18
votes
Accepted
What's the point of a haftorah for Miketz if it's always Shabbat Chanukah?
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 ...
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 ...
8
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,...
8
votes
Accepted
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 ...
7
votes
Accepted
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.
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 ...
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a volume in English that explicates the relationship between each haftarah and its parsha?
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, ...
5
votes
What's the point of a haftorah for Miketz if it's always Shabbat Chanukah?
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. ...
5
votes
Can a blind person read a Haftorah from a braille (or raised-text) book?
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 ...
5
votes
Accepted
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 ...
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.
4
votes
Accepted
Sifrei Neviim that don't make it to the haftarot
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 ...
4
votes
Accepted
Must the Oleh for the Haftarah read the Haftarah himself?
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 ...
4
votes
Why is the Haftorah of Acharei Mos Kedoshim Halo Bnei Kushiim?
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 ...
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 ...
4
votes
Why is the reading from the Prophets on Shabbat called הפטרה?
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 ...
4
votes
What is the source for reciting blessings on the haftarah?
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
4
votes
Accepted
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 ...
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 ...
3
votes
Why is the reading from the Prophets on Shabbat called הפטרה?
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"...
3
votes
What's the point of a haftorah for Miketz if it's always Shabbat Chanukah?
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 ...
3
votes
Why are the blessing(s) preceding the Haftarah printed and chanted with trope notes?
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 ...
3
votes
Accepted
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 ...
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 ...
3
votes
Accepted
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
3
votes
Accepted
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 ...
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