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This article was constructed with the help of either writings, lectures or shiurim of Rabbi’s Yonatan Zweig, Yossi Bilus.
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Our son, b’sha’a tova, is having is hanachat tefillin on Thursday. The ceremony for bar mitzva boys is held either on a Monday or on a Thursday. These are the days that we read the Torah, as well as putting on tefillin. What is the reason we read the Torah on those designated days? Why not Wednesdays and Sunday? If you do it on Wednesdays, one can then have a free Carvel Sunday after the tefilah.
There are various reasons why Monday and Thursday were chosen to join Shabbat as the designated Torah reading days. One such reason is that these days were picked because Monday and Thursday were traditionally days that the Jews would go to the nearest towns to shop. Therefore, Ezra the Sofer instituted the public Torah reading to draw large crowds of businessmen into the synagogue for they’re in the vicinity.
 Another reason the commentators in the Talmud add is that the choice of Monday and Thursday have additional significance since Moshe received the second set of Tablets when he ascended Mount Sinai on the last Monday in the Jewish month of Av, and came down on Thursday, 10 Tishrei (which is also Yom Kippur). [Interestingly, my background is from Buckharian decent. Although I can trace my genealogy nine generations from the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, I also have relatives in a city called Dushanbe. Dushanbe means Tuesday. The city was created for many businessmen who would come on this day to this place to do trade.] But perhaps the most significant reason is as follows: Maimonides writes in his Mishneh Torah, in the Laws of Prayer (Chapter 12, Law 1):
Moses, our teacher, ordained that the Jews should read the Torah publicly on the Sabbath and on Monday and Thursday mornings, so the [people] would never have three days pass without hearing the Torah. Ezra [the Scribe] ordained that [the Torah] should be read during the Minchah service on the Sabbath, because of the shopkeepers. He also ordained that on Mondays and Thursdays, three people should read [from the Torah], and that they should read no fewer than ten verses.
This idea that the Jewish people should never go three days without hearing Torah is explained in the Talmud in Bava Kama 82b where it quotes Exodus 15:22: “And they travelled three days without finding water,” and explains: Water refers to the Torah, as [implied by Isaiah 55:1]: “May all the thirsty go to the water.” Since they travelled three days without Torah, they complained. The prophets among them arose and ordained that they read Torah on the Sabbath, refrain from reading on Sunday, read on Monday, refrain from reading on Tuesday and Wednesday, read on Thursday, and refrain from reading on Friday, so that they will not spend three days without reading from the Torah.
The Sefer HaChinuch, in the introduction to his classic work, writes that the essential idea behind the institution of public Torah Reading is Limmud HaTorah, the study of Torah. The Torah is our lifeblood and contains within it all the mitzvot (commandments) that a Jew needs to know about and to fulfill. It is therefore imperative that we hear a small part of the weekly Torah portion read during the week so that we don’t go three days without some Torah study, and that we hear the entire weekly Torah portion read each Shabbat as well so that we will have heard the entire Torah read at least once a year.
 This puts a whole different spin on this often misunderstood and seemingly ‘tedious’ religious ritual. What we are actually supposed to be doing as we sit in the synagogue listening to the chanting of the Torah is to hear and study the stories and the laws contained in each Torah portion.
In fact, in Talmudic times when most Jews in Babylon (modern-day Iraq) read and understood Aramaic better than Hebrew, the Rabbis actually set up a meturgamon, or interpreter, who would stand at the Bimah (podium) next to the Baal Korei (the person chanting the Torah) and who would translate each verse from the original Hebrew into Aramaic, so that the people would be able to understand the Torah reading and learn from it.
Apparently, this is a question that many ask and I saw something fascinating written by Rabbi Zweig quoting the Baalei Hatosfot who asks: There are other combinations of days that could accomplish the same goal, why Monday and Thursdays, specifically?
The Midrash relates that the Shabbat complained to G-d, “Each day of the week has a mate, the first to the fourth, the second to the fifth, the third to the sixth. Every day, except for me.” G-d responded to Shabbat: “Bnei Yisroel will be your mate.” That’s a very cute Medrash. Actually, to be honest, I never found it cute. I actually found it a bit corny; too cutesy for me. However, I’m smart enough to realize that, of course, there is a lot more to the statement. Our Torah is very deep. The more I delved into various subjects the more I realized how much I don’t know. The cutesy remark is a mere front for something more deep. One can bet their bottom dollar that the following hunch yours truly has is correct. What is the notion of a day having a mate? What are the mates of the other days of the week?
The Rambam teaches that everything in creation was formed from four basic elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Analysis of Creation reveals one of the four elements to be predominant on each day. On Sunday, G-d created light, which is essentially the element of fire. Monday brought the creation of the sky, which the Torah describes as a separation of waters. Clearly, water is the dominant element. On Tuesday, dry land with its vegetation was created; this is the element of earth. The cycle is then repeated; on Wednesday, G-d made two large lights to rule by day and by night, again the element of fire. On Thursday, all swimming and flying creatures were created, which were, according to the Talmud, generated from the very water itself. Friday issued forth the creation of animals, followed by man, both of whom emerged from the earth. Hence, man was called Adam, from the word “adamah”, which means “earth”.
The Midrash is teaching that, just as everything in this world is produced by a male-female union, the elements themselves which G-d used for Creation have male and female properties as well; these properties combine to produce the creations in which they play a predominant role. Sunday – Wednesday was the union which produced creations that are anchored by the element of fire. Similarly, Monday – Thursday produced creations which consist primarily of water. Tuesday and Friday introduced the earth-based creations. As kids in Yeshiva we often heard the comparison our Rebbes make Torah to water. This is one of the famously catch phrase in our Jewish knowledge vocabulary. Now, we see how Monday and Thursday makes sense for Torah reading. The two days selected were the ones on which the element of water was dominant.
The only element not accounted for is “ru’ach” – “air”. This element is the most spiritual of the four, which is apparent from the verses themselves: At the onset of Creation, G-d’s presence was described as “ru’ach Elokim”. In His creative mode G-d is described as “ruach”. It is therefore most appropriate that “ru’ach” is dominant on Shabbat, for it is the union between Bnei Yisroel and Shabbat which generates the sanctity that permeates the remaining days of the week and give them their existence.
On Wednesday morning we recite the verse “lechu neranena” at the end of the Psalm of the day. It is not coincidental that this verse also introduces our Friday night liturgy, for Shabbos generates the energy for the rest of the days of the week. The first three days derive their energy from the Shabbat which has passed and the next three days from the upcoming Shabbat. We therefore recite the verses of the Shabbat liturgy at the end of Wednesday’s Psalm of the week for we are entering the portion of the week which is influenced by the next Shabbat
 Now we an entirely new view of all the days of the week, and their respective strengths. Monday-Thursday is water, and Sunday-Wednesday is fire, Tuesday-Friday earth, these are true mates, for they are similar. There is no corniness at all, just a deep understanding of the days of the week. 1.Bava Kama. 82a 2.Ibid 3.Bereishis Rabbah 11:9 4.Yad Yesodei HaTorah
3:10 5.Chullin 27b 6.Bereishis 2:11 7.Ibid 1:2 |
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Why is the new year of trees celebrated in the dead of winter when the trees are lifeless?
The book Ziv HaMinhagim gives a beautiful explanation of this linkage. Tu B’Shvat is the Rosh HaShanah of trees. Look outside today and gaze at the trees. They appear deader than door nails! Is this the time to celebrate “The New Year for Trees?” There is not a leaf to be seen. It would seem more appropriate to celebrate “Tu B’Shvat” in the springtime when the trees are in full bloom — April or May.
The answer is that the trees LOOK dead. They LOOK like they will never see another green leaf in their existence. But right now the sap is beginning to run within them. If one travels up to Vermont — the Maple syrup capital of the world — he will find Vermonters dressed up in earmuffs boring holes in trees to extract the sap from the maple trees. This is the time of the year when the sap is flowing within the trees. The leaves and the beauty of the fruits that the trees will produce in the spring and summer are all being prepared right now, in the dead of winter. The trees represent the idea that even when something looks terribly bleak and looks like it has no future, one should not give up on it. One should not give up on the trees when they look like that, and one should not give up on oneself when things look like that for him.
There are periods in a person’s life when the future looks bleak and things look miserable all around. “What will be?” But the salvation of the L-rd comes in the blink of an eye! The Almighty is already “running the sap” so to speak so that salvation may come. For this reason Tu B’Shvat is celebrated in the dead of wint
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