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...
Purim – If Somebody Will Not Have Access to a Megila on Purim
Purim – If a Person is Able to Read the Megila Only Once on Purim
Purim – The Preference For an Eleven-Line Megilla
Seudat Purim- Proper Time for the Meal, and The Foods of Purim
Purim- Taanit Esther
Purim – The Importance and Obligation of Matanot La’ebyonim
Purim- Skipping “Al Ha’nissim” In Order to Recite “Nakdishach”
The Meaning and Halachot of Ta’anit Ester
Purim- Learning Torah on the Day of Purim and Is It Permissible To Celebrate 2 Mitzvot with One Seuda
Fulfilling Matanot La’ebyonim on Purim by Foregoing on a Loan, Paying a Poor Person’s Debt, or Writing a Check
Purim- Prioritizing Matanot La’ebyonim Over the Other Misvot of Purim
May A Megilat Esther Be Written By A Woman
Singing "Mi Chamocha Ve'en Kamocha" on Shabbat Zachor
Purim- The Laws & Importance of Matanot La'evyonim
Purim: Take Hair Cut on Purim Day & Reading the Megila with Many People
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found