Reading of the Shira and the Ten Commandments

It is our custom to call the Chacham or Dayan or Rabbi for the Shira and the Ten Commandments, both in Shemot as well as in Devarim[1]. The Chazzan reads, but the Rabbi takes over, and reads the Shira and the Ten Commandments himself.

As the third and the seventh aliyah are considered the most honorable, we call the rabbi as third or as seventh. Of course, if he is a Coheen or a Levi, we must call him first respectively, second. However, the normal partitioning, as indicated in Piza[2], doesn’t place the Shira and the Ten Commandments in the third or seven’s aliya. Therefore, when there is a rabbi in the Synagogue, we change the partitioning, as indicated below. The aliya with an * is the one where the Shira or the Ten Commandments are placed.

Shira: Beshalach

	Normal partitioning (no Rabbi)	Portioning with Rabbi	Portioning with Rabbi Cohen	Portioning with Rabbi Levi
Cohen	13:17-14:8	13:17-14:8	13:17-15:26 *	13:17-???
Levi	14:9-14:14	14:9-14:14	15:27-???	???-15:26 *
Third	14:15-14:25	14:15-15:26 *
Fourth	14:26-15:26*	15:27-16:10
Fifths	15:27-16:10	16:11-16:21
Samuch (sixth)	16:11-16:36	16:22-16:36
Mashlim (seventh)	17:1-End	17:1-End	End	End

Ten Commandments: Jitro

	Normal partitioning	Portioning with Rabbi	Portioning with Rabbi Cohen	Portioning with Rabbi Levi
Cohen	18:1-18:12	18:1-18:12	18:1-18:12	18:1-18:12
Levi	18:13-18:23	18:13-18:23	18:13-18:23	18:13-18:23
Third	18:24-18:27	18:24-18:27	18:24-18:27	18:24-18:27
Fourth	19:1-19:6	19:1-19:6	19:1-19:6	19:1-19:6
Fifths	19:7-19:19	19:7-19:13	19:7-19:13	19:7-19:13
Samuch (sixth)	19:20-20:14 *	19:14-19:19	19:14-19:19	19:14-19:19
Mashlim (seventh)	20:15-End	19:20-End *	19:20-End *	19:20-End *
Maftir	20:21-End	20:21-End	20:21-End	20:21-End

In case the Rabbi is a Cohen he is called with the addition: אף על פי שהוא כהן and when he is a Levi: אף על פי שהוא לוי

Ten Commandments: Va’etchanan

	Normal partitioning	Portioning with Rabbi	Portioning with Rabbi Cohen	Portioning with Rabbi Levi
Cohen	3:23-4:4	3:23-4:4	3:23-5:27 *	3:23-??
Levi	4:5-4:40	4:5-4:49		??-5:27 *
Third	4:41-4:49	5:1-5:27 *
Fourth	5:1-5:18 *	5:28-6:3
Fifths	5:19-6:3	6:4-6:19
Samuch (six’s)	6:4-6:25	6:20-???
Mashlim (seventh)	7:1-End	???-End	-End	-End

Remarks

· Question marks in the table indicate that we have no tradition how the partitioning should be. This situation didn’t occur for many generations and as far as we know, is not documented in detail

· On the 7^th of Pesach and on the 1^st day of Shavu’ot, the Shira and the Ten Commandments are in the Mashlim, so no change of partitioning is needed. Only in case the Rabbi is Cohen or Levi he is called with addition: אף על פי שהוא כהן orאף על פי שהוא לוי.

· On a Ta’anit Tsibur Mincha, the Chacham is called as 3^rd. The Chazzan reads till ‘Va’avor’, where that Chacham takes over and reads till ‘venake’. The chazzan then finishes. We have no traditions what to do in case the Chacham is a Cohen or Levi.

· At a Meldadura, the regular partitioning is followed.

[1] As we stand up when the rabbi is called to the Torah, this minhag has probably been introduced to bypass the halachic discussion as whether to stand up during these portions or not.

[2] Piza is our reference for the parashiot. Printed in Amsterdam in 1779