Q&A: The Halakhic Status of Reading the Weekly Portion Twice and the Translation Once, and the Status of Secular Jews
Originally published:
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The Halakhic Status of Reading the Weekly Portion Twice and the Translation Once, and the Status of Secular Jews
Question
What is its status? A custom or a rabbinic commandment?
What is the halakhic status of secular Jews? Like a child taken captive, or something else? Is there any practical difference regarding telling a secular Jew to do something on the Sabbath, or other such matters?
Answer
It is generally accepted that this is a rabbinic law. That is how the halakhic decisors understood it, although from the wording in the Talmud (Berakhot 8) one could understand that it is merely a proper practice.
See my article on causing a secular Jew to stumble into a transgression, here on the site.