5785: The Rarest Year of Them All Part XVI
As detailed in previous installments in our series, our current year, 5785, is not only a rare one, but calendarically speaking, actually the hands-downrarest of them all.5785 is classified as aHaSh”A year in our calendars. This abbreviation is referring to Rosh Hashana falling out on Thursday (hei), both months of Cheshvan and Kislev being shalem (shin - 30 day months instead of possibly 29; these are the only months that can switch off in our set calendar), and Pesach falling out on Sunday (aleph).
A HaSh”A year is the rarest of years, and out of the 14 possibilitiesin Tur’s 247-year calendar cycle, this year type occurs on average only once in about 30.19 years (approximately 3.3 percent of the time). Indeed, at times there are 71 years (!) in between HaSh”A years. The last time this year type occurred was 31 years ago in 5754/1994. The next time will be 20 years hence in 5805/2044. The next several times after that are slated to be 27 years further, in 5832/2071 and then a 51 year gap in 5883/2122.
The reasons and rules governing the whys and whens this transpires are too complicated for this discussion; suffice to say that when the Mishnah Berurah discusses these issues he writes “ain kan makom l’ha’arich,” that thisis not the place to expound in detail, which is certainly good enough for this author.
Obviously, such a rare calendar year will contain many rare occurrences. This series has been detailing many of them over the course of the year. Let’s continue on our journey through our unique year.
No Parashas Vayeilech
As we near the close of rare calendar year, it is worth stating that although it may seem odd to readers, in 5785 Parashas Vayeilech will not be leined. No, this does not mean that we will skip reading the parashah entirely. It just means that Vayeilech will be next year’s Shabbos Shuva; hence by the time we get to its leining, it will already be the next year, 5786.
The reason for this is quite interesting. The Tur, when codifying the calendarical halacha, sets several necessary sign-posts in relation to parshiyos, time of year, and various Yomim Tovim. One of these is the dictum (seemingly a play on the words of a pasuk in the beginning of sefer Daniel): “Ba”G Hamelech Pas Vayeilech.” This is referring to when the Rosh Hashana (“Hamelech”– The King) enters on a Monday or Tuesday (Ba”G - ב"ג), then Vayeilech gets split up, or crumbled (“Pas Vayeilech”), and read separately. This maxim is letting us know the rule of when Nitzavim and Vayeilech will be read as a double-parashah or be read as separate stand-alone Parshiyos.
This adage goes hand-in-hand with another rule, “Kumu
V’Tik’u,” that Parashas
Nitzavim always has to be right before Rosh Hashana. As the Gemara in Megilla (31b) explains, this is due to Ezra HaSofer’s Takkana that the curses in Sefer Devarim (meaning Parashas Ki Savo), need to be read prior to Rosh Hashana in order that “Tichleh Shana U’Klaloseha, the year and its curses may end” [and indubitably, its addendum, “Tachel Shana U’Birchoseha, the New Year and its blessings be ushered in”], to rapidly come true.
Tosafos, and seconded by the Abudraham, and then Levush, explains why this is. Since Parashas Ki Savo contains tochachah (rebuke), there must be a noticeable “buffer week” [practically, Parashas Nitzavim] between its reading and Rosh Hashana.Therefore, Nitzavim must be the stand-alone “buffer week” before Rosh Hashana, in order to emphasize that we are getting Ki Savo and its tochacha in just before Rosh Hashana, to enable a misfortune-free New Year. These rules, or more accurately, necessary points of parasha alignment (or realignment) during the year, are accepted as the halacha by all later authorities.
So synchronizing these instructions, if Rosh Hashana falls out on a Monday or Tuesday, then Parashas Nitzavim will be the stand-alone parashah right before Rosh Hashana and Vayeilech gets pushed off a week to (next year’s) Shabbos Shuva. Yet, when Rosh Hashana falls out on a Thursday or Shabbos, then Nitzavim and Vayeilech are combined as the last Shabbos of the year.
As this year (5785) Rosh Hashana fell out on a Thursday, Nitzavim and Vayeilech were combined as the last Shabbos prior to Rosh Hashana. Yet, in the coming year, 5786, Rosh Hashana will fall out on Tuesday. Hence, Vayeilech will end up being 5786’s Shabbos Shuva, and will not get to be leined at all the whole 5785.
This actually occurs pretty often, as does the opposite – sometimes we get to lein
Parashas Vayeilech twice in a year – like will be done next year, in 5786 - once in the beginning of the year as the stand-alone Shabbos Shuva, and once again at the end of the year, as a double-parashah along with Parashas
Nitzavim.
Nonetheless, in this author’s mind, it is quite fascinating that this remarkable coincidence occurs in our exceptional year.
Our fascinating journey detailing the many remarkable facets of our rare year will IY”H be continued…
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch famously wrote that “the Jew’s catechism is his calendar.” It is this author’s wish that by showcasing the uniqueness of our calendar year and its rare minhagim, this article will help raise appreciation of them and our fascinating calendarical customs.
This author wishes to thank R’ Yosef Yehuda Weber, author of ‘Understanding the Jewish Calendar,’ for being a fount of calendarical knowledge and for his assistance with this series.
