18
Actually, Miketz does not always fall out on Chanukah. It appears that whoever told me that was mistaken. :)
I ran some code (using my JavaScript Hebcal API) and discovered that in the 100 years from 5700-5800, Miketz is not on Chanukah 10 times. In 5703, 5706, 5710, 5730, 5733, 5737, 5757, 5761, 5781, and 5784, Miketz fell out on the 4th of Tevet, just ...
14
Rashi to Shmuel Aleph 15:3 explains that the Amalekites were sorcerers and were capable of disguising themselves as animals - and for this reason Shaul was commanded to kill even the animals.
In his commentary to Devarim 25:19 he brings another explanation: The eradication of the memory of Amaleik had to be absolute, and even if animals remained alive they ...
10
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 their persecution by Jezebel. He hid them in 2 caves. He also provided for all of their physical needs. The cost of secretly supporting them, not only risked ...
8
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, Darga, Tevir, Merkha, Tipcha, Etnachta, Zakeif-Gadol, Sof-Pasuk.
Yeshayahu 55:10 (Haftara for fast days at Mincha) to get Telisha-Ketana, Pashta, Zakeif-...
8
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 284).
In truth though having a full set of Neviim is expensive and already in the time of the Gemara (Gittin 60a) they permitted writing out just the needed ...
7
Asked and answered here.
it seems quite likely that this is a later interpolation; it doesn't
appear in early prints of Rashi.
In several places, though, Rashi refers to לשון כנען, which was a
popular term at the time for the Slavic languages (based on the
equation of "Slav" with "slave" and the association of the latter with
Canaan). These ...
7
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.
6
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 no strict requirement for them to be pronounced differently. However, it is a widespread custom that the concluding words of a recitation unit (whether a ...
5
Supplemental to the answer, above, that lists the specific years, here's the general scenario:
The months of Cheshvan and Kislev can have either 29 or 30 days, each, and there are 3 configurations. To understand when and why they occur, see this Wikipedia article.
Briefly, if the 1st day of Rosh Hashannah occurs on Shabbat, and the year is "deficient", ...
5
According to this article at shemayisroel.co.il it is permitted for a blind person to read the Haftora from a Braille book or even by heart.
The one called to the Torah for maftir must know how to recite the
haftarah properly; he must therefore prepare the reading beforehand.
He should read the haftarah out loud with the rest of congregation
reading ...
5
Absolutely nothing! The reason the three pesukim are added at the beginning is so that we don't have to add at the end.
To explain, consider Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 284:
מפטירין בנביא מענינה של פרשה ואין פוחתין מכ"א פסוקים אלא אם כן סליק ענינא בבציר מהכי כגון עולותיכם ספו על זבחיכם.
"We read the Haftarah from the Navi from the subject matter ...
5
Kol Dodi on the Haftaros, by Rabbi David Feinstein.
According to the publisher:
In this masterpiece, the Rosh Yeshivah introduces each Haftarah, explains its historical context where necessary, shows its relationship to the Parashah, and offers an enlightening commentary in his own unique, original manner.
5
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 because of Pirsumei Nisa (proclaiming the miracle of Chanukah.)
He states that even if you accidentally recited the Rosh Hodesh haftarah in error, it's fine.
5
A counterexample:
In 5781, Tetzavveh will be read on Shabbat 15 Adar and locations not celebrating Shushan Purim will read the ordinary Haftarah.
4
We read Haftarot from all the 8 Nevi'im scrolls, at various times during the year. See Wikipedia for a list.
Three of the 12 minor prophets - תְּרֵי עֲשַׂר - are not included in any Haftarah.
Nachum - נחום
Zefania - צפניה
Chagai - חגי
4
See the bottom of p. 3 – p. 4 of this article:
Avudraha”m explains that it does come from the meaning “to exempt”. At the time when the Haftarah was first instituted (some theories state that it was in effect during the period of the first Temple), Jews were prohinited from reading the Torah. Thus, reading from the prophets exempted them from reading from ...
4
In the קיצור ש''ע ילקוט יוסף in סימן רפד - קצת מדיני ההפטרה it says:
ה קטן יכול לעלות למפטיר ולקרוא את ההפטרה.
ולכתחלה אין להעלות למפטיר אלא מי שיודע לקרוא ההפטרה בעצמו. אולם בדיעבד אם זה שעלה מפטיר אינו יודע לקרוא את ההפטרה, יקרא אדם אחר, ומי שעלה מפטיר יקרא עמו בלחש. אבל לא יקראו שנים ביחד בקול רם, דתרי קלי לא משתמעי.
"Preferably the person ...
4
I believe the short-and-sweet explanation is that the Haftorah of Acharei includes the gist of the Haftorah of Kedoshim.
Thank you Fred, for pointing to the Mordechai, Megillah 831 as well as the Mishna Brurah 428.26.
The Haftorah for Kedoshim refers to "the sinning city", and is just a litany of its faults.
We basically make that a closet Haftorah as ...
4
Encyclopedia Yeudis says in the name of the Kalbo that there are 7 Brachos for the Haftora against the seven who had Aliyos. It says that the Brachos are mentioned in Mesechtas Sofrim 13.
המפטיר מברך שבע ברכות על ההפטרה נגד שבעה העולים לס"ת (כלבו) במס'
סופרים (פי"ג) נרשמו הברכות שאומרים לפני ואחרי ההפטרה (ויש שינויים
בסדור רב עמרם גאון), ומסיים "בא"י ...
4
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 University's R' Dr. Jeremy Wieder here, by Chabad's R' Michoel Slavin [here][4], or by the Sephardic Pizmonim Project's Meyer Kairey here.
4
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. Nevertheless, on Shabbos Shuva, ending with u’poshe’im yikashlu bam, the sinners will stumble, is inappropriate, because the first Shabbos of the year should have ...
4
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 has a vowel mark. The exception to that rule is if it is a sheva nach on the last letter of the word, where it is usually omitted as obvious.
In your case we ...
4
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 retribution," which are: [...]
Shim'u devar Hashem, (Hear the word of Hashem) (Jeremiah 2:4) [...] If
Rosh Chodesh Av occurs on Shabbos, he reads the haftarah [...
3
I did a luach chart for this.
When Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, Simchat Torah is a Sunday (or Shabbat in Israel) so B'reishit is a whole week later, the latest date it call fall. When Rosh Hashanah (and thus Shmini Atzeret) is on a Thursday you start reading B'reishit at an earlier date.
When Rosh Hashanah is on Shabbat (or Monday) you never get 29 ...
3
The encyclopedia talmudica quotes a Teshuvas Hageonim which says the reason it is called הפטרה because during the Krias Hatorah it is forbidden to talk, but when we read the haftorah we are "released" - פטר from the prohibition. Thus the reason for the name.
3
I once read Megillat Esther privately to an elderly student of R Ahron Soloveichik who could not attend a public reading for health reasons. Before he recited the blessings he told me that R Ahron Soloveichik once reported to him that his grandfather, R Chaim Soloveitchik, believed that the blessings attached to the Torah readings are part of the Mitzva of ...
3
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 נכון לאומרו בערב אחר שעשו
צדקה
He says that the reward of the fast-day is the charity given on that day.
It could be assumed that by the time of mincha, people ...
3
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 might lead someone to doubt if they are ever used.
3
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 suitable matter there that fits the week's parsha, while others give other reasons. Here is an article in Hebrew about haftarot in general, which discusses this ...
3
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 Gilgal refers to Balak's advice after he left Bilam when he suggested that he place them next to the whores of Moab who came to B'nai Yisra'el while they were ...
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