Chok l'Yisrael ({{langx, he, חֹק לישראל) is a compendium of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

texts designed for daily or weekly study.

Structure

The work is usually published in book form in five volumes, corresponding to the five books of the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

. It is divided into 54 sections representing the 54 weekly Torah readings, and each section is in turn divided according to the days of the week. Each daily section from Sunday to Thursday morning contains: * a set number of verses from the Torah reading for the week, together with its

Targum A targum (, ''interpretation'', ''translation'', ''version''; plural: targumim) was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ) that a professional translator ( ''mǝṯurgǝmān'') would give in the common language o ...

and the commentary of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

; * the same number of verses from

Nevi'im The (; ) is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the () and (). The Nevi'im are divided into two groups. The Former Prophets ( ) consists of the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings ...

(the prophetical books) and

Ketuvim The (; ) is the third and final section of the Hebrew Bible, after the ("instruction") and the "Prophets". In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually titled "Writings" or "Hagiographa". In the Ketuvim, 1–2 Books ...

(the Hagiographa), also with Targum and commentary; * one chapter from the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

; * a short extract from the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, often but not always relating to the same ''massekhet'' as the Mishnah chapter; * a passage from the

Zohar The ''Zohar'' (, ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material o ...

for that week's Torah portion; * extracts from books of Jewish law (

halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...

) and morality ( musar). The section for the night of Thursday to Friday contains another 26 verses from the Torah portion for the week but no other passages. The section for Friday morning as printed consists of the remainder of the Torah portion for the week, though the reader is supposed to read the entire portion in accordance with the principle of

Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum ''Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum'' (), is the Jewish practice of reading the weekly Torah portion in a prescribed manner. In addition to hearing the Torah portion read in the synagogue, a person should read it himself twice during that week, togeth ...

(each verse twice in Hebrew and once in Aramaic translation). After this the reader is instructed to recite the whole

haftarah The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Pr ...

for the week: Earlier editions simply contain an instruction to read the haftarah but do not set it out. More recent editions contain the haftarah in full, according to both the Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions. there is no passage from Ketuvim. There is then a chapter from the Mishnah and extracts from the Talmud, the Zohar and books of law and morality as on the other days. The end of each volume contains readings to be used on Shabbat.

Origin

The work is based on the rules of study laid down in the ''Peri Etz Chaim'' of

Hayyim ben Joseph Vital Hayyim ben Joseph Vital (; Safed, October 23, 1542 (Julian calendar) / October 11, 1542 (Gregorian Calendar) – Damascus, 23 April 1620) was a rabbi in Safed and the foremost disciple of Isaac Luria. He recorded much of his master's teachi ...

, in the ''Sha'ar Hanhagat Limmud'' (chapter on study habits). In this he recommends that, in addition to studying the Torah portion for the forthcoming

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

each week, one should study daily excerpts from the other works mentioned, and lays down a formula for the number of verses or the topic to be studied each day depending on the day of the week. The compendium was first issued in book form by Rabbi Yitzchak Baruch. Rabbi

Chaim Joseph David Azulai Haim Yosef David Azulai ben Yitzhak Zerachia (; 1724 – 1 March 1806), commonly known as the Hida (also spelled Chida, the acronym of his name, ), was a Jerusalem born rabbi, rabbinical scholar, a noted bibliophile, and a pioneer in the publica ...

added the extracts from books of law and morality and brought the collection to its present form.

Use

The work is often used by busy working people who do not have time for in-depth Talmud study, particularly in

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

and

Mizrahi Jews Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...

. The approved method is to read the section for the day immediately after morning prayers, while still wearing

tallit A tallit, taleth, or tallis is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl by religious Jews. The tallit has special twined and knotted fringe (trim), fringes known as ''tzitzit'' attached to its four corners. The cloth part is known as the ''beged ...

and

tefillin Tefillin (Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ; Modern Israeli Hebrew, Modern Hebrew pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls o ...

. Hayyim Vital, in his ''Sha'ar Ha-mitsvot'', parashat Va-etchanan, states "And this was the custom of my teacher (meaning

Isaac Luria Isaac ben Solomon Ashkenazi Luria (; #FINE_2003, Fine 2003, p24/ref>July 25, 1572), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as Ha'ari, Ha'ari Hakadosh or Arizal, was a leading rabbi and Jewish mysticism, Jewish mystic in the community of Saf ...

): after coming out of synagogue and eating his breakfast, he would wrap himself in tsitsit and put on tefillin, and afterwards read the readings as set out below, with the preliminary meditations set out below."

Editions and translations

* Hok L'Yisrael Edmond J. Safra Edition, Hebrew and English abbi Yoseph Milstein + Various editors.10 volumes published by Machon Yisrael Trust, available online at eChok.com. * The older Berkowitz softcover edition is available on amazon.com

External links

Hebrew/English Chok L'Yisrael siteVolume 1 - GenesisVolume 2 - ExodusVolume 3 - LeviticusVolume 4 - NumbersVolume 5 - Deuteronomy
(all from 1880 Brody edition)

Endnotes

Jewish prayer and ritual texts Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings

Structure

Origin

Use

Editions and translations

See also

External links

Endnotes