Passover Preparation

(1) We learn the halakhot of Pesach for 30 days before Pesach. Rem"a: And it is customary to buy wheat to give to the poor for Pesach. And whoever is residing in the city for twelve months must give for this (Or Zarua).

(4) When the new moon of Adar happens on a Sabbath, the section Shekalim (Exod. 30:11), is to be read; if it happen on any other day, that section must he read on the preceding Sabbath, and nothing additional is read on the following Sabbath. On the second, the section ‏of Zachor (Deut. 15:14), is to be read; on the third, that of the red heifer, ‏ Parah (Num. 19); on the fourth, that of ‏Hachodesh (Exod. 17); on the fifth, they return again to the regular order. The regular order [of parashot] is also interrupted on Rosh Chodesh, on Chanukah, on Purim, on fasts, and on Yom Kippur.

Alternatively, this verse serves to allude to the sections of the Torah discussed in that statement of Rabbi Levi, as Rabbi Levi says: Eight sections were said on the day that the Tabernacle was erected, on the first of Nisan. They are: The section of the priests (Leviticus 21:1–22:26); the section of the Levites (Numbers 8:5–26); the section of the impure (Leviticus 13:1– 14:57); the section of the sending away of the impure (Numbers 5:1–4); the section beginning with the words “After the death” (Leviticus, chapter 16);

the section dealing with priests who have become intoxicated with wine (Leviticus 10:8–11); the section of the lamps (Numbers 8:1–7); and the section of the red heifer (Numbers, chapter 19), as all of these sections are necessary for service in the Tabernacle.