LEVITICUS READINGS IN APRIL, MAY AND JUNE 2020
Special Events During The Reading Of The Book Of Leviticus
For those who pray
During the reading of the portions of Leviticus, we count Three Months, and mark them by special prayers in the evening:
THE FIRST MONTH
Wednesday evening 22 April 2020
THE SECOND MONTH
Friday evening 22 May 2020
THE THIRD MONTH
Saturday evening 20 June 2020
And the Almighty will bestow this night and the (First / Second / Third) Month, be blessed for you and all your congregation, and your evening is good from the Almighty.
Events and Portions of Leviticus
Note: in order to find Prayers of the Sabbath and the beginning of every prayer click: PRAYERS
Wednesday evening 22 April 2020
The New Year
This evening marks the start of the New Year according to the Hebrew Calendar. There is a special prayer and meal afterwards. Each participant greets the others with blessings for the New Year.
22 April 2020 – 6 May 2020
The Fourteen Days of Keeping
These days honour the commandment to keep the Month of Spring at the correct time. There are special prayers in the evening and morning. These are the best days of the year, while preparing for Passover.
Please note: each portion begins with the opening words of Deuteronomy 32:3-4.
25 April 2020
Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26
The First Sabbath of the First Month, Dedicated to the Locusts
Please read Exodus, 10:1-6.
At the end of the Portion please read Leviticus 23:1-8.
At the end of this portion, and at the end of each portion, after reading the additional passage all the readers say together:
Then the first reader says:
You will be blessed Shehmaa Our Eloowwem, and there is no Eloowwem but the One, and the praise to Him and may your Shabbats be good from Eloowwem.
And Our Eloowwem will make this Shabbat Day and each Shabbat Day double blessed upon you and may your Shabbats be good from Eloowwem.
And Eloowwem will save you and will heal your illness and will remember the covenant of salt, thanks to those who dwelt in the cave of Maakfelah, Abraahm and Yehsaahq and Yaaqob, and thanks to Yoosef and our master Mooshe who received the Toorah from Eloowwem, please say Aamen.
Then the readers rest in their seats, and enjoy tea and cakes.
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2 May 2020
Leviticus 6:1 – 9:21
The Second Sabbath of the First Month, dedicated to the plague of darkness.
Read Exodus, 10:21-29.
At the end of the Portion read Leviticus 23:1-8.
Then read the concluding prayer.
Wednesday sunset 6 May 2020
The Passover Sacrifice
The Festival of Passover (Paschal)
The festival starts with the offering of the Sacrifice and ends with the burning of the rest of the meat early in the morning of 7 May.
7 May – 13 May 2020
The Seven Days of the Festival of Unleavened Bread
There are special prayers for Evening and Morning.
Buy kosher matzot (unleavened bread) for the whole seven days of the Festival. It is forbidden to eat any artificial products or other kind of bread during those days. You can use frozen vegetables, fruits and can cook eggs and rice, but not any kind of pasta.
9 May 2020
Special Sabbath, The Sabbath of the Festival of Unleavened Bread
There is no portion to be read, but share with your family the whole story of the Exodus. Before the Sabbath arrives I recommend watching the movie The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston, Ann Baxter, Yul Brynner and E Robinson. The movie lasts for four hours. Watch the first half before the Sabbath and the second half afterwards.
Sunday 10 May 2020
The First Day of Counting the Omer
Ending on Saturday 28 June 2020. Each day, mention the number of the day of the counting.
On the Morning and Evening of each day, say:
The reading of the portions continues:
Wednesday 13 May 2020
The Festival of Unleavened Bread (Matzot)
On the seventh day of the festival, after having celebrated and visited each other during the interim days, comes the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is the first pilgrimage day in the new year to the holy sites on Mount Gerizim. The prayers begin one hour after midnight, in the synagogue at Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim. At about 4:00 a.m. the congregation leaves the synagogue and makes the pilgrimage to the summit of Mount Gerizim, while singing and praying. We progress from station to station.
(a) The first station is the Place of the
Stones [The Twelve Stones, Deuteronomy 27:4. In the Samaritan version, Mount Gerizim].
(b) The second stop is the site of the altar of Adam and his
son Seth.
(c) The next stop is the site of the Everlasting Hill [The Everlasting Hill, Deuteronomy 33:15].
(d) The next is the site of God Will
Provide [God Will Provide, Genesis 22:8], where Abraham saw the ram in the thicket when he was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
(e) The following stop is the site of the Altar of Isaac.
(f) The next station is the Altar of Noah.
(g) The next stop is the site of the Everlasting Hill. Formerly, two monuments of Jacob used to mark the place and this was the third station.
We dedicate the prayers to the Exodus from Egypt and to the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
At the end, we enjoy a festive meal together.
16 May 2020
Leviticus 9:22-13:28
(This portion remembers the Reed Sea station on the route of the Sons of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai).
Please read Exodus 14:26-31.
At the end of the portion read Leviticus 23:15-22.
Then read the concluding prayer.
23 May 2020
Leviticus 13:29-15:33
(Remembering the Marra station on the route of the Sons of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai)
Please read Exodus 15:22-26.
At the end of the portion please read Leviticus 23:15-22.
Then read the concluding prayer.
30 May 2020
Leviticus 16:1-19:8
(Remembering the Eilim station on the route of the Sons of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai).
Read Exodus 15:27 – 16:1-4.
At the end of the portion read Leviticus 23:15-22.
Then read the concluding prayer.
Friday Evening 5 June 2020
The Second Passover, for those who were impure on the first Passover.
The 26th day of counting the Omer
6 June 2020
Leviticus 19:9 – 22:33
(Remembering the Manna station in the Desert of Sen on the journey of the Sons of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai).
Please read Exodus 16:4-10.
At the end of the portion please read Leviticus 23:15-22.
Then read the concluding prayer.
13 June 2020
Leviticus 23:1-26:2
The Fifth Sabbath of The Seven Weeks of Counting The Omer
(Remembering the Rock in Ooreb (Chorev) station on the route of the Sons of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai).
Please read Exodus 17:1-7.
At the end of the portion read Deuteronomy 16:9-12.
Then read the concluding prayer.
20 June 2020
Leviticus 23:3-27:34
The Sixth Sabbath of The Seven Weeks of Counting the Omer
(Remembering the War with ‘Aamaalek station on the journey of the Sons of Israel from Egypt to Mount Sinai).
Read Exodus 17:8-16.
At the end of the portion read the passage in Deuteronomy 16:9-12.
Then read the concluding prayer.
Please note: on this Sabbath all females must wear a red dress in memory of the blood of the Israelites who were killed in the war with ‘Aamaalek.
Monday 22 June – Sunday 28 June 2020
The Seven Days of Shavuot (The Festival of Weeks)
The Samaritan sages of blessed memory determined that the status of Shavuot should not be diminished among the pilgrimage holidays. Just as the Festival of Unleavened Bread and the Harvest Festival (Sukkot) are holidays which last for seven days each, as written in the Torah, so they resolved that the festival which marks the climax of the fifty days of Counting of the Omer (seven weeks and one day), should also last for seven days. It lasts from the Monday of the week preceding it until the day of the festival, which would be the seventh day.
The opening day of the seven-day festival is called the Day of Assembly, to mark the day when the people of Israel, who preserve the Truth, gathered. On this day we make the second pilgrimage of the year. We devote this day to visiting the sites which mark the parameters of the future Garden of Eden, the boundaries of the chosen place, Mount Gerizim, Bet El, with song and prayers. Each person who makes this pilgrimage or sacrifices the Passover sacrifice there, has fulfilled the commandment, which states “…at the place where God has chosen to rest His name”.
Four Demarcations:
(a) The Everlasting Hill on Mount Gerizim.
(b) The Parcel of Land in Shechem which Jacob the Forefather bought.
(c) Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem.
(d) Kiryat Eburta (currently known as Awwarteh), the burial place of the High Priests Elazar and Itamar, the sons of Aaron the High Priest, Phinhas b. Elazar b. Avisha. This was also the burial place of the seventy elders and Samaritan High Priests.
On Tuesday of the festival week, the second of the seven days, the people are sanctified in preparation for the Day of the Revelation at Mount Sinai. In the evening, people gather in the synagogues for a special prayer service.
Tuesday 23 June 2020
Evening, Memorial Day of Sinai Assembly
Wednesday 24 June 2020
Memorial Day of Sinai Assembly
The 46th Day of Counting the Omer
On the third day of the seven festival days, from midnight to the following evening, we devote the prayers to remembrance of the Revelation at Mount Sinai. We sing a variety of hymns are sung and read the entire Torah.
It is permitted to work during the first five days of the festival week.
On Thursday and Friday, which are the fourth and fifth of the seven days, the Samaritans move to their homes at Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim to prepare for the pilgrimage.
27 June 2020
Special Sabbath of the Ten Commandments
On the sixth day, the Sabbath, we devote the prayers to a description of the giving of the Torah, hence the name ‘The Sabbath of the Commandments’. In the middle of the prayers we sing a hymn, composed in the 14th century and describing the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Share with your family the story of the giving of the Ten Commandments. Please read the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and specially the Tenth one that does not appear in the Jewish version, as follows:
(Please omit the words between brackets)
(The Seven Location Witnesses)
1. That mountain
2. On the other side of the Yaardaan (Jordan river)
3. Behind the way of the sunset
4. In the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Aaraabaah
5. Before the Galgaal
6. Beside the plain of Moorah
7. Before Ashkem
Sunday 28 June 2020
The Festival of Weeks (Shavuot), The Harvest Festival
Sunday brings Shavuot, the year’s second pilgrimage to the Holy Sites on Mount Gerizim. The prayers begin at 1:00 a.m., one hour after midnight, in the synagogue at Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim. At about 4:00 a.m. the congregation leaves the synagogue and makes the pilgrimage to the mountain top, while singing and praying. We move from station to station.
Stations of the Pilgrimage
(a) The first station is the Place of the Stones [The Twelve Stones, Deuteronomy 27:4. In the Samaritan version: Mount Gerizim].
(b) The second stop is the site of the Altar of Adam and his son Seth.
(c) The next stop is the site of the Everlasting Hill [The Everlasting Hill, Deuteronomy 33:15].
(d) The next is the site of God Will Provide [God Will Provide, Genesis 22:8], where Abraham saw the ram in the thicket when he was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
(e) The following stop is the site of the Altar of Isaac.
(f) The next station is the Altar of Noah.
(g) The next stop is the site of the Everlasting Hill. Formerly, two monuments of Jacob used to mark the place and this was the third station.
We devote the prayers to the Harvest Festival.
At the end, we enjoy a festive meal together.
Blessings,
Benyamim Tsedaka
Photography: ORI ORHOF