Questions tagged [torah-reading]
reading from the Torah scroll (reading and blessings)
407
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When Israel and the diaspora are out of sync on parshiyot, why don't we take the first opportunity to re-align?
This year (5772) the seventh day of Pesach is on a Friday, so the diaspora has an 8th day of chag on Shabbat but Israel does not. The diaspora will thus read Sh'mini on April 21, Tazria-Metzora on ...
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5
answers
695
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Gabai speaking during chazaras hashatz, kaddish or kriyas hatorah for the sake of the tzibbur
Is a gabai allowed to speak during chazaras hashatz, kaddish and/or kriyas hatorah for the sake of the tzibbur (e.g. to ask someone if they are a Kohen or Levi)?
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Which books help one acquire a systematic understanding of Biblical Hebrew grammar?
A question for the grammar experts. How can I learn Hebrew grammar in a systematic way? Especially a book that would help me understand how to layn properly. Something that covers rules of nikkud, ...
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2
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Why doesn't Chabad differentiate between Ches and Chaf, and Ayin and Aleph?
The Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe writes that the Shabbos before the great debate in Minsk, the Alter Rebbe served as the chazzan and baal koreh for his minyan. Furthermore, although the Alter Rebbe used ...
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Method for practicing Torah reading
What is your method for practicing reading a Torah portion and thus memorizing the associated vowelizations and intonations? I'm looking for ideas for maximizing your effectiveness at performing a ...
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5
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Aleph with a Dagesh
In four places in Tanakh, our text has an aleph with a dagesh: Gen 43:26, Lev 23:17, Job 33:21, and Ezra 8:18. What is the significance of this, and for the first two examples, how would you indicate ...
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1
answer
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Who broke the parshiyot into aliyot and how?
The Torah readings on Shabbat are broken into 7 aliyot. I know that there are rules for the minimum number of pesukim for each aliyah but I am wondering who set up the exact placement of the aliyah ...
- 38.5k
17
votes
2
answers
450
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Why don't we use a translator during Torah reading?
Outside of the Teimanim I am not aware of any other segments of Judaism that still employ a meturgamen (translator) during kriat ha'torah. Why has this practice fallen into disuse?
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answers
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Hand motions for trope in Torah reading
I've seen people standing next to Torah readers and making hand signals during the Torah reading, presumably to prompt the reader in the trope. I think @Shalom mentioned this in Method for practicing ...
- 3,423
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1
answer
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Why do we leyn before mincha but after shacharis?
When reading Torah in the morning, we daven shemoneh esrei of shacharit and then afterwards read the Torah.
When reading Torah in the afternoon (Shabbos/fast days), we read Torah first and then daven ...
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הוא is he? Or is it?
The third-person feminine pronoun in Hebrew is היא, "hee." But in most instances in the Torah, the word is spelled הוא, with a vav rather than a yud as the middle letter. How does this make sense ...
- 21.1k
15
votes
1
answer
434
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Why do we read vayechal twice on a fast?
I have been doing some research on the question of vayechal at mincha and have hit a roadblock. So far, here are the questions I have considered and feel ok with as "answered":
why lain at mincha on ...
- 38.5k
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Have any of you ever heard anyone pronouncing ayin as "ng"?
I have read that historically the letter ayin was pronounced by some Dutch, Portuguese, and Italian Jews as a velar nasal consonant (ng as in sing). Reference to this can be found here, here, and here....
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חזק חזק ונתחזק Chazak Chazak VeNischazek: why
Why do we say חזק חזק ונתחזק when we end each Chumash?
- 140k
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Why are some words in Tanach read differently than they are written?
From here:
The MT [Masoretic Text] includes the kere and ketiv system, in which marginal notes indicate that certain words are to be read differently than they are spelled in the text, or that ...
- 44.7k
13
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Bar Mitzvah before Circumcision?
If one was never circumcised can they be called up to the Torah for their bar-mitzvah?
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2
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Why Are These Double Parshiyos?
During a regular (non-leap) Jewish year, there are four instances where two of the weekly Torah portions are read together in the same week. This is because there are not enough weeks to read all of ...
- 5,733
13
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1
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Ta'amei Mikra and the Torah Scroll
I have heard that a haftorah klaf (scroll) is still considered kosher and usable if the Ta'amei Mikra have been written on it. Yet I've always been told that this is not true for a Torah scroll. Why ...
- 131
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3
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Seven aliyot for V'zot Habracha?
In the Keter Yerushalayim Tanach (published by Hebrew University), parashat V'zot Habracha is divided into seven aliyot (aliyah 7 being all of chapter 34 of Devarim.) I don't see this in the Stone ...
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11
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2
answers
862
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Catching up the missing weeks of Krias Hatorah
Due to the current health crisis, all shuls are closed. As a result, the weekly Torsh portion will not be read.
After this is all over and synagogue services are resumed, will we:
Continue where we ...
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11
votes
3
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353
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Is Torah reading an individual or communal obligation?
Is the obligation to read the Torah (or hear it read) an individual or communal obligation?
A possible nafka mina might be if one missed the Torah reading -- does he need to assemble a minyan to ...
- 8,001
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votes
3
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Why doesn't saying the sh'ma satisfy torah-reading requirements?
According to this answer to a related question, the g'mara on Bava Kamma 82a requires reading torah at least every three days because we should never go longer than that without words of torah.
But ...
- 56.9k
11
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1
answer
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Why is V'Zot Habracha read on Simchat Torah instead of on Shabbat?
I understand that Ezra began the concept of an annual Torah cycle where each Parsha is to be read on a Shabbat (except if coinciding with Yom Tov.)
However, V'Zot Habracha was scheduled to be ...
- 71.2k
10
votes
3
answers
179
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What is the shortest interval during which we read publicly from each of the five Chumashim?
What is the shortest interval during which we read publicly from each of the five Chumashim?
There is actually a practical issue involved here as well. The halachah is that if a community has a Sefer ...
- 90.9k
10
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570
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Standing during the Aseres HaDibros
There are people that always stand by Laining and people that always sit. Among those that sit there are those that stand at certain points, such as the Aseres HaDibros or the Shira, etc. Is it proper ...
- 140k
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1
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Are there any communities in which the oleh still leins his own aliyah?
It used to be that when someone got an aliyah, they would read their own Torah portion, and not have it read for them by the ba'al kriyah. This practice seems to have fallen by the wayside, as every ...
- 19.2k
10
votes
1
answer
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Why does the weekday Torah reading for Va'etchanan end in the middle of the Shabbat's 2nd aliyah?
While reading Va'etchanan last Thursday, I notice that the weekday reading ends in the middle of an aliyah (spec. the Sheni aliyah.)
I am unaware of any minhag that ends the reading of Va'etchanan at ...
- 71.2k
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How can I learn Yemenite ta'amei hamikrah?
I'm working with a student for his bar mitzvah whose family is Yemenite in origin, but has no living relatives who remember much of their tradition. He is interested in learning to leyn with Yemenite ...
- 201
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1
answer
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What is the origin of using a different trope mode for the High Holidays in Nusach Ashkenaz?
I noticed that during the High Holidays there isa special trope mode that is used in Nusach Ashkenaz shuls. I assume they do the same in many Nusach Sefard shuls as well.
When and where (or who ...
- 71.2k
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2
answers
366
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Correcting one's father or one's rav when he is leyning
The Shulchan Arukh (YD 240:2) rules that one is never allowed to contradict one's father in his presence, and that when it comes to one's rav (or one's father if he is a Torah scholar; YD 242:1-2), ...
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Nature of the minyan for reading Zachor
According to some opinions (see Shulchan Aruch OC 146:2 and 685:7; and others), one is obligated to hear parashat Zachor read among a minyan, but one can (and must) read it without a minyan if there ...
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Trop (cantillation) for leining
Who created the trop (cantillation) for leining? Is it a Mesorah from when the Torah was written?
- 3,107
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6
answers
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רָקִיאַע or רָקִיַע
The Minchas Shay at the beginning of B'reshis cites a dispute whether the word 'רָקִיעַ' (and likewise for other words with a furtive patach) is pronounced as רָקִיאַע or as רָקִיַע, that is, with a ...
- 73.7k
9
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2
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Lifting Torah during Bracha When Called for an Aliyah
I have noticed that while making the Bracha for an aliyah, many people lift the Torah when Hashem's name is recited. Is there a source for this?
- 241
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4
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Online Tikkun Makers?
Are there any resources online that one can use to make tikkun readers for people that can be easily accessed online or that can be used to generate PDFs for printing?
Having a Tikkun book is not ...
- 11.6k
8
votes
3
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177
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Non-statutory Torah service
Is it possible to have a "stand-alone" Torah service, not connected to a statutory prayer? I saw this done on Shavuot once, where some people who slept through davening convened a minyan solely for ...
8
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4
answers
561
views
Why does a Bar mitzva boy publicly read from the Torah?
Why do bar mitzva boys publicly read from the Torah for their bar mitzva? Where does the minhag come from?
- 3,107
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2
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Can a chumash be used for a public torah reading?
I recently attended a weekday morning minyan where the Torah reader was reading simultaneously from a sefer Torah and a printed Chumash. It appeared that the person was mostly reading from Chumash and ...
- 83
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1
answer
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Parshas Zachor when one can't get a Minyan?
If one is staying away from large gatherings for medical reasons (eg. due to the risk posed by COVID-19) or if one's shul is closed (perhaps for the same reason), how might one satisfy the requirement ...
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What's the reason of using Yad in reading Torah?
I heard from a Bengali writing - just a single line that - Jews fear their God that much that they even fear to touch the God's word. Then I searched and found that Jews use Yad when they read Torah. ...
- 183
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2
answers
408
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Adding aliyah breaks at the beginning of the parsha
Last year I was the baal korei at an aufruf. The shul's policy was to allow two extra aliyos for a simcha, for a total of 9 + maftir.
The bride's grandfather z"l, a Kohen and Holocaust survivor in ...
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votes
1
answer
322
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Basis for not doing a full sof-aliya trop on Hashem's name
The Ashkenazi leining for the end of an aliya generally has a drop of 4 tones. In my preferred key, that's from D to A (hit y then e on this virtual piano). However, some baalei kriah in my shul do ...
- 23.2k
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1
answer
272
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Can sign language be used for public Torah reading?
We would like to perform a minyan for the deaf. All the participants can speak verbally, but cannot hear, including the Torah reader. Can he sign the words that he is reading during Kri'at Hatorah, or ...
- 71.2k
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votes
1
answer
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Torah reader unable to continue -- how should he proceed?
On Shabbat morning I was leining torah1 when, not long into an aliyah, I started having temporary but ill-timed vision problems that made it difficult to read. As a result I made many mistakes (...
- 56.9k
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Is Shenayim Mikra dependent on there being a public Torah-reading?
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 ...
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2
answers
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How does the torah reading and haftorah reading relate for Va-yayshev?
How does the torah reading and haftorah reading relate for Va-yayshev? Why do we read from Amos after reading from Va-yayshev?
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Torah portions that end abruptly?
In parshat Va-era the 2nd portion - Sheini ends rather abruptly (in the middle of a sentence) Shemot 6:28:
Now it came to pass on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in the
land of Egypt, <-- ...
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539
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Can a public Torah reading be done by repeating words and trope as read by another?
It's time for Kri'at Hatorah (public Torah reading) on a Monday. The shul's regular Ba'al Kri'ah is absent, and no one else in the shul can read from the Torah - not even the rabbi. It is not just a ...
- 71.2k
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1
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Torah was taken out for reading, when you discover you had no minyan. What now?
This is a follow-up on this question.
Let's say that the 10th person who came into the shul turned out to be a Gentile. No one asked him anything when he came in.
You took out the Torah on a Monday, ...
- 71.2k
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1
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With which Torah can one fulfill the obligation of Parshas Zachor?
There is an argument between texts if the word "Petzua Daka" (Devarim 23:2) should be with an Alef or a Heih. Can someone fulfill his obligation to read Zachor (and normal Torah reading) with a Torah ...
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