>>I seem to remember that there is someone whether a rishon or someone like that, that holds that leining on yom tov is d'orayso as opposed to on Shabbos where it is certainly d'rabonon - are you familiar with this and can you steer me in that direction
Thank You
Moshe Deutsch Kew Gardens Hills - Queens - New York
As you say, Reb Moshe, I may only be steering you in the right direction, but not necessarily getting you all the way to the destination:
1) There is the opinion of the Bach (on the Tur, Orach Chayim 585) who cites the opinion of Tosfos that leining is only d'Rabanan. The Bach questions Tosfos from Bava Kama 82a which states that Moshe Rabeinu institutued that they should read the Torah. This suggests that leining is d'Oraisa on Shabbos and Yom Tov. However, this is not what you are looking for, Reb Moshe, since the Bach does not make a distinction between Shabbos and Yom Tov, and holds that it is all d'Oraisa.
2) However, I want to argue that the Ramban is the Shitah that you are looking for. The Ramban is on Vayikra 23:2, on the verse "Mikra'ei Kodesh." The Ramban writes that this means that the entire People of Yisrael are "called" together to assemble in the House of Hash-m on Yom Tov to sanctify the day publicly with Tefilah and Hallel. The Ramban does not write explicitly that they read from the Torah, but I want to argue that leining is included in Tefilah and praising of Hash-m. I believe I have a source for this from the Mishnah Berurah OC 106:4 who says that according to the Ramban the Mitzvah of Tefilah is d'Rabanan. Now one has to say that this Ramban is not referring to Tefilah on Yom Tov since he writes in Chumash that Tefilah on Yom Tov is d'Oraisa. If they had a d'Oraisa Tefilah on Yom Tov, then I argue that it is very logical to say that they also read from the Torah on Yom Tov and this was d'Oraisa.
Kol Tuv,
Dovid Bloom
I have since found that the chok yaakov in the first siman on hilchos pesach seems to say that.
1) I think I have found the Shitah of the Netziv! The Netziv of Volozhin says it in Meromei Sadeh, at the beginning of Megilah 30b. He explains why the Keri'as ha'Torah for Yom Tov is from the Parshah of the particular Yom Tov and not from the Parshiyos we read every Shabbos. He writes that this is because reading from the Torah on Shabbos is only mid'Rabanan, as the Gemara in Bava Kama 82a states, while reading the Torah on Yom Tov is different beacuse the verse states, "These are the festivals of Hash-m" (Vayikra 23:4), from which we learn that it is a Mitzvah to read the Yom Tov Parshah at the appropirate time, and this is mid'Oraisa.
2) After finding the Meromei Sadeh, I have now found, bs'd, the Da'as Zekenim of the Ba'alei ha'Tosfos on Bamidbar 28:9. He cites the verse, "These are the festivals of Hash-m, which you shall read them" (Vayikra 23:4). He writes that one cannot change the literal meaning of a verse, so this teaches us that on Yom Tov one has to read from the Torah. This is an obligation d'Oraisa, while on Shabbos there is no such verse. Therefore, Keri'as ha'Torah on Shabbos is mid'Rabanan.
3) I think we are now in a good position, bs'd, to provide a strong basis for the opinion that leining on Yom Tov is d'Oraisa, while on Shabbos it is d'Rabanan.
The source is the Da'as Zekenim from the Ba'alei ha'Tosfos who explains the verse, "These are the festivals of Hash-m, which you shall read them" (Vayikra 23:4). He writes that the simple meaning is that you "read" them, not that you "call" them. Therefore, it is a Mitzvah of the Torah to "read" about the festivals. "Reading" means reading from the Torah, Keri'as ha'Torah, and the topic that one reads about (in front of the community) is the festivals. It follows that reading from the Torah about the Yamim Tovim is a Mitzvah d'Oraisa on Yom Tov.
The Meromei Sadeh addresses the question: why is it that if Yom Tov falls on Shabbos, we interrupt the cycle of weekly Torah readings on Shabbos and instead read the Parshah relevant to the particular Yom Tov? The answer is that reading from the Torah on Yom Tov is d'Oraisa while reading on Shabbos is d'Rabanan, so Yom Tov takes precedence. The Meromei Sadeh indicates very briefly that the source for this is the same verse as that cited by the Da'as Zekenim, but he does not mention that the Da'as Zekenim already wrote this.
4) My personal suggestion is that apart from the Da'as Zekenim, there is another Rishon who says this -- namely the Ramban, who writes that "Mikra Kodesh" means that on Yom Tov the entire people are "called" to commumal Tefilah and Hallel. He does not mention Keri'as ha'Torah explicitly, but my argument is that it would be strange if there was not also a reading from the Torah on this public assembly, so it follows that when the Ramban writes "Tefilah" this includes Keri'as ha'Torah.
Dovid Bloom