Author Archives: mradwin

There are multiple traditions about where to divide the aliyot for the Shabbat reading of Parashat Bereshit.

The Stone Edition of the Chumash, the Tikkun Torah Lakorim (Ktav Publishing) and several Internet sources (Hebcal, Sefaria, Tikkun.io, Chabad, Wikipedia) begin the sixth aliyah at verse Genesis 4:23, immediately following a short fifth aliyah (4:19-22). 

However, several sources use an alternate tradition with a longer the fifth aliyah (ending at 4:26) and begin the sixth aliyah at 5:1. The Koren Humash, the Hertz Humash (The Pentateuch and Haftorahs: Hebrew Text English Translation and Commentary) and Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (Jewish Publication Society), and the Rabbi Miles Cohen Luaḥ Hashanah all use this aliyot division.

There is no “correct” answer here. One can argue about which is preferred, but one is not “better” (i.e. more halakhic or more traditional) than the other.

The Hebcal Torah Reading pages specify both the traditional full kriyah (reading the entire weekly Torah portion each Shabbat) and also a triennial cycle specified by the Conservative Movement in the United States.

“Many congregations pattern their weekly Torah reading cycle after a system similar to the one used in ancient Israel during the rabbinic period. In this system, the traditional parashiot are each divided into three shorter segments, and the whole Torah is completed once every three years. The system has both advantages and disadvantages, but its ability to shorten the length of Torah reading without sacrificing the complete reading of the Torah on a regular basis has made it the choice of some synagogues in the Conservative Movement.”

A Complete Triennial System for Reading the Torah, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly, 1988, emended 1995

Triennial Haftarot

Hebcal displays an optional alternate Haftarah according to Haftarot for a Triennial Cycle Torah Reading, Avram Israel Reisner, 2014.

UK Reform Judaism

The UK Reform Judaism movement publishes its own triennial Torah & Haftarah schedule.

Updates and modifications to Conservative triennial schedule for Diaspora

Update August 2022: for Parashat Vayakhel and Parashat Pekudei, Hebcal uses the modification provided in An Emendation to Richard Eisenberg’s Complete Triennial System for Reading Torah, to Address a Rare Situation, Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly, 2012

Update December 2021: Hebcal adopted CJLS’s modifications triennial cycle for some combined parshiyot to change the reading for year 3 to be the third section of the parashah. Modification of the Triennial Cycle Readings for Combined Parashot in Certain Years, Rabbi Miles B. Cohen, 2020

Masorti triennial schedule for Israel

Although there is no formally specified triennial cycle for the Masorti movement in Israel, Hebcal began publishing a draft schedule in May 2023. Due to differences in the Torah readings schedule based on keeping only a single day of chag in Israel, the Diaspora triennial system does not work for a small number of parsha combinations that can occur in Israel.

In particular, Behar-Bechukotai and Matot-Masei occasionally occur with different 3-year patterns in Israel that never occur in the Diaspora. Rather than invent new aliyot divisions for Israel, we have adapted/reused the existing triennial variations used in the Diaspora.

Here is the draft schedule with some example years where the 3-year patterns occur.

Behar-Bechukotai

• 3-year pattern SSS (Separate in years 5774, 5775, 5776)
  • Behar year 1: 25:1-28
  • Bechukotai year 1: 26:3-27:15
  • Behar year 2: 25:1-28
  • Bechukotai year 2: 27:1-34
  • Behar year 3: 25:29-26:2
  • Bechukotai year 3: 27:1-34
• SST (Separate in 5789, Separate in 5790, Together in 5791)
  • Behar year 1: 25:1-28
  • Bechukotai year 1: 26:3-27:15
  • Behar year 2: 25:29-26:2
  • Bechukotai year 2: 27:1-34
  • Together year 3: 27:1-34
• TSS (Together in 5777, Separate in 5778, Separate in 5779)
  • Together year 1: 25:1-38
  • Behar year 2: 25:39-26:46
  • Bechukotai year 2: 26:3-27:15
  • Behar year 3: 25:29-26:2
  • Bechukotai year 3: 27:1-34

Matot-Masei: 3-year pattern “STS” (Separate in 5774, Together in 5775, Separate in 5776)

• Matot year 1: same as schedule “C” (30:2-31:54)
• Masei year 1: same as schedule “C” (33:1-49)
• Together year 2: standard year two for combined (32:1-33:49)
• Matot year 3: same as schedule “A” (31:1-32:42)
• Masei year 3: same as schedule “A” (33:50-36:13)