763 | The Readings on a Great Rabbi’s Death what was told to you that when Maimonides zt”l died, the congregation gathered in the synagogue and read the ‘blessings and curses’ ( in Leviticus chapter 26 ) , and they read the haftara : ‘Moses my servant has died’ ( Joshua : 2 ) . And so too I heard from my father, my teacher zt”l, who wrote in Hilkhot Evel that he heard that when Rav Sherira Gaon, the father of Rav Hai Gaon died, on that same Shabbat they read the chapter in Numbers 27 : 6 : ‘Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh [ set a man over the congregation ] ,’ and the haftarah was from Kings 2 : : ‘Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die – ’ And in place of the verse ( 2 ibid . ) : ‘Then sat Solomon upon the throne of David his father…’ they declaimed, ‘Then sat Hai on the throne of Sherira his father, and his kingdom was established greatly’, ] i . e . the continuation of the original verse [ . ” See, however, B . M . Levin, R . Sherira Gaon ( Mi - Tekufat...
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