355. Breaking Up the Curses

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 13:7

The curses in Leviticus should not be broken up; they should all be read in one aliyah. The reader should begin with the verse before the curses and conclude with the verse after them. The curses in Deuteronomy may be broken up but the practice has been accepted not to do so.

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 13:8

The annual cycle of reading the Torah is interrupted for the various holidays. On these days, we read a section that discusses the holiday rather than the weekly portion. Moshe instituted that, on each holiday, we should read a section appropriate for the occasion. Another reason to do so is that it is appropriate to discuss matters of a holiday on that day.

On Pesach, we read about the holidays in Leviticus 23. The practice has been accepted to read “Draw and take for yourselves…” from Exodus 12 on the first day. The haftarah is the Pesach celebration in Gilgal (Joshua 5). On the second day, we read “An ox or a sheep” (Leviticus 22) and the haftarah is the Pesach of King Josiah (II Kings 23). On the third day, we read “Sanctify every firstborn to Me” (Exodus 13); on the fourth day, “When you lend money” (Exodus 22); on the fifth day, “Carve for yourself” (Exodus 34); on the sixth day, “The children of Israel shall keep the Passover at the appointed time” (Numbers 9). On the seventh day, which is yom tov, we read “It was when he had sent away” through the song at the sea (Exodus 13-15). The haftarah is “David said” from II Samuel 22. On the eighth day of Pesach, we read “Every firstborn” (Deuteronomy 15) and the haftarah is “This very day” (Isaiah 10).