Megillah 30b — the Talmud in English

And which is the fourth Shabbat? -

Any one in which the new moon of Nisan falls, even on the eve of Shabbat.

And in this even Shmuel agrees, for the eve of Shabbat is analogous to “within it”—and they advance the reading to the preceding Shabbat, for if not so, the performance of taking the Passover sacrifice on the first of Nisan, mentioned in the section “This month,” would precede the hearing.

We learned in our Mishna:

“On the fifth they return to their order, etc.”

And we raised the matter:

“To the order of what?”

That is, which order did they interrupt, to which they now return?

Rabbi Ami said: They return to the order of the sections

of the entire year;

he returns.

For until now they had read only the four sections, and they had not read the sections of the order of the entire year.

Rabbi Yirmeya said: He returns to the order of the haftarot.

For until now they had read haftarot resembling the four sections, as we said in the beraita above. But there is no need to return to the order of the sections, for he holds that even on these Shabbatot of the four sections, they also read the section of the order of the entire year.

Abaye said: The view of Rabbi Ami is more reasonable, for we learned: For everything they interrupt, for new moons, for Hanukkah and for Purim, for fasts, for the watches, and for Yom Kippur .

Granted, according to the one who says that he returns to the order of the sections, this is

that it teaches that for fasts and for the watches too they interrupt, even though they occur specifically on weekdays,

for

this

there is a section on a weekday,

on Mondays and Thursdays, and it is applicable to say that they interrupt the reading of the entire year and read the reading of the fasts and of the watches.

But according to the one who says that he returns to the order of the haftarot, is there a haftara on a weekday—

is there one,

and what relevance does interruption on a weekday have with regard to a haftara?!

And the other one,

Rabbi Yirmeya, could say to you:

This—

as it is found, and this—

as it is found.

For on a weekday, when a haftara is not applicable, certainly the interruption is in the sections. And on Shabbat, when there is a haftara, the interruption is in the haftarot, for wherever it is possible to interrupt only in the haftarot, they do not interrupt the reading of the order of the entire year.

And we challenge Rabbi Yirmeya, who said that wherever it is possible, we do not interrupt:

And with fasts,

when there is a reading at Mincha,

why do I need an interruption

at all?

Let him read in the morning concerning the matter of the day

of the entire year,

and at Mincha—

let him read

about the fast?!

And we say:

This supports Rav Huna.

For Rav Huna said: In the morning

of the day of the fast—

a gathering [

an assembly ].

For in the morning they gather the public, and examine and warn whether there are transgressions in their hands, so that they desist, in order that the fast be accepted. Therefore there is no time to read from the Torah at Shacharit .

How do we act?

Abaye said: From the morning until midday—

we examine the matters of the city,

whether there are transgressions in their hands, as we said above.

From midday—

until evening [

until the evening ],

a quarter of the day—

they read and deliver the haftara [

they read from the Torah and deliver the haftara ].

And a quarter of the day—

they seek mercy. As it is stated: “And they read in the book of the Torah of the Lord their God a quarter of the day, and a quarter they confessed and prostrated themselves.”

And we challenge:

But let me reverse it,

and say that from the morning until midday they read and deliver the haftara, etc., and from midday until evening they examine the matters of the city?

And we answer:

It cannot enter your mind. For it is written: “And there gathered to me everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel over the faithlessness of the exiles, and I sat desolate until the evening offering,” and it is written

at the end of that verse:

“And at the evening offering

I rose from my fast

and so on, “and I spread out my palms to the Lord.” We see that prayer is toward evening.

Mishna:

On Passover—

they read in the section of the festivals in Torat Kohanim,

namely: “An ox or a sheep or a goat, etc.” [Leviticus 22], and it is speaking of the first festival day of Passover. And on the other days of Passover, one selects and reads from its subject concerning Passover, as we say in a beraita in the Gemara .

On Shavuot—

“Seven weeks” [

Deuteronomy 16 ].

On Rosh Hashanah—

“In the seventh month, on the first of the month.” On Yom Kippur—

they read in the section

“After the death.” On the first festival day of Sukkot

of Sukkot—

they read in the section of the festivals in Torat Kohanim. And on all the other days of the festival —

about the offerings of the festival

that are in the section of Pinchas .

On Hanukkah—

they read

about the princes,

namely: “And the princes brought the dedication of the altar, etc.” [Numbers 7] .

On Purim—

we read:

“And Amalek came.”

On new moons—

“And on your new moons.”

For the watches—

in the account of Creation,

and Tractate Ta’anit [27b] explains the reason: because on account of the offerings, heaven and earth endure.