10 votes
Accepted

Why does the haftarah of Vayeira include the miracle of the oil?

The mefarshim on this portion of Navi (Targum, Rashi, Radak, etc.) explain that the man who died was actually Ovadiah (see Melachim Aleph 18). He was the man who kept 100 true prophets alive during ...
David Kenner's user avatar
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9 votes

Is there any Haftarah that has all the te'amim/trope symbols?

The minimum number of verses that you'd need is at most three. Yirmeyahu 32:8 (Haftara for Behar) to get Munach, Telisha-Gedola, Kadma, Azla, Zarka, Segol, Pazeir, Munach-Legarmeih, Revi'i, Gershayim,...
Double AA's user avatar
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8 votes
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Why is public reading of the haftarah not required to be from parchment?

You aren't the first person to wonder about this. The Levush wrote "All my days I wondered why I never saw in any place the practice to write the Haftarot like a proper book as we do for Esther" (OC ...
Double AA's user avatar
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7 votes
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Is there a list of the haftorot for the tri-annual torah reading cycle?

A full list can be found here with ongoing updates and sources here. Many times we only know the opening verse and not the exact end point.
Double AA's user avatar
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6 votes

Is there a Sof Haftarah?

In Ashkenazi cantillation, the demarcation of the end of a recitation unit is technically no different than the end of any other verse vis a vis the cantillation marks themselves. There is therefore ...
Isaac Kotlicky's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

Is there any situation when the haftarah of Tetzaveh might be read during a non-leap year?

A counterexample: In 5781, Tetzavveh will be read on Shabbat 15 Adar and locations not celebrating Shushan Purim will read the ordinary Haftarah.
Double AA's user avatar
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5 votes
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Shabbos Chanuka - Rosh Chodesh - Torah reading mistake

Read the Beur Halacha commentary on the same page in your link. He explicitly states that even if you make a mistake as the one you listed, the Haftarah is still the Chanukah haftarah. The reason is ...
DanF's user avatar
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5 votes
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Why is there no mention of Rosh Chodesh after the Haftara?

Shabbos 24a אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַבָּיֵי לְרַב יוֹסֵף: הָא דְּרַב הוּנָא וְרַב יְהוּדָה דְּרַב הוּא. דְּאָמַר רַב גִּידֵּל אָמַר רַב: רֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בְּשַׁבָּת — הַמַּפְטִיר בַּנָּבִיא ...
Gershon Gold's user avatar
4 votes

unsual haftarah trope in bechalotecha/hannukkah

Adapting and extending a comment by DoubleAA: It's called, by different communities, "mercha kefula" or "trei taamei". You can hear it chanted, in the Haftara context you found it in, by Yeshiva ...
Isaac Moses's user avatar
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4 votes
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Is book of Daniel in haftarah?

As @DoubleAA says, we only read haftarot from the Prophets, not the Writings. There isn't one clear reason for this. For example, the Baer Heytev says that the reason is that you will not find a ...
Cauthon's user avatar
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4 votes

Why would Ashkenazim read a "double" haftarah for Parshat Pekudei in Israel?

As you noted, the generally-cited ashkenazic haftarah for Parshat Pekudei is from Melachim I 7:51-8:21. However, there are two additional customs to be aware of, which may go some way to answering ...
Joel K's user avatar
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4 votes

Different endings for Haftarat Vayetze and Haftarat Shuvah?

R. Kaganoff in this shi'ur suggests that: The stumbling of the evil is not inherently a bad thing, and, for this reason, this is considered an appropriate place to end the haftarah on Vayeitzei. ...
Joel K's user avatar
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4 votes
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Isaiah 40:4 -- is the word pronounced "geh" or "gay"?

While I'm loathe to get involved with transliterations here, "geh" looks much closer to accurate to me than "gay". The general rule in Tanakh is a letter is only pronounced if it ...
Double AA's user avatar
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4 votes
Accepted

What haftarah is read on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Av

From an Ashkenazi perspective, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 122:6 writes both customs exist On the three Shabbosos between the seventeenth of Tammuz and Tishah beAv, we read the "Three haftaros of ...
mbloch's user avatar
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3 votes

Is there a haftarah that is never read?

No. There is no Haftara commonly printed (excluding a mistaken edition, or something) that isn't used at least occasionally by some community. Note that some are used very, very rarely, which perhaps ...
Double AA's user avatar
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3 votes

Remember Balak and Balaam

Mahri Kra explains: 1 - He advised the ministers of Moab and hired Balak to curse you 2 - Balak answered that he could only speak whatever G-d placed in his mouth 3 - The reference To Shitim and ...
DanF's user avatar
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3 votes

Why do we change the Haftarah for Simchas Torah?

R. Asher Ben Yechiel cites the Jerusalem Talmud as the source for reading the beginning of Yehoshua as the haftarah: Rosh Megillah 4:10 ביו"ט אחרון של חג קורין כל הבכור ומפטירין ויהי ככלות שלמה ...
Alex's user avatar
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3 votes

Why are Ashkenazi haftarahs longer than that of Sephardim?

The Shulchan Aruch in סימן רפד - דיני הפטרה וברכותיה says that the Haftarah should be at least 21 verses long, unless the theme ends beforehand. א מַפְטִירִין בַּנָּבִיא מֵעִנְיָנָהּ שֶׁל ...
Danny Schoemann's user avatar
3 votes

What is the rarest Haftarah?

Shalom's 2nd answer, Kedoshim, is the correct answer according to the minhag that most Ashkenaz minyanim follow, and appears to be the case with the Sefardic custom too except that it is a different ...
CashCow's user avatar
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3 votes
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Why is a Haftorah recited on fast days?

Tosfos to Megila 21a “Hakorei” explains why the haftorah is read at Mincha. והטעם שמפטיר במנחה בתענית ולא בשחרית משום דכתיב בה שמרו משפט ועשו צדקה (ישעיה נו)ואגרא דתעניתא צדקתא לעת ערב ומש"ה ...
Avrohom Yitzchok's user avatar
3 votes
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Yetziv Pisgam and Chabakuk

Some quick Otzar Hachochma searching has revealed the following: Tessler's Minhagei Chag Hashavuos (Anaf B, 1) notes that Yetziv Pisgam has nothing in particular to do with Shavuos, and in fact, in ...
רבות מחשבות's user avatar
3 votes

Kaddish before Haftarah on Tish'ah beAv Morning

R. Shmuel HaLevi Wosner in Shevet HaLevi vol. X 83 justifies the custom to recite kaddish before the haftarah on the morning of Tish'ah BeAv. He writes that the rule that the one who reads the ...
Joel K's user avatar
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3 votes

What is the "benefit," if any, of having one's spleen removed?

Rashi is saying this based on a gemara in Sanhedrin 21b: "The verse continues: “And he prepared for himself chariots and riders and fifty people to run before him” (I Kings 1:5). The Gemara asks:...
Harel13's user avatar
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3 votes

What is the "benefit," if any, of having one's spleen removed?

@Harel13 has provided the main answer, but I thought you might be interested in noting a fascinating article here (on pp.13-14) which provides further academic research to support Rashi's assertion ...
Dov's user avatar
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3 votes
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Haftarat Shabbat HaGadol

The Haftara for Tzav (a portion from the Babylonian annual Torah cyle) is from Jeremiah 7 (mentioned in Bavli Megillah 23b). The Haftara for the Israeli triennial cycle section that begins near the ...
Double AA's user avatar
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3 votes
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"Riot Act" Haftarah for Kedoshim -- When Will We Read it Again?

This haftarah is only read in year type זח"ג, which next occurs in 5801 (2041). (The linked Hebrew Wikipedia page is as good a place as any to look this kind of stat up, I guess.)
Joel K's user avatar
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2 votes
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Why does the Haftara of Mishpatim end before it starts?

The rule you are thinking of is codified in Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 144:1. See this shiur from R. Kaganoff for a comprehensive discussion of this topic as it relates to the haftarah for Mishpatim. ...
Joel K's user avatar
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2 votes

Why do we read Yona on Yom Kippur?

R' Samson Raphael Hirsch says, in his extended commentary on Leviticus 16:10, that goats represent the God-given human power to resist, and that the Azazel goat used in the Yom Kippur service ...
Isaac Moses's user avatar
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2 votes

Haftora for a wedding

In "The Spirit of the Maggid", Rabbi Krohn quotes Rabbi David Cohen that it's "because communities had become so large, that there could be Chassanim in Shul every week and the Sos Asis haftarah would ...
ertert3terte's user avatar
  • 40.3k
2 votes

Haftora for a wedding

In "Minhagim of Worms", it says as follows: "Nissuin on Shabbos - Brautloft When a Chupah takes place on Friday, Shabbos is called Brautloft (Bruitloft, Breiluft). [This was not a common occurrence, ...
Joshua Pearl's user avatar
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