Torah reading

Did You Know?

• The Torah is read during Mincha on Shabbat and at Shaharit on Mondays and Thursdays, as well as on fast days and Yom Kippur.
• When read in the morning, Torah reading follows Tachanun or Hallel and precedes Hatzi Kaddish.

Origins and history of the practice

The mitzvah is based on the biblical commandment of Hakhel, where the king read Deuteronomy to the assembled people every seven years. The Mishna and Talmud, especially tractate Megilla, discuss the practice. Some scholars suggest the reading was instituted to counter Samaritan views on festivals by having relevant passages read on those days. An alternative triennial cycle, where each week a third of the current parasha was read, was practiced in Palestine, while Babylonia used an annual cycle. Benjamin of Tudela in 1170 noted Egyptian congregations taking three years, and Maimonides mentioned a few communities still doing so. The transition from triennial to annual reading is attributed by Sándor Büchler to the amora Abba Arikha. Orthodox synagogues now follow the annual Babylonian cycle, with only slight traces of the triennial cycle remaining in special Sabbaths and festival readings.

Procedure

The ceremony includes removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting excerpts with special cantillations, and returning it. The scroll is kept in a Torah ark at the front of the sanctuary. A chosen congregant removes it with specific prayers, and the hazzan carries it to the bima. Ikuv keriah, a rarely practiced procedure, allowed community members to raise grievances during the removal. In Sefardic tradition, the Torah is lifted before reading (levantar); in Yemenite tradition, only the parchment is raised. Ashkenazi tradition lifts after reading (hagbaha), though some Nusach Sefard communities lift before. Two honorees are called: the magbiah (lifter) and the golel (roller). In Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and some Open Orthodox congregations, women may perform these roles as magbihah and golelet. During hagbaha, the congregation points with pinky fingers and recites Deuteronomy 4:44.

Simchat Torah

Simchat Torah marks the completion of the weekly reading cycle. Many communities read the Torah at night, preceded by seven rounds of song and dance (hakafot). During hakafot, most or all Torah scrolls are removed from the ark and carried around the bima. On the day itself, some repeat the rounds, while others carry scrolls symbolically. Many communities call every member for an aliyah by repeatedly reading the day's five aliyot, often splitting into multiple rooms with a minyan present. After regular aliyot, Hatan Torah receives an aliyah for the remaining verses, and Hatan Bereishit receives an aliyah for the first verses of Genesis, often from a second scroll. In the Italian Nusach, the Genesis reading is from a printed book without a blessing. The service then continues with the maftir and haftarah for Simchat Torah.

Women and Torah reading

The Talmud states that anyone, including a minor or a woman, may be called to read from the Torah, but the sages taught not to call a woman due to Kevod Hatzibur (the dignity of the congregation). This is mirrored in the Shulchan Aruch. Most Orthodox congregations therefore call only men. Interpretations of Kevod Hatzibur include that it would imply the men were uneducated, that it would bother the congregation, or that women were considered second-class. Mendel Shapiro and Daniel Sperber permit women in partnership minyanim, but this is not accepted in most Orthodox communities, including almost all Modern Orthodox ones. The Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth ruled women may not read in the United Synagogues.