Shnayim Mikra in the Absence of Public Torah Reading

Q. The Gemara Berachos (8a) states that shnayim mikrah (the obligation to read the parsha each week twice together with a commentary) must be done “together with the tzibur (community)”. Does this indicate that there is no mitzvah of shnayim mikrah when there is no communal Keriyas HaTorah, as is the case today?

A. Rav Schachter answered that it is not possible to say that the mitzvah of shnayim mikrah is suspended when there is no communal reading. Such a novel ruling would be codified by the poskim, but in fact there is no record of such a position in Torah literature. Apparently, the intention of the phrase of the Gemarah “together with the tzibur” is that shnayim mikrah should follow the reading schedule of the tzibur, but shnayim mikrah is not contingent on actual communal reading.

In fact, not only does the obligation to read shnayim mikrah apply even when there is no communal keriyas haTorah, the mitzvah is perhaps even greater for the following reason. The opinion of the Ra’avan (siman 88, quoted in the Beis Yosef OC 285) is that the mitzvah of shnayim mikrah was formulated specifically as a substitution for keriyas haTorah for those who live in a city where there is no minyan. According to the Ra’avan, if one read shnayim mikrah on a Shabbos when there is a minyan, there is no fulfillment of a mitzvah. The mitzvah is fulfilled only when there is no minyan. For that reason, reading shnayim mikrah on a week that has no minyan is a bigger mitzvah, because everyone agrees there is a mitzvah.

The accepted opinion is not like the Ra’avan, and the mitzvah of shnayim mikrah applies in all situations.

Rav Schachter noted that although one cannot fulfill the mitzvah of kriyas haTorah without a minyan, nevertheless some feel that by reading the whole parshah on Shabbos, even without a minyan, they are maintaining a zecher (remembrance) to the mitzvah of keriyas haTorah. If one is unable to fulfill the actual mitzvah, one is permitted to make a zecher for the mitzvah provided that it will not create a misconception (kilkul). In this case, this is not a concern, since there is certainly nothing wrong with reading the Parshas on Shabbos.

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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.