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...
Hanukah – If the Hanukah Candles Burn Out on Friday Before Shabbat
Hanukah – The Custom to Light Candles in the Synagogue
Chanukah- Is It Permissible To Move The Lit Menorah
Shehechiyanu on the Second Night
Chanukah: Lighting the Menorah at Public Events
Hanukah – Where Should One Light If He Lives on a High Floor in an Apartment Building?
Hanukah: How Do Guest Light?
Hanukah: Using the Candles to Light Other Candles
Hanukah – The Status of the Leftover Oil
Hanukah – Reciting Minha Before Candle Lighting on Ereb Shabbat Hanukah
Chanukah- Minha on Friday of Hanukah
Hanukah: The Shamash
Hanukah: The Halachot of "Al Hanisim" 2
Hanukah: The Halachot of Al Hanisim
Hanukah – What Does One Do With the Oil Left Over After the Last Night?
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found