torah reading of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur: 'And he reads "Acharei Mos" and "Ach BeAsor." But contrast this: One may skip in the Navi but one may not skip in the Torah! This is not a difficulty: here, [it is permitted] in order that the translator should pause; here, [it is forbidden] in order that the translator should not pause. But behold it was taught regarding this: One may skip in the Navi but one may not skip in the Torah, and how far may one skip? In order that the translator should not pause. Thus, in the Torah — not at all! Abaye said: This is not a difficulty: here, [it is permitted] in one matter; here, [it is forbidden] in two matters. And it was taught [affirmatively]: One may skip in the Torah within one matter, and in the Navi within two matters, in both cases in order that the translator should not pause... And "Ub'Asor" of Chumash HaPekudim he reads by heart. Why? Let him roll [the scroll] and read it! Rav Huna the son of Rav Yehoshua said in the name of Rav Sheshes: Because one may not roll a Sefer Torah in public, out of honor for the congregation. So let him bring another and read it! Rav Huna bar Yehuda said: Because of the disgrace of the first. And Reish Lakish said: Because of an unnecessary bracha. And do we concern ourselves with disgrace? But behold Rabbi Yitzchak Nafcha said: Rosh Chodesh Teves that falls on Shabbos, they bring three Torahs, and they read one in the matter of the day, one of Rosh Chodesh (Teves), and one of Chanukah! Three men with three Sefarim — there is no disgrace; one man with two Sefarim — there is disgrace.'
If so, from the words of the Gemara we learn that there are three points to which one must pay attention regarding the Torah reading in various places: a) One may not skip in the Torah (unless it is one matter2). b) One may not roll a Sefer Torah in public. c) One may not bring another Sefer (unless it is two different aliyos) [and there are Rishonim who wrote3 that when there are two aliyos there is no problem of skipping and rolling].
In Maseches Megillah4 the Gemara states regarding Rosh Chodesh Adar that falls on Shabbos: 'Rabbi Yitzchak Nafcha said: Rosh Chodesh Adar that falls on Shabbos, they take out three Torahs and read in them — one in the matter of the day, one of Rosh Chodesh, and one of Ki Sisa.'
But when Rosh Chodesh does not fall on Shabbos, we do not find explicitly in the Gemara whether one must take out two Sifrei Torah5 or whether one may suffice with one Sefer.
However, the Rambam6 wrote: 'Each parsha of these four parshiyos, one reads it in a second Sefer after they read the seder of that Shabbos in the Sefer that they took out first. If Rosh Chodesh Adar falls on Shabbos and the seder of that Shabbos was "V'Atah Tetzaveh"7, they read six from "V'Atah Tetzaveh" until "and you shall make a copper laver," and the seventh goes back and reads from "Ki Sisa" until "and you shall make a laver." And if the seder of that Shabbos was "Ki Sisa" itself, they read six from "Ki Sisa" until "VaYakhel," and the seventh goes back and reads in the second Sefer from "Ki Sisa" until "and you shall make a copper laver."'
And from the words of the Rambam it appears that every time there is an additional reading they take out two Sefarim8. And so wrote the Kolbo9: 'For Parshas Shekalim they take out two Sefarim; in the first they read seven in the seder of the week, and the maftir reads in the second Parshas Ki Sisa until the end of the section'10.
And as is explained in the Nachal Eshkol11 that although Parshas Mishpatim is adjacent to Parshas Shekalim — Ki Sisa, nevertheless one must take out another Sefer: 'If Parshas Shekalim is in Mishpatim, one certainly needs another Sefer, for one would need to skip and roll several sheets, and also one may not skip across two matters even if they are close. And I am astonished that in the shul of the Gaon, my teacher Rav Nosson Adler in Frankfurt am Main, according to his minhag they do not take out for Parshas Shekalim more than one Sefer.'
[As the minhag of Rav Nosson Adler, who did not take out two Sefarim for Parshas Shekalim, so too the minhag of Rav Shmuel of Salant, but only a minority of communities have this minhag12].
If so, in practice the accepted minhag among the people of Israel is, every time one reads two parshiyos, to take out two Sefarim.
In the next halacha we will see what the law is in a case where there are three readings, such as this year when Rosh Chodesh Adar falls on Shabbos.
Notes:
1 סט, ב ↩
2 ראה תוס' הרא"ש (יומא ע, א) שכאשר גולל מותר, ולדבריו 'אין מדלגין בתורה ואין גוללין ס"ת בציבורתרי ענייני נינהו' ↩
3 ראה ראבי"ה מגילה סי' תקפו (וראה שלדבריו י"ל '..דאין מדלגין וגוללין קאמר, דחד טעמא בכולהו', ולא כנ"ל בתוס' הרא"ש) וראה ערוה"ש או"ח סי' קמד ס"ד ↩
4 כט, ב ↩
5 הגם שלכאורה מכך שמוציאים שלושה ולא די בשנים ושוב לחזור ולקרוא מהספר הראשון, ניתן להסיק ג"כ במקרה דידן שצריך ספר לכל קריאה ↩
6 הל' תפילה פי"ג הכ"ב ↩
7 וראה הגהות מיימוניות הל' תפילה פי"ג אות ק: 'כאן שנה רבינו דבר שאין צריך לנו, ודוק בעיגול דרב נחשון ותשכח שלעולם לא אירע לנו כך ע"כ'. וראה ג"כ טור או"ח סי' תרפה: 'ולפי חילוק סדרים שלנו לא יבא כך לעולם' ↩
8 אא"כ הי' אפשרי שיחול בואתה תצווה שמכיון שחוזר וקורא שוב א"צ שני ספרים וכך מפורש בטור שם. [ולכאורה מכיון שפרשת שקלים שבכי תשא היא המשך אחד אין בעיה של דילוג, משא"כ באם הי' חל בכי תשא שאז צריך לחזור לתחילת הפרשה ראה גם בנחל אשכול ח"ב עמ' 66 הע' יא] ↩
9 סי' כ ↩
10 וראה מאירי (מגילה ל, א) שכתב: 'ועכשו נוהגין להוציא שני ס"ת וקורין ששה בואתה תצוה ושביעי בכי תשא והוצאת הספר נותן היכר לכל על ענין הפרשה'. אך יתכן שזה רק ביחס למדובר שם שחל בפרשת תצוה שלולא זה לא ניכר כי יטעו לומר שאינה פרשה מיוחדת אלא ממשיך את כי תשא הסמוך לואתה תצוה ↩
11 נסמן בהערה 8 ↩
12 ראה לוח דבר בעתו (גנוט) ↩
[3] (Halacha 762)
In the previous halachos we mentioned the words of the Gemara that when Rosh Chodesh Adar falls on Shabbos one must take out three Sifrei Torah
Question: What should be done in a shul that has only two Sifrei Torah?
Answer: The Or Zarua1 wrote: 'It is written in the responsa of my teachers, and I saw on Simchas Torah that there were only two Torahs in the shul, and they read in the first "V'Zos HaBeracha" and in the second "Bereishis," and they went back and took the first one in which they had read "V'Zos HaBeracha" and read in it the maftir of "BaYom HaShemini." And so our teachers practice when there occurs a day on which one needs to take out three Torahs, such as Rosh Chodesh Teves that falls on Shabbos Chanukah, and such as Rosh Chodesh Adar and Rosh Chodesh Nissan that fall on Shabbos during the time of the parshiyos: if they have only two Torahs, they read in the first in the matter of the day, and they roll and take the second for the seventh to complete, and they go back and take the first for maftir. But where there are three Torahs, we take out three Torahs, and one may not take out two and act in this manner, for they only permitted [it] in a time of pressing need; therefore we take out three Torahs and read for each and every one according to its law.'
And so wrote the Kolbo2: 'And Chazal had the minhag, when there occurs a day on Shabbos on which one needs to take out three Sefarim, if they have only two, they read in the first and roll and take the second, and they go back and take the first for maftir.'
And so it is brought in the Minhagei HaMaharil3: 'Whenever one needs three Sifrei Torah, such as Rosh Chodesh on Shabbos during Chanukah and the like, and there are only two there, they read the third reading in the first one which has already been rolled, and one does not read in the one before it.' And so it is written there in the gloss4: 'And if there are only two Sifrei Torah, they read in the first "V'Zos HaBeracha" and in the second "Bereishis," and for maftir they go back and read in the first. And so one should always do whenever one needs three Sifrei Torah and there are only two.'
And as halacha the Rama wrote5: 'In a place where they have only two Sifrei Torah, they read in the first "V'Zos HaBeracha" and in the second "Bereishis," and they go back and take the first for the matter of the day; and so one does in every place where one needs three Sifrei Torah and they have only two'.
The Chemed Moshe6 raised a difficulty on the Kolbo and the aforementioned Rishonim, for the law is that one may not pass over the mitzvos, and how did they write that one takes the first Sefer in order to roll, when the second Sefer is already lying before us and can be rolled: 'And seemingly it is difficult, for we hold "one may not pass over the mitzvos," and since this Sefer Torah is lying before them, why should they not read in it the matter of the day as well? And it seems to me that the main reason that one takes two or three Sefarim and does not read everything in one Sefer Torah by rolling is because one may not roll a Sefer Torah in public, out of honor for the congregation, as is explained in the Shas and Poskim; and therefore likewise here, if they wished to read the matter of the day for maftir in the same Sefer Torah in which they read "Bereishis," they would need to roll the Sefer Torah, and this is not honor for the congregation, whereas the first Sefer Torah in which they read "V'Zos HaBeracha" they can roll7 to the place of the matter of the day while they are reading in the second Sefer Torah8 "Bereishis." And according to this it appears that if one cannot do so, or if one does not do so but only wishes to roll the first Sefer Torah after they have placed it on the bimah to read, it is preferable to roll the second Sefer Torah9 which is already lying [there], and for the matter of the day, so it seems to me'.
If so, according to him, in this law too applies the principle that one may not pass over the mitzvah; therefore, in the event that one needs to roll the Sefer Torah, one should not return the first Sefer to the bimah to roll it, but rather one must do this during the reading of the second Sefer, and not after they have finished reading in the second Sefer.
But seemingly, from the plain meaning of the words of the Rishonim who wrote that one brings the first Sefer10, and did not mention in their words that this is on condition that one rolls the Sefer during the reading (and if not, one rolls the second), it appears that they were not concerned here with passing over the mitzvos.
And so it also appears from the words of the Shaarei Ephraim11, who wrote: 'In a place where they have only two Sifrei Torah, they read in the first "V'Zos HaBeracha" and in the second "Bereishis," and they go back and take the first for the matter of the day for maftir, and they place it and say Kaddish and read in it. And because of the trouble to the congregation, they should roll the first Sefer Torah at the time when they say "Mi SheBerach" and the granting of permission to the chosson "Bereishis," for then there is free time to roll the Sefer Torah, so that immediately when the reading in the second is finished the first will be ready for the maftir reading. And if they have only one Sefer Torah, then after completing the Torah, while they say "Mi SheBerach" and the granting of permission to the chosson "Bereishis," they should roll to Parshas Bereishis, and after completing the reading he should say Kaddish immediately so as not to interrupt between the reading and the Kaddish, and afterward they should roll it to the maftir.'
And we see in his words that he did not mention that one must roll the first Sefer Torah during the reading, and nevertheless he wrote to take the first and not the second, and was not concerned with passing over the mitzvos, [and in order to prevent trouble to the congregation he wrote to roll during the time of saying "Mi SheBerach"].
And so wrote the Aruch HaShulchan12: 'And in a place where they have only two Sifrei Torah, they read in the first "V'Zos HaBeracha," and in the second "Bereishis," and they go back and take the first for maftir. But one should not read two things in one Sefer Torah in sequence. And so it is in every place where one needs three Sifrei Torah and they have only two Sifrei Torah.'
If so, in practice it seems that on a Shabbos when one takes out three Sefarim and there are only two Sefarim, one rolls the first Sefer, and in it one reads the third reading, [and seemingly in our case — Parshas Shekalim, which is very close to Parshas Ki Sisa in the first Sefer — one may say that according to all opinions one should take the first Sefer again and read in it, and not roll the second Sefer in public13].
--------------
Notes:
1 הל' קריאת ארבע פרשיות ומועדים סי' שצג ↩
2 סי' כ ↩
3 הל' קריה"ת ↩
4 סדר תפילות חג הסוכות ↩
5 שו"ע או"ח סי' תרסט ס"א ↩
6 או"ח סי' תרסט (הובא במשנ"ב ביאור הלכה סי' תרסט ס"א. וראה שו"ת שאילת שלום או"ח ח"א סי' קו אות ב) ↩
7 ולהעיר שמגן אברהם סי' קמד ס"ק ו כתב: 'ובשבת שקורין ב' יכולין לגלול אחר בעוד שקוראין הראשונה (ר"י לוי סי' פ"ט)'. אך היעבץ (שו"ת שאילת יעבץ ח"א סי' קכט) חלק ואסר לגלול בתוך כדי הקריאה, וז"ל: 'אמנם לא אכחיד תחת לשוני שלא נראו לי דברים הללו להלכה .. ויותר נ"ל שאין לגלול כלל בצבור אם הוא בכדי שיפסיק המתורגמן. אעפ"י שאין הציבור צריך להמתין. מ"מ לא שפיר דמי משום ביטול שמיעת הגוללים וטרדתם ויפה כיוונת בזה לענ"ד דאי איתא לא הוה שתיק מנה תלמודא. וגם בפי' הגמ' הנ"ל .. והאמת הוא דקושיית הגמרא היא נייתי ס"ת לפי ג' וכן פירש"י בהדיא וטעמו ונימוקו עמו דאין לפרש הקושיא אפ"ב כדי לגלול הא' כנז' בר מטעמא דאמרן מוכח נמי הכי. מההיא דר"ח טבת שחל בשבת דמפקי תלת ולא תסגי לן בתרי, ש"מ דלא שפיר דמי למגלל בעוד שקורין. ולדברי רי"ל הנ"ל צריך לדחוק בו לפרש הא דר"י נפחא דקאמר מוציאין ג'. פירושו אם רצו. וקמ"ל דלית ביה משום פגמא. אבל חיובא ליכא דאי בעו אה"נ דסגי בתרי ואין זה נראה אמת. אך אין התשובה של רי"ל בידי לידע טעמו ושורש דבר נמצא בו. *אעפ"כ למעשה כך נ"ל שלא לגלול בעוד שקורין. ואם יש צורך מוטב שימחלו הצבור כבודם וימתינו על הגלילה כדפסקינן האידנא מחלו טורח ציבור בכה"ג* אף שגם בזה יש מקום פקפוק. כבר תקנתיו יפה בחיבורי בס"ד ופוק חזי מה עמא דבר' ↩
8 ויתכן שזה כוונת האו"ז והכלבו שכתבו 'וגוללין' ↩
9 ולמרות שבכך יש צורך לגלול כמות יותר גדולה, מבראשית עד פרשת פנחס, ביאר בשלמת חיים (שו"ת או"ח סי' שנט): 'הגם שבכאן יאריך יותר היו צריכים לשער בהס"ת, למשל אם זה ספר שנוח יותר לגלול כגון שהוא קטן וס"ת האחרת גדולה, בזה לא נתנו לשיעורים, כיון שצריך לגלול לא יעביר על המצוה' ↩
10 ואולי י"ל שטעמם הוא מכיון שאין מדלגין בתורה, (ראה הלכה הקודמת) וע"כ עדיף להביא הספר הסגור כבר ולקרות בו מחדש ↩
11 ש"ח ס"ו ↩
12 סי' תרסט, א ↩
13 ועפ"י עצת השערי אפרים הנ"ל אפשר גם בנדון זה שלאחרי ההגבה של הספר בעת אמירת המי שברך יגללו את הספר לפרשת שקלים ↩
[4] (Halacha 763)
Question: Regarding the time of saying the Kaddish after the reading of the Torah there are many minhogim¹, what is the source and reason for our minhag that we say only one Kaddish after the reading of the second Sefer, and beside it we place the third Sefer?
Answer: The Shibbolei HaLeket wrote1: 'And on the days when they take out two Sifrei Torah, over which of them is it fitting to say Kaddish? Rabbeinu Avraham bar Rabbeinu David z"l wrote: On a Shabbos on which there is one Sefer Torah, one says Kaddish before the maftir reads, because the maftir is not from the count of those who go up, and he does not read in the Torah except out of honor for the Torah; therefore it suffices for him with the Kaddish that is said after the haftarah, and it is combined with those who went up to the Sefer. But on a Shabbos on which there are two Sifrei Torah, and likewise on Yom Tov, the chazan should not say Kaddish until the maftir reads in the second Sefer Torah, for if he were to say Kaddish over the first and the maftir were to read in the second without Kaddish, we would be concerned for a disgrace to the second Sefer. And if you should say we should be concerned also for a disgrace to the first Sefer — we need not be concerned about this, for all know that the reading of the first Sefer, in which five or six or seven went up, is the main one, and the maftir reading in the second is only out of honor.'
[Further in his words he brings the view of Rabbeinu Yeshaya that the seventh aliyah is in the additional parsha as is explained in the Gemara, and afterward one says Kaddish'].
If so, we have seen in his words that in principle one should say the Kaddish at the conclusion of the count of those who go up, but in a case where there might be a concern that they will think that the reason one does not say Kaddish over the second Sefer is because it is disqualified, in order to prevent the concern one should say the Kaddish only after the reading in the second Sefer.
But from the words of the Rosh2 it appears that he was not concerned with the disgrace of the Sefer, for he wrote: 'And likewise they enacted to say Kaddish between the seventh and the maftir, to indicate that he is not from the count of the seven, and therefore they need to go back from the parsha that the seventh read. But on Yamim Tovim and the four parshiyos, when they take out two Sefarim, the maftir does not go back and read what the last one read, but rather one says Kaddish after seven have read on Shabbos and five on Yom Tov, and in the second Sefer the maftir reads the obligation of the day; and when they take out three Sefarim, they read six in the first and the seventh in the second, and one says Kaddish, and in the third the maftir reads a parsha that is in the theme of the haftarah'.
The Abudarham3 wrote: 'And in these lands they have the minhag to say Kaddish after each Sefer of the three Sefarim. A Gaon wrote in a responsum that one should not say Kaddish after the first Sefer, since they have not yet completed the entire obligation of the day, which is the seven who go up, but rather after the second Sefer one says Kaddish, and likewise after the third, for one says Kaddish only after seven on Shabbos or after five on Yom Tov; and so wrote the Rosh'.
And the Rama wrote in Darkei Moshe4: 'And so is the minhag according to his words, except that they place the third Sefer also on the table when one says Kaddish'.
[And seemingly his words are a kind of compromise between the opinions that the Kaddish is at the end of the count of those who go up, and the concern that the additional Sefer is disqualified].
And as halacha the Rama wrote5: 'And one says Kaddish before the maftir goes up, and there is no distinction in this between whether they added to the count of those called or not, and whether they take out one Sefer Torah or three.'
And these are the words of the Levush6: 'One always says the Kaddish before the maftir reading, because the number of those called who are to read on that day has already gone up. But on Tisha B'Av at Shacharis, one says the Kaddish after the maftir reading, for the maftir is the third one belonging to the number of those called on that day. And when they take out two Sifrei Torah, one says Kaddish over both of them, for they place the second Sefer Torah beside the first and one says the Kaddish and afterward they read the maftir. And when they take out three Sifrei Torah, such as Rosh Chodesh Teves during Chanukah, or Rosh Chodesh Adar which is Parshas Shekalim, or Rosh Chodesh Nissan which is Parshas HaChodesh, one says the Kaddish over the second Sefer Torah, because they read for those who go up for the number of those called also in the second Sefer Torah; and therefore in a place where they read on the Shabbasos of the year only seven, they should not read in the first Sefer Torah more than six, and the seventh they should read in the second Sefer Torah, and one says the Kaddish over the second Sefer Torah together with the third which they place beside it, and likewise on Simchas Torah, on which one also reads from three Sifrei Torah, one says the Kaddish over the second in which they read "Bereishis," and one places afterward the third beside it and one says the Kaddish over both of them together, and this Kaddish also refers to what they read from the first Sefer Torah. And as for why they place the third beside the second to say the Kaddish over them together and do not place the first also beside it to say the Kaddish over it, it seems to me the reason is because in the first they have already read and all know that the Kaddish also refers to it; but in the third they have not yet read, for they did not wish to enact a Kaddish of its own for it because of the trouble to the congregation, it seems to me. And so is the law on Rosh Chodesh Teves when it falls on a weekday — one says the Kaddish over the second and does not place the first beside it'.
And the Alter Rebbe wrote7: 'And on a day when they take out three Sefarim, such as Rosh Chodesh Teves that falls on Shabbos, when one needs to read the weekly parsha and the parsha of Rosh Chodesh and the matter of Chanukah, and likewise on Simchas Torah when one needs to read Parshas V'Zos HaBeracha and Bereishis and the parsha of the Musafim, then likewise only the maftir reads in the last one, and they complete the count, or even if they add to the count, all go up in the first two Sefarim, and after them one says Kaddish before the maftir, to make a pause between their reading and the reading of the maftir, whose reading is only for the honor of the Torah. But before the reading in the second Sefer they do not have the minhag to say Kaddish even if the count of those called has already been completed in one Sefer and the one who reads in the second Sefer is additional to the count. And there are other minhogim regarding the matter of saying the Kaddish, both when they take out two Sefarim and when they take out three, and one should not change any minhag; and likewise, if there is a place where they have the minhag, when they take out two Sefarim (on Rosh Chodesh that falls on Shabbos and on the four parshiyos), that the last of the count reads in the second and the maftir goes back and reads what the last one read, one does not rebuke them.'
If so, in practice our minhag, when there are three Sifrei Torah, is to say the Kaddish after the reading in the second Sefer, and beside it one places the third Sefer, (and the first Sefer remains in the hands of the one who lifts it).
Notes:
1 ראה שו"ת הריב"ש סי' שכא, ב"י או"ח סי' רפב, אדמו"ר הזקן שו"ע או"ח סי' רפב סט"ו. [וראה יביע אומר ח"ד (חאו"ח סי' כב), ובשו"ת יחו"ד ח"א (סי' עו)] ↩
2 ענין שבת סי' עט ↩
3 מגילה פ"ג סי' ה ↩
4 חנוכה ↩
5 או"ח סי' רפב אות ז ↩
6 שו"ע או"ח סי' רפב ס"ד בהג"ה ↩
7 או"ח מנהגים סכ"ד ↩
8 שו"ע שם ↩
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