Is Shenayim Mikra dependent on there being a public Torah-reading?

Question

The Talmud (Berachot 8a) states:

אמר רב הונא בר יהודה אמר רבי אמי לעולם ישלים אדם פרשיותיו עם הצבור שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום ואפילו ואפילו עטרות ודיבון שכל המשלים פרשיותיו עם הצבור מאריכין לו ימיו ושנותיו רב ביבי בר אביי סבר לאשלומינהו לפרשייתא דכולא שתא במעלי יומא דכפורי תנא ליה חייא בר רב מדפתי כתיב ועניתם את נפשתיכם בתשעה לחדש בערב וכי בתשעה מתענין והלא בעשרה מתענין אלא לומר לך כל האוכל ושותה בתשיעי מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו מתענה תשיעי ועשירי סבר לאקדומינהו אמר ליה ההוא סבא תנינא ובלבד שלא יקדים ושלא יאחר כדאמר להו ר' יהושע בן לוי לבניה אשלימו פרשיותייכו עם הצבור שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום

R. Huna b. Judah says in the name of R. Ammi: A man should always complete his Parashoth together with the congregation, [reading] twice the Hebrew text and once the [Aramaic] Targum, and even [such verses as] Ataroth and Dibon, for if one completes his Parashoth together with the congregation, his days and years are prolonged. R. Bibi b. Abaye wanted to finish all the Parashoth of the whole year on the eve of the Day of Atonement. But Hiyya b. Rab of Difti recited to him [the following Baraitha]: It is written: And ye shall afflict your souls, in the ninth day of the month at even. Now, do we fast on the ninth? Why, we fast on the tenth! But this teaches you that if one eats and drinks on the ninth, Scripture accounts it to him as if he fasted on the ninth and tenth. Thereupon he wanted to finish them in advance. But a certain Elder recited to him a Baraitha teaching: However, he should not read them in advance of nor later [than the congregation]. Even so did R. Joshua b. Levi say to his children: Complete your Parashoth together with the congregation, twice the Hebrew text and once Targum;

(Soncino translation)

The Talmud here seems to link the practice of shenayim mikra to the communal Torah-reading. So what happens if there is no communal Torah-reading? Does shenayim mikra get suspended? Does it continue as usual with whatever would have been read in the congregation had there been a public reading? Does it depend on how long the public reading is suspended for? Or whether the public reading will be made up once communal services resume?

Does it make a difference if public reading is suspended throughout the entire world, or if it is just suspended in a particular locale? Has something like this been documented in rabbinic literature as having ever occurred (prior to March 2020 when many synagogues closed for several weeks due to a Coronavirus outbreak)?

Answer 1

Rabbi Herschel Schachter explains that in the current circumstances one must still do shnayim mikra.

Others have raised the suggestion that since presently we are not attending minyanim and not hearing Keriyas HaTorah, we should also not be obligated to perform the weekly mitzvah of shnayim mikrah ve’echad targum (to read the parsha twice with one commentary). The language of the Gemara Berachos (8a) is that shnayim mikrah must be done “together with the community”, and today there is no local community reading Keriyas HaTorah in shul. This is incorrect, and in fact just the opposite is true. The opinion of the Ra’avan is that the requirement of shnayim mikrah was specifically formulated for those who are alone and can not attend shul to hear Keriyas HaTorah. While the accepted opinion is not like the Ra’avan, and even those who attended shul and heard Keriyas HaTorah must still perform shnayim mikrah, all would agree with the Ra’avan that the obligation of shnayim mikrah should still continue to apply even when the local shuls are closed.

Rav Heinemann of Baltimore points out that even when, as now, no one can be in shul, one should read from the chumash as a zecher to the reading, including the haftarah.

One is not יוצא when he lains from a חומש. However, there is an ענין to have a זכר of laining and read from a חומש. This applies to the הפטרה as well. It does not hurt to read פרשת החדש as well. We find that they lained הפטרה when they could not lain from the תורה.