Sidra vs. Parasha - Class Notes

In a comment on a previous post, I wrote that I would try to locate my class notes from Dr. Steinfeld's class, in which he described a distinction between sidra and parsha, and used this distinction to resolve difficulties with a sugya starting in Megilla 29a. Thus, certain Rabbinic sources use the term sidra to they speak of the Eretz Yisrael based practice of finishing Torah in a cycle of once every three years, whereas when they use parasha in this context, they are speaking of the Babylonian practice of finishing Torah once a year, such that parsha = our parshat hashavua.

I located my notes. However, I should state at the outset that these notes were taken for personal use, and thus are not as fleshed out as a typical post on parshablog. One needs to really learn through the sugya to decipher the notes.

Furthermore, my notes begin towards the end of a file named sm9.txt (sugyot in moed, class 9) and end in the midst of a file named sm11.txt. I do not have a file named sm10.txt. There are three possibilities. The files were in different directories, and I have on occasion skipped a number in a sequence when this has happened. If so, what follows is class notes for the entire topic. Another possibility is that I did not have my computer, or my computer lacked battery power, such that I took notes on paper, and that paper is lost somewhere in my apartment. A third possibility is that, since makeup classes were being scheduled at this time at awkward hours, I missed this class. If so, I have the beginning and end of the notes. Dr. Steinfeld often repeats a bit of what we had done so far, particularly towards the summation of a topic, so even so these notes might cover everything.

As with everything, this was based on an article written by Dr. Steinfeld. I cannot locate the article at the moment, but it is written by him and has the word לכסדרן in it -- or else לסדרן, for that is the emendation he makes based on sources. Perhaps if someone knows the name and location of the article, (s)he could post it in a comment? Thanks.

The class notes follow:
sm9.txt

New topic:
reading the 4 parshiyot.

megilla 29a.
have a mishna.
our reading of torah problematic.
only place in torah was hakhel.

MISHNA:
rosh chodesh adar shechal lihyot beshabat - korin parshat shkalim. if fell in middle of the week, push to prev shabbat, and mafsik to next shabbat. {rashi: so people should know that need to bring machtzit haShekel in Adar, so bring teruma chadasha. budget of temple started from nissan.}

did they read something else? not clear. prob not.

if push back one, mafsik one week.

rosh choshesh adar beShabat :
1 shekalim
8 zachor
(14-Friday) Purim
15
22 para aduma
29 hachodesh hazeh lachem
chamishit, chozrim to normal cycle.



First day of Adar not on Shabbat, start Shekalim in Shevat.
then:
-7: shekalim
1: nothing
(12) Purim
10: zachor

but look at case of rosh chodesh on shabbat.



what does it mean lekesidran. pg 6 in handoput. rabenu chananel. first see the long rashi, shows how it comes out all those days.
rabenu chananel. he has lisidran mai.

elsewhere, shows it is lisidran.
pg 2 shows cover of ktav yad kaufman. best mishna that we have.
here have kisidran.
in cambridge manuscript: lisidran
meiri: has lisidran.

why not clarify to which order.

sm11.txt
sperber: cites ezra fleischer - who found a fragment of siddur, that showed they started earlier and ended later, so did not have to repeat for lack of psukim.

we had a machloket, on pg 6.
lekesidran.
what is the seder?Rabbi Ami - to seder parshiyot. R Yirmiya - to seder haftarat.
Rashi: seder parshiyot: that during these shabbatot paused and did not read the regular parshat haShavua. only zachor, shekalim, hachodesh, para.
just like on Yom Tov, we stop and read only special reading for Yom Tov.
seder haftarot - until here, did haftara of those shabbatot. Now go back to haftara of regular parsha.

so acc to r yirmiya - had to read parshat haShavua + Shekalim/ Zachor /Para /Hachodesh + special haftara.

now, if have machloket between amoraim - was there a problem in the mishna to say quickly.

also in nidda - mishna: did something shelo kesidran.and showed us that leSidran was an alternate girsa. see pg #2. frontpage. kaufman.

mishna in kaufman has punctuation. but diff hand. nakdan.

has the mafsikim interrupting - belonging to that mishna. it has leSidran.

later - mishna 8 - keSidran.

manuscript - pg 4: William Henry Lowe - copying cambridge manuscript. full manuscript. one of the best/.
and he did not publish a faximile, but is copying. and when there is a diff between printed edition and manuscript, write Ken Hu BeKtav Yad.

has leSidran.

Rabenu Chananel - pg 6=-
leseder mai: lisidran mai.

why is the mishna not specifying? such that need a machloket.

suggest very simple solution.

in Yiddish: the sedra - rather than parsha.

now see the sources.
pg #7:
those people in maarava {=E"y} that finsih torah in 3 years.
rashi: and not we do in 1 year.

another tradition - 3 and 1/2 years.
makes sense because shmitta is 7 years. so have 2 cycles in a shmita.

pg 9. very important book.Disputes Between Anshei Mizrach and Benei E"Y.
prof margoliot put tagether diff nuschaot.
Yam Shel Shlomo-maharsha. brings a page - diff minhagim from e"Y from benei bavel.
look at chiluk 48: bavel: every simchat torah
e"y: once every 3 and 1/2 years/


we know this is a geonic work.

ANOTHER chiluk: 47: bavel: read in *parasha* both the shliach tzibur and the populace. (shnayim mikra veEchad Targum) and people of e"y: the people read *parasha* and shliach tzibur reads sedarim.

so still reading seder of e"y, but influenced by babylonians, reading the parasha. (finishing in 1 year)

so yiddish not correct, because use seder to = parasha.

copied a few pages from margoliyot.
pg 11, 12, etc brings each minhag and analyzes.


bavel = 54 divisions (which is good, bec 54 weeks in a leap year)
e"y: diff sources. pg 18: masechet sofrim: halacha 10: therefore established 175. and terminology -sedarim.
another source - ester rabba petichta 3: minyan shel koneh (kuf nun heh = 155)
dvarim 28:68: ... veEin koneh

prob related to 3 vs 3 and 1/2
tanach koren - marks torah with sedarim. has 175.
have some evidence what the sedarim were.
in e"y uysed to have shorter reading bec longer drasha.

medrash was developed. teaching the parasha. read 1/3 of what we reading.

change in concept of kriyat haTorah. originally, to teach. not idea of being YOTZEI by hearing each word/

go to another part.
pg 16: masechet sofrim. halacha 4: he thought read 7, read less, goes back and reads, on condition that it is BeSeder 21 to distribute. and if less, add from another parsha so that enough.

pg 17: bavli: zevachim.mid page. beshlishi beParashat kedoshim.

back to mishna:
simple meaning. to the seder haParshiyot.
go back to the seder.
if so, why machloket?
rabbi ami: seder haParshiyot.
what with R Yirmiya: wants to reconcile the second minhag. used to read parsha as well. wants to justify his minhag. but original meaning of mishna was prob as rabbi ami, but with parsha rather than seder.
abaye's proof.
pg 6: abaye: rabbi ami makes sense. for tnan: laKol mafsikin - roshei chodoshim, chnauka, purim, fasts.
rashi: from reading inyin olam and reading from inyan haYom. (yet we do only maftir rosh chodesh. we take many sefer torah. ttanit on shabbat.

taaniyot only on chol.
so cannot say chozrin leSeder regarding haftarot, since no haftarot on chol.
rashi: perforce, must not be referring to shabbat.

so see abaye himself (justifying r ami) but was in bavel.
veIdach - how will r yirmiya explain mishna - in case that have haftara, return to haftara. in case dont have, return to seder parshiyot.

another source - abaye: read from parashat haShavua. tetzave + parashat haChodesh. so had minhag bavel but explains mishna acc to r ami.