Introduction
Every Shabbat morning, a different portion of the Torah is read aloud from a Torah scroll in the synagogue. In addition to the public reading of the Torah, there is a special mitzvah for every man to read the week’s Torah portion on his own before Shabbat, along with the Aramaic translation of Onkelos, which appears alongside the text of the Torah in every printed Chumash.
This individual reading of the Torah portion is called in Hebrew shnayim mikra v’echad targum, which literally means “two readings and one translation.” This name embodies the proper procedure for this reading: One should read each verse twice in the actual text of the Torah itself, followed by one reading of the Aramaic translation of that verse.
Who Was Onkelos?
Onkelos was the most famous convert to Judaism in the history of the Jewish people. He lived about 2000 years ago, during the era of the Mishnah, and was the nephew of Emperor Hadrian of the Roman Empire.
Onkelos was an educated man who was intimately acquainted with the science and philosophy of Rome and Greece. He was blessed not only with a sharp intellect, but also with a refined personality and an extremely sensitive soul. After extensive consideration and investigation, and after he had thoroughly perused and analyzed a copious quantity of Jewish writings, Onkelos came to recognize G-d. He began to worship G-d secretly, in private, and after a number of years he underwent an official conversion and became a full- fledged Jew.
Onkelos studied under Rabbi Akiva, the greatest of the Tannaim (Mishnaic Sages) of that era. His magnum opus was his translation of the Torah into Aramaic, the language that was spoken by the general populace at the time. Onkelos’s translation made the study and comprehension of the Torah much easier than it had been. The new translation was accepted in Jewish communities all over the world and became an integral part of every printed Chumash. Even today, it is printed alongside the text of the Torah in every edition of the Chumash.
We review the week’s Torah portion every Friday in order to prepare ourselves to hear the Torah reading in the synagogue the following day. The three recitations of each verse (two in Hebrew and one in Aramaic) also symbolize the fact that the Torah was given to the Jewish people three times: once on Mount Sinai, once in the Tent of Meeting (in Hebrew), and once in the plains of Moav (in Aramaic).
An Illustration
In order to illustrate the proper procedure for reviewing the weekly Torah portion, let us demonstrate how to recite the “shnayim mikra v’echad targum” of the first verse in the Torah.
- First, recite the verse in its entirety: “Bereishit bara Elokim et hashamayim v’et ha’aretz.”
- Now recite the verse again.
- Now read Onkelos’s translation of the verse: “B’kadmin bara Hashem yat shemaya v’yat ar’a.”
This procedure is repeated with every subsequent verse in the week’s Torah portion. Each verse is recited twice, followed by one recitation of Onkelos’s translation of that verse.
- It is preferable to review the Torah portion in its entirety on Friday. If a person sees, however, that he is unable to finish the entire Torah portion before Shabbat, he can finish the procedure on Friday night or even the next day, on the morning of Shabbat. It is preferable to finish this reading of the Torah portion before Kiddush on the morning of Shabbat.
- After reading the entire Torah portion, one should also read the Haftarah of that week. (The Haftarah is an excerpt from the Prophets that is read at the conclusion of the Torah reading in the synagogue.) The Haftarah is generally printed in every Chumash following the Torah portion with which it is associated. The Haftarah should be read only once.
Reading the weekly Torah portion in accordance with the procedure outlined above is a mitzvah of very great importance. Our Sages teach us that a person who is careful to review the Torah portion in this way every week will be rewarded with a long life.
