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In Judaism, as a part of the morning or afternoon prayer services on certain days, a section of the Pentateuch is read from a Torah scroll. On Saturday mornings, a weekly section (perasha) is read, selected so that the entire Pentateuch is read consectuively each year. On Saturday afternoons, Mondays and Thursdays, the beginning of the following Saturday's portion is read. On Jewish holidays and fast days, a special section is read, usually connected to the day in some way.
Origins and history of the practice
When is the Torah read
Torah reading is done during the morning service on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and major and minor festivals and fasts. The Torah is also read on the afternoons of Saturdays and fasts.
In the mornings, the Torah is read after tachanun or hallel, or, if these are omitted, after the amidah. There is a "half-kaddish" recited before the Torah reading and another afterward. After the Torah reading, the service continues with the rest of the prayers.
In the afternoons, on the other hand, the Torah is read before the amidah, with just a "half-kaddish" separating them.
What is done
Although the term Torah reading refers specifically to the actual reading of the Torah, most people use it to refer to the entire ceremony of taking a Torah scroll out of its closet, reading it, and putting it back.
The Torah scroll is stored in an elaborate closet, called a (holy) ark (Hebrew aron (kodesh)), designed specifically for such scrolls. When needed for reading, the Torah is removed by someone chosen for the honor from among the congregants; prayers special to the occasion are recited when the scroll is removed. The Torah is then carried by the one leading the service to a platform or table from which it will be read; further prayers are recited by the congregation while this is done.
A synagogue official, called a gabbai, then calls people, in turn, to come be honored with an aliyah, wherein they read the Torah for the congregation. One will read the first small section of the day's reading, the next will read the second, and so on. In general, there are at least three olim (persons called to read the Torah): precisely three on weekdays and fasts, with more olim depending on the calendar; on Saturday mornings, there are seven olim, the maximum of any day, and more may be added (according to the custom of some communities) if desired.
Traditionally, all the olim are male. The first oleh (person called to read) is a kohen; the second, a levi; and the remaining olim are yisr'elim — Jews who are neither kohen nor levi. (This assumes that such people are available; there are rules in place for what is done if they are not.) In certain non-Orthodox congregations, a woman can also have an aliyah, and the distinctions among kohen, levi, and yisrael are done away with.
Each oleh, after being called to the Torah, approaches it, recites a benediction, and reads from it, concluding with another benediction. Then the next oleh is called.
In most congregations nowadays, each oleh does not read the Torah aloud. Rather, he stands near it while a practiced expert, called a ba'al k'riah ("master of reading"; sometimes, erroneously, ba'al kore) reads the Torah, with cantillation, for the congregation; the oleh follows along with the expert, reading in a whisper.
On Saturday and holiday mornings, the final aliyah is followed by "half-kaddish" and then an additional aliyah read by someone called the maftir. On other days the extra aliyah is omitted; in the afternoons, both it and the kaddish are omitted. The Torah is closed and put aside. On certain days, the haftarah is now read; see Haftarah.
The Torah scroll is then put back in its closet to the accompaniment of the recitation of specific prayers.
What is read
On Saturday mornings, the weekly perasha is read. It is divided into seven aliyos (see above for more on aliyos). The cycle of weekly readings is fixed. Bechase the Hebrew Calendar varies from year to year, on some Saturday mornings two reading are combined, so that the entire Pentateuch is read over the course of a year. See more information at Perasha.
On Monday and Thursday mornings and on Saturday afternoons (except on special days), a small section of the upcoming week's perasha is read, divided into three aliyos. On other occasions, what is read relates — sometimes directly, sometimes less so — to the day. For example, on Passover the congregation reads a section of the Pentateuch that deals with Passover.
See also
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