(Heb. Keri'at ha-Torah). The chanting in the synagogue of prescribed sections of the Pentateuch; these must be read from a Scroll of the Law (Sefer Torah) in the course of public worship, i.e., only when a Minyan (prayer quorum) is present. One of the oldest and most distinctive features of the Jewish Liturgy, reading the Law was an integral part of the synagogue service in late Temple times, but traditionally, Moses is its originator (Ex. 24:7; Deut. 31:12). According to the sages, he instituted the practice on Sabbaths, festivals, and New Moons, while Ezra utilized it for the purpose of instruction on Mondays and Thursdays (when people came to market) and on Sabbath afternoons (when they had time to study; Meg. 31a; BK 82a). From Ezra's time, Scriptural passages were translated from Hebrew into the Aramaic vernacular by a Meturgeman and in some Diaspora communities a Greek translation must have been provided for those who knew little Hebrew.
Even though early rabbinic sources mention special readings by name (Yoma 7:1; Meg. 3:4, 29b-31a), also indicating how many worshipers should be called to the Reading of the Law on each occasion (Meg. 4:1-4, 21b-23a), texts for the regular weekly portion (sidrah or Parashah) appear to have been ill-defined until the talmudic period, i.e., after the third century CE. No fewer than three verses at a time might be read, however, so that a minimum of 21 verses were included in each consecutive Sabbath parashah. Eventually, two different Torah reading cycles came to be adopted. The Palestinian (Erets Israel) tradition, which survived until the 13th century, divided the Pentateuch into 175 sedarot or pericopes according to the number of Sabbaths that would occur over a period of three years (see Triennial Cycle). The Babylonian system, now traditional throughout the world, divided it into 54 longer pericopes for an annual cycle that matched a Jewish leap year. Every parashah derives its Hebrew name from a key word in the opening sentence. During a normal year of 52 weeks, various "double portions" have to be read, as allowance must also be made for the postponement of certain regular weekly readings when major festivals and Sabbaths coincide. The twelve-month cycle of weekly readings concludes and begins anew on the festival of Simḥat Torah.
Whenever the Reading of the Law takes place in the synagogue, congregants stand while the Torah scroll is removed from the Ark and carried to the Bimah (reading desk). This is also the procedure when the scroll is returned to the ark. On all such occasions, the chanting of prescribed biblical verses and psalms accompanies the ceremonial procession to and fro, but (in Ashkenazi congregations especially) this ceremonial is most elaborate on Sabbaths and festivals. Mi She-Berakh prayers are usually recited for each worshiper called to the Reading of the Law and Ve-zot ha-Torah (Deut. 4:44) is sung when the scroll is raised after all the readings have been completed. After the reading, the honor of raising the Scroll and displaying it to the congregants is called hagbahah ("elevation"). (Among Sephardi, Italian, and Oriental communities, the Scroll is raised prior to the reading.) Another congregant is then honored with gelilah ("rolling together"), rolling the Scroll together, binding it, and covering it with its mantle.
On Mondays and Thursdays, Sabbath afternoons, fast days (including Tishah Be-Av), ḥanukkah, Purim and the afternoon of the Day of Atonement, three persons are called to the Reading of the Law; on New Moons and the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot, four are called; on the Pilgrim Festivals and Rosh Ha-Shanah, there are five sections; on the morning of the Day of Atonement, the number increases to six and on a regular Sabbath morning, seven persons are called. The Reading of the Law takes place at the end of Morning Service and prior to the Additional Service; on Sabbaths, the Day of Atonement and fast days, special readings are also prescribed for the afternoon. An additional or Maftir portion is read on Sabbaths (when the concluding verses of the weekly parashah are repeated), major festivals (a selection from Num. 28-29), intermediate Sabbaths of festivals, or Sabbaths coinciding with the New Moon. The worshiper honored with maftir usually reads the subsequent Haftarah reading from the Prophets. On Sabbath afternoons and the following Monday and Thursday, the portion read is the first section of the next Sabbath's reading.
The honor of being summoned to the Reading of the Law is known in Hebrew as aliyah la-Torah (lit. "going up to the Torah"). Until the Middle Ages, everyone chanted his own portion, having memorized the vowels, punctuation, and musical accents, which are absent in the handwritten and unpointed scroll of the Law (see Cantillation). With the decline of skill, an expert Ba'Al Keri'Ah or "Torah reader" was appointed to chant each successive portion (and indicate the place with a Yad or pointer) for those called to the Reading of the Law. However, anyone possessing the required skill may himself do the reading. This has remained the practice among Yemenite Jews, and a 13-year-old boy normally chants the maftir portion and the haftarah on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah. Otherwise, the person called usually recites the prescribed Torah Blessings prior to and after the reading of his portion. A prayer shawl (Tallit) must also be worn, though not at the Afternoon Service (except on Tishah be-Av and the Day of Atonement). If, in the course of a reading, some defect is found in the text of a scroll, it must be replaced in the ark (for subsequent correction) and a new scroll is then taken out in which the reader may continue from the point where he discovered the mistake.
An order of precedence in the allocation of Torah honors was developed by the sages (Git. 5:8, 60a). A kohen (priest) should be called first, a levi (Levite) second, and only thereafter a yisra'el (any other Jew). When no levi is present in the synagogue, the kohen also receives the second portion. Should no kohen be present, either a Levite or a yisra'el may replace him, but no Levite may be called second if a yisra'el has received the first aliyah. Certain honors are traditionally reserved for a distinguished scholar or for the congregational rabbi, e.g., the privilege of being called third (shelishi), or called for maftir. A father and son or two brothers do not receive successive aliyot (probably for fear of the Evil Eye).
Other priorities are determined by the specific occasion. First comes a bridegroom on the Sabbaths immediately preceding and following his Marriage, except if he is a widower or divorced. Among Ashkenazim, this special honor is known in Yiddish as an oyfruf (cf. German Aufruf "call" or "summons"). Next in the order of precedence are a bar mitzvah boy; a father wishing to have his newborn daughter named that Sabbath morning or one whose newborn son will be circumcised in the course of the following week; someone observing a Yahrzeit; a person who has just completed the shivah week of Mourning; and then anyone who must recite the Gomel blessing on deliverance from peril.
Most Reform temples in the United States have either shortened the traditional readings or abandoned them altogether; modifications have generally been less drastic in Europe, where passages are declaimed rather than chanted. A number of American Conservative synagogues have reverted to the long-abandoned triennial cycle of readings. In those non-Orthodox congregations where Women are counted in the prayer quorum (Minyan), they may receive an aliyah la-Torah and in this way a girl may also celebrate her Bat Mitzvah in the same way as a boy. Orthodox opinion is resolutely against such innovations, although some modern Orthodox rabbis have permitted observant women to conduct a Torah reading when they form a minyan of their own.
