Shnayim Mikra - Weekly Completion

QUESTION: I did not finish reviewing last week’s Torah portion Shnayim Mikra V’echad Targum. Can I make it up this week?

ANSWER: Shulchan Aruch (285:4) writes that it is preferable to finish reviewing Shnayim Mikra V’echad Targum before one eats their Shabbos day meal. However, if one did not, they have until Mincha on Shabbos to complete it. Mincha is the cutoff point because at Mincha we begin reading the following week’s parasha. (The Mishna Berurah in the Beiur Halacha explains that it is preferable to finish before the meal because one might be distracted when eating and forget to review the parasha.) If one did not complete it by then, bedieved (after the fact) it should be reviewed before Tuesday evening of that week. This is because the first three days of the week are considered the end of the previous week. (For that reason, if a person forgot to recite Havdalah motzai Shabbos, it can be said until sunset on Tuesday evening.) Sefer Ketzos Hashulchan (72, n. 7) writes that even if one did not complete Shnayim Mikra V’echad Targum before Mincha on Shabbos, it is preferable to review the parasha before Shabbos ends, rather than wait until Tuesday.) Finally, if one did not finish by Tuesday evening, the missing portion can be completed before the end of the Torah reading cycle on Simchas Torah (and in Israel, on Shmini Atzeres). Once Simchas Torah has ended, if one has not completed reading the Torah Shnayim Mikra V’echad Targum, the mitzvah is forfeited, and can no longer be corrected.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.