DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

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

      
(File size: 474 KB)
What Kind of Book or Scroll Should be Used for the Haftara Reading?

Every Shabbat and Yom Tob, the congregation conducts a Haftara reading from the Prophets after the Torah reading. What is the preferred book that a congregation should use for this reading?

Ideally, the congregation should use what we call a "Sefer Haftarot," a parchment containing all the Haftarot readings. This parchment does not contain the entire Prophets section of the Tanach; it includes only the Haftarot. Nevertheless, it is the most preferable scroll to use for the Haftara reading.

If no such scroll is available, then a congregation should use a printed Tanach, a book containing the entire Torah, Prophets and Ketubim. Indeed, most synagogues keep a large edition of the Tanach near the Bima (table) and use it for the Haftara reading. This is the preferred practice if a Sefer Haftarot parchment is not available.

If the congregation does not even have a printed Tanach, then the Haftara should be read from any Humash where the Haftara is printed. However, although this practice does have ancient origins and is grounded in Halachic sources, the more preferred practice, as mentioned, is to read from a Sefer Haftarot parchment, or at least from a printed Tanach.

Summary: Ideally, the Haftara should be read from a "Sefer Haftarot" parchment, which contains all the Haftarot. Otherwise, it should be read from a printed Tanach. Only if these are not available may the Haftara be read from an ordinary printed Humash.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
The Laws of Karpas
Passover- How Much Wine Must One Drink for the Four Cups at the Seder?
Passover- If a Woman Recited "She'hecheyanu" at Candle Lighting, Does She Answer "Amen" to Her Husband's Recitation at Kiddush in the Seder?
Changing To ‘Morid Hatal” on the First Day of Pesach; Conducting a "Se'udat Ester" on the Second Day of Pesach
Passover- Using Specifically "Matza Shemura" at the Seder
Is It Permissible To Do Laundry On Hol HaMoed
Passover- Is It Permissible To Lean, Talk, or Drink During The Seder
Passover- The Third and Fourth Cups of Wine at the Seder
Passover- Is It Permissible For A Girl To Recite A Solo of The Ma Nishtana
Passover- Preparing For The 2nd Seder and Yom Tov Sheni
Passover- Is It Permissible To Drink Milk On Pesach From A Goy Owned Cow Which Consumed Hametz On Pesach
Passover- How Much Flour Is Required For Hallah or Matza
Changing To, and If One Forgets To Recite "Morid Ha'tal"
Passover- If One Mistakenly Used A Hametz Pot On Pesach
Passover- Is It Required To Make Bedikat (Searching For) Hametz in One's Vehicle.wma
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found