DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 494 KB)
Simhat Torah- Is It Permissible For 2 Kohanim or 2 Leviim To Have A Back To Back Aliyah at the Torah

Generally speaking, Halacha forbids calling two Kohanim to the Torah for consecutive Aliyot.  If a Kohen is called for an Aliya to the Torah after another Kohen, people may cast aspersions as to the validity of the first Kohen, suspecting that his status as a Kohen has been called into question, thus requiring that another Kohen be called.  The same applies to Levi'im: two Levi'im may not be called to the Torah for successive Aliyot, as this may give rise to some suspicions concerning the status of the first Levi.

 

Chacham Ovadia Yosef, in Chazon Ovadia (Hilchot Sukkot), establishes an important qualification to this rule.  Namely, two Kohanim may be called consecutively to the Torah if there is some interruption in between the two Aliyot.  For example, a Kohen may be called for Maftir even if a Kohen had been called for the final Aliya just beforhand.  Since the Kaddish is recited before Maftir, thus causing an interruption between the two Aliyot, a second Kohen may be called for Maftir.  Likewise, when a new Torah scroll is opened for an Aliya, it may be given to a Kohen even though a Kohen had received the previous Aliya.  Closing one Sefer Torah and opening the other serves to separate one Aliya from the next, and they therefore may be given to two Kohanim.

 

It thus emerges that on Simhat Torah, three Kohanim may be called to the Torah consecutively for the Aliyot of Chatan Torah, Chatan Bereishit, and Maftir.  These three Aliyot involve readings from three different Sifrei Torah, and hence calling Kohanim for all three does not violate the prohibition against calling Kohanim for consecutive Aliyot.

 

Summary: A congregation may not call two Kohanim or two Leviim for consecutive Aliyot, unless the two Aliyot are interrupted by a Kaddish or the second Aliya is read from a new Sefer Torah.

 

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
The Beracha of Yogurt Mixed With Fruit or Granola
Does One Recite a Beracha Over a Beverage If He is Thirsty Only Because of Something He Ate?
Must One Recite Two Berachot When He Eats a Cracker With a Topping?
The Proper Sequence When Eating Different “Mezonot” Foods, and When Eating a “Mezonot” Food With Fruit
The Status of Date Honey, Beer and Whiskey With Regard to the Sequence of Berachot
The Proper Sequence of Berachot When One Eats Two Fruits or Vegetables
The Order of Precedence When Eating Several Different Types of Food
Giving Precedence to the Special Fruits of Eretz Yisrael
“Peri Ha’gefen” or “Feri Ha’gefen”; The Proper Beracha Over Cognac
Reciting Berachot Over Fruit Eaten as Dessert
The Text of Al Ha’mihya For Products Made From Grains Grown in Israel
“Beriya” – If One Eats a Whole Grape, Nut or Olive Smaller Than a “Ke’zayit”
Does One Recite a Beracha on Ice Cream Which is Served During a Meal?
What Quantity of a Beverage Requires the Recitation of a Beracha Aharona?
Within How Much Time Must One Eat a “Ke’zayit” For a Beracha Aharona to be Required?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found