Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll from the Torah ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to the ark.
It is also commonly called "laining".
Regular public reading of the Torah was introduced by Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Judean exiles from the Babylonian captivity, as described in the Book of Nehemiah. In the modern era, Orthodox Jews practice Torah reading according to a set procedure almost unchanged since the Talmudic era. Since the 19th century CE, Reform and Conservative Judaism have made adaptations to the practice of Torah reading, but the basic pattern of Torah reading has usually remained the same:
As a part of the morning or afternoon prayer services on certain days of the week or holidays, a section of the Pentateuch is read from a Torah scroll. On Shabbat mornings, a weekly section is read, selected so that the entire Pentateuch is read consecutively each year. On Sabbath afternoons, Mondays, and Thursdays, the beginning of the following Sabbath's portion is read. On Jewish holidays, Rosh Chodesh, and fast days, special sections connected to the day are read.
Many Jews observe an annual holiday, Simchat Torah, to celebrate the completion of the year's cycle of readings.
Origins and history of the practice
The introduction of public reading of the Torah by Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Judean exiles is described in Nehemiah . However, the reading of the Torah three times a week is said to go back to the times of Moses.The mitzvah of Torah reading was based on the Biblical commandment of Hakhel, by which once every 7 years the entire people was to be gathered, "men, women and children," and hear much of Deuteronomy, the final volume of the Pentateuch, read to them by the King.
Torah reading is discussed in the Mishna and Talmud, primarily in tractate Megilla.
It has been suggested that the reading of the Law was due to a desire to controvert the views of the Samaritans with regard to the various festivals, for which reason arrangements were made to have the passages of the Pentateuch relating to those festivals read and expounded on the feast-days themselves.
Triennial cycle
An alternative triennial cycle of Torah readings also existed at that time, a system whereby each week a seder was read, that portion was approximately a third of the current parasha. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the triennial cycle "was the practice in Palestine, whereas in Babylonia the entire Pentateuch was read in the synagogue in the course of a single year." As late as 1170 Benjamin of Tudela mentioned Egyptian congregations that took three years to read the Torah. and this is corroborated by the Rambam who mentions in his Mishneh Torah that a few communities in his time still read the Torah in three years.Joseph Jacobs, in the Jewish Encyclopedia article mentioned, notes that the transition from the triennial to the annual reading of the Law and the transference of the beginning of the cycle to the month of Tishri are attributed by Sándor Büchler to the influence of Rav :
The current practice in Orthodox synagogues follows the annual/Babylonian cycle. At the time of the Jewish Encyclopedia's publication, the author noted that there were only "slight traces of the triennial cycle in the four special Sabbaths and in some of the passages read upon the festivals, which are frequently sections of the triennial cycle, and not of the annual one".
In the 19th and 20th centuries, some Conservative and most Reform, Reconstructionist and Renewal congregations have switched to a triennial cycle, where the first third of each parashah is read one year, the second third the next year and the final third in a third year. This must be distinguished from the ancient practice, which was to read each seder in serial order regardless of the week of the year, completing the entire Torah in three years in a linear fashion.
Occasions when the Torah is read
The beginning each weekly parashah from the Torah is read during Sabbath afternoons and in the morning services on Mondays and Thursdays. The entire weekly parashah is read on Shabbat mornings. Most major and minor festival and fast days have a unique Torah reading devoted to that day. The Torah is also read during afternoon services on fasts and Yom Kippur.When the Torah is read in the morning, it comes after Tachanun or Hallel, or, if these are omitted, immediately after the Amidah. The Torah reading is followed by the recitation of the Half Kaddish.
When the Torah is read during the afternoon prayers, it occurs immediately before the Amidah.
Procedure
The term "Torah reading" is often used to refer to the entire ceremony of taking the Torah scroll out of its ark, reading excerpts from the Torah with a special tune, and putting the scroll back in the Ark.The Torah scroll is stored in an ornamental cabinet, called a holy ark, designed specifically for Torah scrolls. The Holy Ark is usually found in the front of the sanctuary, and is a central element of synagogue architecture. When needed for reading, the Torah is removed from the ark by someone chosen for the honor from among the congregants; specific prayers are recited as it is removed. The Torah is then carried by the one leading the services to the bimah — a platform or table from which it will be read; further prayers are recited by the congregation while this is done.
Ikuv keriah, rarely practiced today, was a procedure by which community members could have their grievances addressed by interfering with the service at the time the Torah was removed from the Ark.
Hagbaha
In the Sefardic tradition, the Torah is lifted before the reading, and this is called "Levantar", Spanish for "to lift up". In the Yemenite tradition, the Torah remains in a resting position while just the parchment is raised.In Ashkenazic tradition, lifting is called "Hagbaha" and is usually done after the reading, although some Nusach Sefard communities, especially in Israel, have adopted the Sephardic custom of doing it before the reading. The order was a matter of medieval dispute but the position of the Kol Bo, lifting before, eventually lost to that of Moses Isserles and is followed in only a few Ashkenazic communities. Two honorees are called: the Magbiah performs Hagbaha and displays the Torah's Hebrew text for all to see, after which the Golel performs Gelila and puts on the cover, belt, crown, and/or other ornaments. In Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and some Open Orthodox congregations, these roles may also be performed by a woman. The respective titles for women are "Magbihah" and "Golelet". Rashi says on Megillah 32a that these roles were originally performed by the same honoree.
As the Hagbaha is performed, the congregation points toward the Torah scroll with their pinky fingers and recites Deut. 4:44, "And this is the Law which Moses set before the people of Israel", adding, "on the word of the LORD, by hand of Moses." The custom of pointing has no clear origin. The medieval Ashkenazic custom was to bow toward the scroll during Hagbaha; pointing is mentioned by Mordecai Crispin of Rhodes in a work published by his grandson in 1836; pointing with the pinky, first recorded as a "Russian" custom by the 1912 Jewish Encyclopedia, was codified by the Me'am Loez in 1969. Twentieth-century additions to the Me'am Loez were written by an Ashkenazi, Shmuel Kroizer, but the Sephardic prestige of the work has helped the custom become near-universal among both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews.
In Ashkenazic congregations, the Magbiah will usually sit holding the scroll until after the Haftarah is performed and the chazzan takes it from him to return it to the ark. In some congregations, the scroll is instead placed on the bimah or handed to a different honoree to sit and hold.
Aliyot
A synagogue official, called a gabbai, then calls up several people in turn, to be honored with an aliyah. The honoree, or oleh, stands at the bima and recites a blessing, after which either the oleh or, more usually, a designated reader reads a section of the day's Torah portion, followed by another blessing recited by the oleh.There are always at least three aliyot in a given Torah-reading service:
| Number of aliyot | Occasion |
| 3 | Mondays and Thursdays, Shabbat afternoon, fast days, Hanukkah, Purim, Yom Kippur afternoon |
| 4 | Rosh Chodesh, Chol HaMoed |
| 5 | Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah |
| 6 | Yom Kippur morning |
| 7 | Shabbat morning |
On Saturday mornings, there are seven olim, the maximum of any day, but more may be added if desired, by subdividing these seven aliyot or repeating passages. When a festival or Yom Kippur coincides with Shabbat the readings are divided into seven aliyot instead of five or six.
In most congregations, the oleh does not himself read the Torah aloud. Rather, he stands near it while a practiced expert, called a ba'al keri'ah, reads the Torah, with cantillation, for the congregation. The oleh follows along with the expert, reading in a whisper. In Yemenite communities, the oleh reads the portion himself, while on the Sabbath and Festival mornings another person, usually a young boy, recites the targum after each verse.
In both Orthodox and Conservative congregations, it is common practice to give out an aliyah to a man who has just recovered from a serious illness, or returned from a long trip, or survived some other significant danger, in order to allow him to recite a special blessing, known as "benching gomel", although technically one can "bench gomel" even without receiving an Aliyah.
Aliyot are also given to a groom-to-be, or in egalitarian congregations, the bride-to-be and groom-to-be, together, in a pre-wedding ceremony known as an "aufruf".
In Jewish custom, baby boys are named in a special ceremony, known as a brit milah, but baby girls are often named during the Torah reading, with the father or both parents being called up for an aliyah prior to the naming, and a special blessing for the baby.