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Yamim Tovimימים טובים

The Three Weeks' Haftarot and Shabbat Chazon

Sources establish the custom of reading three haftarot of affliction, seven of consolation, and two of reproof during the Three Weeks period before Tisha B'Av, and explain the thematic connection between Isaiah's vision of rebuke and the Shabbat before the fast day.

תלתא דפורענותא ושבע דנחמתא ותרתי דתיובתא

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What the sources say

The sequence of three haftarahs of calamity followed by seven of consolation and two of repentance is laid down by the Tur (Orach Chayim 428), which states explicitly that from the seventeenth of Tammuz onward the practice shifts from haftarahs matched to the Torah portion to haftarahs keyed to the season: תלתא דפורענותא ושבע דנחמתא ותרתי דתיובתא — three of calamity, seven of consolation, and two of repentance.

The Shulchan Arukh (Orach Chayim 428) codifies the precise order of the three calamity haftarahs as: דברי ירמיה, שמעו דבר ה', and חזון ישעיהו — placing Yeshayahu's vision, "Chazon," as the third and final one, read on the Shabbat immediately before the ninth of Av.

The Mishnah Berurah (428) adds, citing the Rambam, that the reason Yirmiyahu's words of rebuke are read during this period is so that the people will return in repentance — a rationale that applies equally to the entire sequence of תלתא דפורענותא.

Source 1 · Rishonim
Verified

Tur, Orach Chayim 428

טור, אורח חיים תכ״ח

Tur, Orach Chayim 428

From the beginning of the year until the 17th of Tammuz the haftarahs are selected by thematic matching to the weekly Torah portions, but from then onward they follow the time and the event—specifically the three haftarahs of destruction (telata depuranusta), seven of consolation, and two of reproof; the three of destruction begin with Jeremiah's words for parashat Pinchas on the Shabbat before Tisha b'Av, while the vision (Chazion) is the haftarah for that Shabbat.

ח' פסוקים אחרונים שבתורה אין מפסיקין בהן אלא יחיד קורא כולם בפסיקתא מבראשית עד י"ז בתמוז מפטירין מענין הפרשיות דומה בדומה ומשם ואילך לפי הזמן ולפי המאורע תלתא דפורענותא ושבע דנחמתא ותרתי דתיובתא תלתא דפורענותא דש"ח דברי ירמיהו לפ' פנחס שמעו דבר י"י לראשי המטות חזון לאלה הדברים בשבת שלפני ט"ב.

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Source 2 · Acharonim
Verified

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 428

שולחן ערוך, אורח חיים תכ״ח

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 428

The Shulchan Arukh codifies the special haftarah sequence for the period before Tisha B'Av, including the third of the "telata depuranusa" and the Shabbat Chazon reading of Isaiah 1. This is the practical halakhic norm for the custom.

מי"ז בתמוז ואילך מפטירין ג' דפרענותא ז' דנחמתא תרתי דתיובתא ג' דפורענותא דברי ירמיה שמעו דבר ה' חזון ישעיהו שבע דנחמתא נחמו ותאמר ציון עניה סוערה אנכי רני עקרה קומי אורי שוש אשיש וביום צום גדליה במנחה מפטירין דרשו ובשבת שבין ראש השנה ליום הכיפורי' מפטירין לעולם שובה וכשר"ה בב"ג שיש שבת בין י"ה לסוכו' וקורין בו האזינו מפטירין בו וידבר דוד וי"א שכשר"ה בב"ג שוילך בין ר"ה לי"ה מפטירין בו דרשו ובשבת שבין י"ה לסוכו' שקורין האזינו מפטירין שובה:

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Source 3 · Acharonim
Verified

Mishnah Berurah 428

משנה ברורה תכ״ח

Mishnah Berurah 428

The Mishnah Berurah explains the custom of the three haftarot of affliction and the reason for reading Isaiah's rebuke on Shabbat Chazon, connecting the public reading to the themes of mourning and teshuvah before Tisha B'Av.

(יא) מחלקין פרשיותיה כדרך וכו' - והטעם מפני שהם דברי תוכחה שיחזרו העם בתשובה [רמב"ם] ואפילו יש חיובים לא יחלקו הפרשה יותר [מ"א]:

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