Triennial cycle
The Triennial cycle of Torah reading
- The historical practice in ancient Israel by which the entire Torah was read in serial fashion over a three-year period, or
- The practice adopted by many Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Renewal congregations starting in the 19th and 20th Century, in which the traditional weekly Torah portions are divided into thirds, and in which one third of each weekly "parashah" of the annual system is read during the appropriate week of the calendar.
Background: Torah reading
The introduction of public reading of the Torah by
The annual reading cycle as practiced by the Jewish exile community in
Ancient triennial cycle
The Torah is divided into 54 parashot in the annual cycle. In the triennial cycle, it is divided into either 141, 154, or 167 parashot, as evidenced by scriptural references and fragments of recovered text. The practice was to read each parashah in serial order regardless of the week of the year, completing the entire Torah in three years in a linear fashion.
By the Middle Ages, the annual reading cycle was predominant, although the triennial cycle was still extant at the time, as noted by Jewish figures of the period, such as Benjamin of Tudela and Maimonides. Dating from Maimonides' codification of the parashot in his work Mishneh Torah in the 12th Century CE through the 19th Century, the majority of Jewish communities adhered to the annual cycle.
In a systematic review of the history and religious basis of the ancient and modern triennial cycles undertaken on behalf of the Conservative movement, Lionel E. Moses cites Maimonides, who in Mishneh Torah observes "The widespread practice in all of Israel is to complete the Torah in one year. There are some who complete the Torah in three years, but this is not a widespread practice."[4]
The triennial cycle "was the practise in Israel, whereas in Babylonia the entire Pentateuch was read in the synagogue in the course of a single year."
In 1517, Daniel Bomberg (a Christian[7]) published the first Bible with rabbinic commentary, divided into 154 sedarim.[8]
Modern developments
By the early modern period, the annual cycle was universal among Jews, and there only remained "slight traces of the triennial cycle in the four special Sabbaths and in some of the passages read upon the festivals, which are frequently sections of the triennial cycle, and not of the annual one".[9] This remains the practice in Orthodox synagogues and in many Conservative synagogues.
However, since the 19th century, many congregations in the Conservative, Reform, and (more recently) Reconstructionist and Renewal movements adopted a triennial cycle distinct from the ancient practice, by reading roughly a third of the annual cycle's sedra during the appropriate week of the year, in a manner that covers the entire Torah over the course of three years. (In a 1987 responsum,[10] the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards published a triennal calendar for congregations choosing to read Torah in that way. That calendar is not divided strictly into thirds, in order to preserve the narrative flow of the sections being read, to keep intact passages that are to be read uninterrupted, and to ensure that the subdivision into aliyot conforms with the requirements of Jewish law.) This was done in order to shorten the weekly services and allow additional time for sermons, study, or discussion.[11]
The Reconstructionist movement's prayer book, Siddur Kol Haneshamah, similarly contains a triennal Torah reading calendar.[12]
See also
References
- ^ Deuteronomy 31:10–13
- ^ Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 4:1; however, see Bava Kamma 82a which concludes that these readings were instituted by Moses, while Ezra expanded them from three to ten verses in length.
- ^ Megillah 29b
- ^ Moses, p. 335.
- ^ Triennial cycle, citing Megillah 29b.
- ^ "Itinerary," ed. Asher, p. 98
- ^ United Synagogue Review Fall 2006
- ^ United Synagogue Review Fall 2006
- ^ "Triennial Cycle," op. cit.
- ^ Eisenberg, Rabbi Richard (1988). "A Complete Triennial System for Reading the Torah" (PDF). Rabbinical Assembly. Retrieved 2016-11-22.
- ^ United Synagogue Review Fall 2006
- ISBN 0935457461.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Triennial cycle". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
Further reading
- Buchler, Adolph. "The Reading of the Law & Prophets in a Triennial Cycle." JQRo.s. Vol. 5 (1893), 420–468; Vol. 6 (1894), 1-73.
- Moses, Lionel E. "Is there an Authentic Triennial Cycle of Torah Readings?" Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards., 1986–1990.[1]
- Jacobs, Joseph. "Triennial Cycle" Jewish Encyclopedia.