הסדרה בהלכה - בראשית כה - איך קוראים את מעשה ראובן ובלהה?

The Tosefta also states: And these sections are read but are not translated. The acrostic composed of the letters reish, ayin, bet, dalet, nun is a mnemonic for the sections included in this category, as the Gemara will explain. The Tosefta states that the incident of Reuben is read but not translated. The name Reuben begins with a reish, the first letter of the mnemonic. And there was an incident involving Rabbi Ḥanina ben Gamliel, who went to the village of Kavul, and the sexton of the synagogue was reading: “And it came to pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine; and Israel heard of it” (Genesis 35:22). Rabbi Ḥanina said to the translator: Stop, translate only the end of the verse. And the Sages praised him for this.

There are [scriptural passages] that are [publicly] read and translated [orally into Aramaic during the public reading], [others] that are read but are not translated, [and others] that are neither read nor translated. The account of creation (Gen. 1), we read and translate. The account of Lot and his two daughters (Gen. 19) is read and translated. The account of Judah and Tamar (Gen. 38) is read and translated. The first account of the [Golden] Calf is read and translated. The curses that are in the Torah are read and translated, but we may not permit one [reader] to start and another [reader] to finish; rather, the one who starts is the one who finishes. The warnings and punishments that are in the Torah are read and translated. The account of Amnon and and Tamar (2 Sam. 13) is read and translated. The account of Absalom and his father's concubines (2 Sam. 15:16-16:22) is read and translated. The account of the concubine of Gibeah (Judges 19-21) is read and translated. [The passage commencing with] "Proclaim to Jerusalem [her abominations (to'avoteha)]" (Ezek. 16:2) is read and translated. And it so happened that someone was reading before Rabbi Eliezer "Proclaim to Jerusalem [etc.]," and he translated it. [Rabbi Eliezer] said to him, "Go and proclaim the abominations (to'avoteha) of your mother!" The Divine Chariot (Ezek. 1), we read it to the masses. The incident of Reuben [and Bilhah] is read but not translated. And it so happened with Rabbi Chananiah ben Gamaliel that he was reading in Akko, "And Reuben went and he lay with Bilhah, etc., and the sons of Jacob were twelve" (Gen. 35:22), and he told the translator, do not translate this except for the end. The second account of the [Golden] Calf, from "And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people do to you?" until "And Moses saw that the people had become unrestrained" (Ex. 32:21-25), and also what is written after, "And God plagued the people, etc." (Ex. 32:35): from this, said Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar, a person should not recount a disgraceful event, is it was due to Aaron's recounting to Moses that the apostates rebelled. The account of David and Bathsheba is neither read nor translated. But the [Bible] teacher teaches [these passages] in his usual way.

Similarly, Rav Yosef raises a dilemma: Does the midpoint of the verses in the Torah, which is “then he shall be shaven,” belong to this side or to this side? Abaye said to him: Even if we cannot count the letters, we can at least bring a Torah scroll to count the verses. Rav Yosef explained: We are not experts about verses either, as when Rav Aḥa bar Adda came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he said: In the West, i.e., Eretz Yisrael, they divide this following verse into three separate verses: “And the Lord said to Moses, behold I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever; And Moses told the words of the people to the Lord” (Exodus 19:9). Perhaps there are other verses that we do not know how to divide properly.