An Explanation of the Seddarim Torah

Evidence of Seddarim.

    The B'sora (Gospel) bears evidence of Triennial Seddarim use when Yeshua initiated his ministry by entering his local Shul (Synagogue) in Nazareth. Luke 4:16 explains that he was handed a Scroll to read, and it was open to Isaiah 61. That particular section is not in the Annual Parshoth system, but it was commonly read as Hafta'ra (an associated Torah lesson) in the second year of our Triennial Seddarim, which is our Sidra T'rumah #64. Sidra T'rumah occurs near our Festival of Shavuoth (Pentecost) by our scheme of Seddarim, but as chronicled in the Hammo'ed (our combined Gospel), this event with Yeshua is simply portrayed as occurring somewhere between Pesach and Sukkoth (Tabernacles)... and by it, Yeshua is announcing the year of Yo'vel (Jubilee). This would also mean that Yeshua had been immersed by Yocha'non at the previous Sukkoth, and that would have been the start of the year of Sh'mitta (Sabbatical Rest), which always precedes the Yo'vel/Jubilee of the fiftieth year.

    But the Yo'vel was supposed to be announced at Yom Kippu'rim (Day of Atonement), which is among the cluster of Fall Festivals that were corporately called Sukkoth (Tabernacles) in Yeshua's day. And in contrast, the cluster of Spring Festivals were corporately referred to as Pesach. Now since it was the practice by Seddarim to read this passage every three years, and not every fiftieth year (specifically for the Yo'vel/Jubilee), they wouldn't want it to be read at a Sukkoth... which could cause someone to mistakenly think it was Yo'vel.

    This dramatizes the impact that Yeshua had upon everyone in the Shul (Synagogue) when Yeshua said (Luke 4:21), "Today, this Scripture is established with your hearing," and effectively had said, "Now is the time for this Yo'vel." To see all of this more clearly, you may download the "Hammo'ed, The Appointed Time" from the Library page of this Website. The narration of these events are found in Sessions 8 and 9, which start on page 23 in the English Only version. By this chronology, it should become evident that a great deal of time would have passed between his reading of Isaiah 61 and the next event of Sukkoth... when the Yo'vel should be announced, but Yeshua was only saying that it was time.

Rabbinic View of the Sh'mitta and Yo'vel.

    This leads to the question, "Were they unaware of when the Yo'vel should be?" There is a strong possibility that they actually did not know. Originally, from when Yeho'shua (Joshua) entered the land at Jericho, they had not started their counting of years until they had fully occupied all the land. This was after fourteen years of warfare. And perhaps we should ask if the Sh'mitta/Yo'vel should be counted from when they entered, or after they had occupied? I am pretty sure that they were acting properly by waiting until their conquest was finished. The reason I believe this is because Yisra'el was exiled into Babylon because they had not observed seventy years worth of Sh'mitta and Yo'vel. That occurred at nearly 900 years later, and if they had their start wrong, the 70 years should have been nearly twice as much. But when Yisra'el returned from Babylon, they were completely unfamiliar with any of the Sabbaths and Festivals, and in fact, they were speaking Aramaic instead of Hebrew... and knew very little about the Torah.

    Added to this, the Rabbinic view of the Sh'mitta was that its observance was conditional upon having full possession of the Land. This is why they had not started any counting until Yeho'shua had completed his conquest of the Land. Similarly, they had probably suspended counting again during the years when the Philistines had dominance over them. And still again when Yisra'el was divided in civil wars during the Age of Kings. But these suspensions might well be where the 70 years had come from that constituted their exile from the Land... that it could have its Sabbaticals.

    By Yeshua's day, there had already been nearly 200 additional years of dispossession by the Greeks and Romans. And once more, the counting of years may well have been suspended during those years. Consequently, it was the Rabbinic opinion of that time that the Sh'mitta/Yo'vel commandments were the least important of all the commandments by Torah. This conclusion is due to the conditional right of possession that they viewed was controlling it. And the reading of Isaiah 61 at a time near Shavuoth/Pentecost, was simply an object lesson for that particular Shabboth Torah reading... and not a call to observance.

    But Yeshua's assertion that, "Now is the time for the Yo'vel", was a reckoning by Hashem's counting, and not by the Rabbonim. And letting them know at Shavuoth instead of Sukkoth, was simply to take advantage of their Sidra T'rumah... and perhaps, to give them time to accept an event that would soon transpire after the coming Sukkoth of that year. Then after that Yo'vel, Yeshua would die and resurrect at the succeeding Pesach (the start of the next year). Therefore, due to the Sh'mitta and Yo'vel years, there shouldn't have been any plantings throughout Yeshua's ministry (although they may have, due to not recognizing the years). And the first plantings would have begun at the next Shavuoth -- when the Ru'ach Haqo'desh (Holy Spirit) was poured out, for Ha'shem was planting gifts of righteousness among men.

When Should the Seddarim Begin?

    So scheduling our Seddarim cycles for Sidra T'rumah to coincide with the proximity of Shavuoth, seems to be a reasonable notion by my opinion. Nevertheless, it is also true that in Yeshua's day most of the communities were starting their Seddarim cycles with Sukkoth, just as the modern Parshoth do today, but there were a few communities that had employed the Pesach for their cyclic start. Yet after considering all these factors, we have decided to follow that minority voice, and have started with the Pesach season. Doing so, we have discovered some additional reasons, which I will explain with the following.

    Our selected Seddarim format may not be exact, either by Sidra segmentation or by cyclic start, since the records of the ancient schemes are somewhat obscured. But we nevertheless have confidence that we are nearly following the ancient manner that Yeshua and Yisra'el (Israel) would have been following. We know that they had read the Torah in three year cycles, and we know they divided its portions into thematic sections. Reflecting on this, we might draw significance to the fact that Yeshua had ministered for nearly three years (two and half) before his death at Pesach (Passover). In fact his ministry had actually begun with a Pesach (though that start was by the preaching of Yocha'non the Immerser, and not the immersion of Yeshua), and it ended with a Pesach (though you might assume that it was complete with the following Shavuoth/Pentecost when the Ru'ach/Spirit was released to the Talmi'dim/Disciples)... therefore we have chosen that our Sedarim cycle from a Pesach as well.

What are its Spiritual Connections?

    Since Pesach is counted from the first day of Nisan, we also begin with the first Shabboth (Sabbath) of Nisan. And on the first Pesach of Sedarim, Qa'yin (Cain) and He'vel (Abel) offer their gifts to Ha'shem. This is also when Yocha'non the Immerser (John the Baptist) began to cry out in the wilderness (at Pesach), and he did so like the blood of He'vel had cried out from the soil. This Yocha'non had preceded the Moshiach, and Yeshua’s ministry was initiated by his preaching, for he proclaimed that the Moshiach was among us. Later that year, Yeshua would come to Yocha'non at Sukkoth (Tabernacles), and Yocha'non immersed Yeshua in the Yarden (Jordon River). With that immersion, Ha'shem also anointed Yeshua with power by the Ru'ach Haqo'desh (Holy Spirit).

    Every Pesach we have the blood of He'vel (Abel) crying out for justice. Every Pesach we have the spirit of Eliya'hu (Elijah) crying out for repentance. And today we have the soul of Yeshua entreating us, "All of you who are weary, come to me... you will discover your rest." Moreover, it is that last Pesach of Yeshua that would finally satisfy the outcry of He'vel and Eliya'hu, for Yeshua would become their outcry before Ha'shem (the Holy One), and Yeshua's merit brings both them and us complete peace -- may this shalom come to Yerushala'im in our current days.

    In our second Pesach, Moshe (Moses) and Yisrael will have just escaped from Egypt. Man'hu (manna) will be falling from heaven and setting like dew before them every morning. And Ama'lekh, who wanted to crush them like Qa'yin had struck He'vel, will be defeated.

    With our third Pesach, Yisrael will have finished their Pesach at Mount Sinai. The cloud will lift from that mountain, and they will start their wilderness journeys.

    Our own journey through the Sedarim of Torah, will likewise meet all the Festivals (Mo'edim) of Yisrael. And they will also meet the stories in the B'sorah (Gospel), as they are demonstrated in the Hammo'ed chronicle. Then, as we finish the Sedarim of Torah cycle, we will be at the Pesach of Yeho'shua as he and Yisrael enter the Promised Land. And we will be ready once more to turn back and greet A'dom, Cha'wah, He'vel and Qa'yin at our own Pesach. This is the holy Sedarim, and with them we will meet our seasons with Ha'shem (the Holy One).

What are its Practical Benefits?

    But aside from this spiritual identity, the Triennial Sedarim offer other advantages as well. The first is that it reduces the volume of material that is studied each week. The second is that what is studied usually contains only one story lesson, and at the most only two. The third is that the first and second benefits allow you to examine the Torah with more focus and attention. Then the fourth benefit is that (when they are initiated with the first of Nisan) the Sedarim will thematically link (by a proximity of a few weeks) with each of the Biblical Festivals as they occur year by year.

    Since the Triennial method was abandoned long ago, it is difficult to discover everything about it. But from our scant records we can assimilate a general format, and also understand that there were minor differences in practice in various villages and regions. Some divided the Torah into 141 segments, others into 154, and others into 167 and even 175. Consequently, we have elected to divide them into 156 segments so they will neatly fit into 52 weeks for three years.

    Doing so we have endeavored to keep their object lessons intact within each segment. But in order to balance the volume of material for each Shabboth, we have combined certain short lessons and broken out some of the long sessions. To facilitate these divisions we have given respect to the Pathu'chim and Setu'mim (gaps and holes) that are embedded in the written format of the Torah Scroll. These gaps and holes are also referenced in many Torah Books by the isolated letters of Peh and Samekh at the end of a verse or phrase. These gaps and holes had signified the starts of Sidra (Shabboth portions) and the seven divisions of a Sidra for Shabboth liturgy (the Ali'oth). But by observing these ancient markers, and desiring to balance the volume of material each Shabboth, we are forced to deviate from the Annual Parsha breaks in certain places. Therefore the Parsha starts and stops of the annual system do not always coincide with our Triennial Sidra.

What About the Hafta'ra?

    When I began to investigate the Triennial Sedarim, I discovered that neither the Sidra nor their Hafta'ra were ever standardized with a rigid format, and their liturgical selections would vary among the villages of Yisrael. Most of my information concerning this had come from the book published as Mikra, by Mulder-Sysling, ISBN 1-56563-255-9. It is a composition of articles for lecture purposes, and it deals with many textual issues involving ancient liturgy and textual transmission. In it are listed the most prominent Sidra and Hafta'ra portions, but I refer to the ancient Hafta'ra as Qeri'ath in order to differentiate it from the Haftara of modern Parsha. I have named them Qeri'ath because the word means, "what was read." And in my own composition of Mi'qra Sidra, I have attempted to select from among those ancient Haftara readings the Qeri'ath that seemed most suitable to the Sidra as I have built it.

    And this is where my personality enters the foundational scheme itself... as I considered the change from Parsha to Sidra, I realized that my primary motivation was to reduce the amount of material that is studied each week. I wanted the entire Sidra package to be read in a regular service without taxing everyone's patience. Therefore, since the villages of Yisrael had liberty for differences in Sidra assembly and Qeri'ath selections, I decided to balance the bulk of the material that would be studied each Shabboth. So I laid out the entire Torah, and divided it into 156 equal portions for 52 weeks in three years. Then I looked at out how those portions fit to the start and stop of story objectives. Afterward I looked for the Pethu'chah and Setu'mah markings for the final decision on where they would divide. The result is that some Sidra are larger than others, but they are mostly balanced for the course of the three years.

What about the Cha'dasha?

    Afterward I built the Da'ath, which was Cha'dasha readings that usually related to either the Sidra or Qeri'ath. But at times there was no connection, and when that occurred I extended the previous Shabboth lesson, or inserted a passage that was preparatory for the next Shabboth, or I started a series that simply taught something important -- as a stand-alone lesson package that would extend for a few weeks. And, in rare instances, the Da'ath will relate to the larger Haftara of Parsha instead of the Sidra or Qeri'ath. Lastly I composed the Iga'rath as a series from the Judaic Epistles, which are repeated each year through the three years. But throughout this process I have sought to not project a doctrinal agenda. This is simply an honest effort to explore the broad scope of Mi'qra (Scripture) as it links with the Torah, and to beautify its study with pageantry.

    So we chant an Ali'ah of Sidra, read it again in English, and do so for all seven Ali'oth. Then we also present an oral overview of the Sidra. In addition, we also quote a progressive Haftara segment (called Qeri'ath to distinguish it from the Parsha Haftara), and we read annually through the Cha'dasha Iga'rath (Epistles) of Hebrews, 1-Peter and James. Then, as well, from the 52 Sessions of the Hammo'ed (Combined Gospels), and also from the Da'ath (which is a Cha'dasha passage that relates to the particular Sidra or Qeri'ath). And when Festivals and special events occur on a Shabboth, we prefer to have an additional Evening service in its honor.

Rick Wills - Wellsprings of Torah
www.TorahWellsprings.org  and  Parsha Page