Siman 428

These are the days upon which the festivals are not established: Rosh Hashanah is not on Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday; Yom Kippur is not on Sunday, Tuesday, or Friday; Purim of the fourteenth is not on Monday, Wednesday, or Saturday; Pesach is not on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday; Shavuot and Hoshana Rabbah are not on Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday; Hanukkah is not on Tuesday; Fast of Esther is not on Sunday, Tuesday, or Friday; and the seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av are not on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. And forever, on the day that Purim occurs—Lag BaOmer will occur afterward, and the sign is: Peleg. And on the day that Shavuot occurs—the following Hanukkah will occur if they are in their order, or deficient. But when they are full—it will come on the second day of Shavuot.

And these are the days upon which Rosh Chodesh was established, and not on others: Nisan, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday; Iyar, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday; Sivan, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday; Tammuz, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday; Av, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday; Elul, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday; Tishrei, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday; Marcheshvan, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday; Kislev, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; Tevet, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday; Shevat, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday; Adar, Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And in a leap year: the first [Adar], Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and the second [Adar], Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday. And when Rosh Chodesh is two days—the signs refer to the second day, for from it the days of the month begin, as I wrote in the previous siman.

A sign for the determination of the festivals: Aleph-Tav, Bet-Shin, Gimel-Resh, Dalet-Kof, Heh-Tzadi, Vav-Pei. The explanation: On the first day of Pesach—it will always be Tisha B'Av, and the sign: "with matzot and bitter herbs they shall eat it." On the second day, Shavuot; and on the third day, Rosh Hashanah; on the fourth day, the reading of the Torah, meaning Simchat Torah; and on the fifth day, the fast of Yom Kippur; on the sixth day, the preceding Purim.

One always reads "Tzav" before Pesach in a non-leap year, and "Metzora" in a leap year; except for when Rosh Hashanah falls on a Thursday and the year is a leap year, for then one reads "Acharei Mot" before Pesach. And one always reads "Bamidbar" before Shavuot. And Tisha B'Av occurs before "Va'etchanan." "Nitzavim" is before Rosh Hashanah, and therefore when Rosh Hashanah is on Monday-Tuesday, such that there are two Shabbats between Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot – then they divide "Nitzavim"-"Vayeilech," so that they read "Vayeilech" between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and "Ha'azinu" between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. And the mnemonic: "Beit-Gimel HaMelech Pat Vayeilech." Meaning: "Beit-Gimel" – when they say "HaMelech HaKadosh" on Monday and Tuesday. "Pat Vayeilech" – an expression of "break it into pieces." But when Rosh Hashanah is on Thursday-Friday – then there is only one Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot in which they must read the parashah, because then Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat. And they read "Ha'azinu" on it, for then they automatically read "Nitzavim" together with "Vayeilech" before Rosh Hashanah. And the mnemonic for a non-leap year: "Pikdu U'Paschu," from when they read "Tzav" which is an expression of command, and they perform Pesach. And for a leap year: "Sigru" (the metzora) "U'Paschu," "Manu" ("Bamidbar" which is a counting) "Ve'Atzru" (Atzeret), "Tzumu Ve'Tzalu" ("Va'etchanan" which is prayer), "Kumu" (Nitzavim) "Ve'Tiku."

Parashat "Ha'azinu" – we divide the parashiyot as was done in the Mikdash: Ha-Ziv Lach, for they would read each part of them in the Mikdash every Shabbat during the Musaf song. And these are they: "Ha'azinu," "Zechor," "Yarkivehu," "Vayar," "Lu Chachmu," "Ki Essa," until the end of the song. And the seventh reads from the end of the song until the end of the parashah. And according to Rashi, in place of "Lu Chachmu" and "Ki Essa" – they read "Lulei" and "Ki Yadin." And the custom is like the first opinion. And they shall not add to the number of those called to the Torah on this Shabbat. And this is on Shabbat morning, but at Mincha and on Monday and Thursday – they may read as they wish. And similarly, Rosh Chodesh Tevet or Adar that falls on Shabbat, and they take out three Sifrei Torah – one must not add to those called to the Torah, for they must read the seventh in the one of Rosh Chodesh, so that it will be part of the count of those called (and so it is explained explicitly in Megillah 29b).

The curses in Torat Kohanim—one may not interrupt them; rather, one person reads all of them. And one begins with the verses before them and concludes with the verses after them. And it is necessary for the third person to read the rebuke. But the third person should not read until the rebuke, and the fourth person then return and begin from the portion that the third person read. For this is an affront to the Torah, and Heaven forbid one should do so. But the curses in Mishneh Torah—one may interrupt them according to the law; nevertheless, the custom is not to interrupt them. And likewise, one begins from the preceding verses and concludes with those after them. Our teacher, the Rema, wrote in section 5 that one does not call someone by name for the rebuke; rather, whoever wishes may go up. But among us, we do not practice this. And one who does not wish to go up for the rebuke should leave the synagogue beforehand. But if he is in the synagogue, if he does not go up, it is a disgrace to the Torah, Heaven forbid. And the custom is that the reader goes up for the rebukes. And likewise, the last eight verses in the Torah—one may not interrupt them; rather, one person reads all of them. And likewise, regarding the forty-two journeys in "Masei"—one should not interrupt during the Shabbat morning service, for they correspond to the forty-two letter Name (Magen Avraham, subsection 8).

From the seventeenth of Tammuz onward – we read as the haftarah three of retribution: "Divrei Yirmeyahu," "Shimu," "Chazon"; and seven of consolation: "Nachamu," "Vatomer Tzion," "Aniyah Soarah," "Anokhi Anokhi," "Roni Akarah," "Kumi Ori," "Sos Asis"; and two of repentance: on Tzom Gedaliah at Mincha "Dirshu," and on the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur "Shuvah," and when Rosh Hashanah falls on Monday and Tuesday, such that there is a Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot on which we read "Ha'azinu" – we read as the haftarah on it "Vayedaber David." And some say that in such a case we read "Dirshu" between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and "Shuvah" between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. But the custom is not so. And on all the Shabbats of the year we read a haftarah related to the parashah. And when we read two portions – we read the haftarah of the second, except for "Acharei Mot" and "Kedoshim," where we read "Halo Khivnei Kushiyim" which is the haftarah of "Acharei Mot." And in siman 425 we explained that on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh – these of repentance and consolation are pushed aside, and we read "Hashamayim Kisai," but not for the sake of "Machar Chodesh," see there. And they wrote to read "Sos Asis" as the haftarah at a wedding. But we do not know of this custom at all. And it has already been explained there that one does not skip from prophet to prophet. And we did not trouble ourselves to write the calculation of the calendars, since among us they are printed by the thousands and tens of thousands every single year, and it is known to all, and every man has a calendar of the year. And with this we have concluded with the help of Heaven the laws of Rosh Chodesh. May the Merciful One merit us with the coming of our Messiah, and then we shall offer our obligations: the daily offerings in their order and the Musaf offerings of Rosh Chodesh according to their laws. Amen. With the help of Heaven, the laws of Rosh Chodesh are completed.