The Haftorah of Shavuot

Hi,

We have mentioned that on the first day of Shavuot we read the Ten Commandments from the Torah. The Haftorah portion is also about an incident of Divine revelation, albeit a personal one - Yechezkel's vision of the Divine throne room.

Because the topic of this Haftorah is so lofty, we generally have a scholar or person of great piety read this Haftorah.

(Mishneh Berurah 494:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Torah reading of Shavuot

Hi,

On the first day of Shavuot, we read the presentation of the Torah at Sinai in order to commemorate that event.

We traditionally use a unique set of musical notes to read the "Ten Commandments" portion of that reading. This altered way to read the musical notes serves one purpose of marking this reading as special, but there is a second purpose as well: the different set of notes actually breaks up the sentences differently from the regular set of notes, providing another layer of meaning for the text.

(Chizkuni to Shmot 20:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Staying up Shavuot Night, Washing in the Morning

Hi,

Ordinarily, upon waking in the morning one is supposed to ritually wash his hands in the morning:

- 3 times on each hand
- from a cup
- alternating hands Right-Left-Right-Left-Right-Left.

One then recites the blessing of "Al Netilat Yadayim," "On the raising of the hands," before fully drying his hands. (For more detail on this, please email me.) This is supposed to be performed before one does anything else.

However, one who stays awake all night - on Shavuot night or any night - washes his hands and recites that blessing in the morning after using the bathroom.

(Mishneh Berurah 494:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Staying up Shavuot night

Hi,

The Zohar records that early pious Jews were wont to remain awake all night on Shavuot, immersed in the study of Torah.

While there is a mystical explanation for the benefit associated with this practice, the simple explanation is that it corrects the error of the Jews at Sinai. It would have made sense for the Jews to have waited up at Sinai all night for the chance to commune with Gd and receive the Torah, but the Torah records that the Jews were only brought out of their tents in the morning by the sounds of the revelation at Sinai.

Therefore, we demonstrate our love for Torah by staying up Shavuot night, engaged in the study of Torah.

(Mishneh Berurah 494:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Shavuot night's davening

Hello,

We'll take a break from our look at Kriat haTorah [Torah reading] to talk about the upcoming Yom Tov of Shavuot.

The 'Omer' is a sequence of days numbered nightly from the second night of Passover until the night preceding Shavuot. Shavuot is the 50th day of the Omer.

Because we want to fulfill the biblical instruction to count 49 full Omer days before celebrating Shavuot, we wait until full nightfall to begin the evening Maariv service on the first night of Shavuot.

(Code of Jewish Law Orach Chaim 494:1; Mishneh Berurah 494:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Mistakes in the Torah reading

Hello,

If the baal keriah (the one who recites the Torah reading aloud for the community) makes a mistake in pronounciation such that he alters the meaning of a word, he must go back and read it again.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 142:1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Lag ba'Omer Haircuts

Hi,

Thursday night/Friday is Lag ba'Omer, when those who have been observing the first days of the Omer cease their mourning observances.

There is some debate as to the status of the evening of Lag ba'Omer. Some authorities rule that one may shave already that evening, although others say to wait until the next morning.

Weddings are generally prohibited on the evening of Lag ba'Omer, except when Lag ba'Omer day is Friday, so that there isn't much time on the day itself.

Each community should follow its minhag on these matters.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 493:3; Mishneh Berurah 493:10-11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

After an aliyah

Hello,

One who receives an aliyah should not descend from the bimah after the aliyah until the next person has come up, so as to preserve the honor of the Torah and not leave it unattended.

However, it is also inappropriate to descend during the ensuing aliyah, lest one miss part of the Torah reading.

Therefore, people customarily wait until after the following aliyah, during the inter-aliyah gap, to descend from the bimah and return to their seats.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 141:7; Mishneh Berurah 141:26)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Ascending and Descending the bimah

Hi,

One who receives an aliyah should ascend the bimah via the shortest possible route, both to show his desire for the mitzvah and to respect the time of the waiting community.

However, after the aliyah one should return to his seat via a longer route, to show he is not in a rush to leave the mitzvah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 141:7; Mishneh Berurah 141:22-23)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Family members in sequential aliyot

Hello,


We avoid calling up two brothers, or a father and son, for sequential aliyot, due to concern for the jealous evil eye of others who are present. If the shul does not call people up by name, though, so that the relationship is not publicized, then this is permitted.

This aversion applies even to a sequence of shvii and maftir, unless maftir will be from a different Sefer Torah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 141:6; Mishneh Berurah 141:20-21)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Baal Keriah's "Amen"

Hi,

Many readers are probably familiar with the traditional, extended "Ah-maaaay-ayn" sung by the baal keriah before beginning to read the aliyah.

There is a halachic purpose for this tuneful response to the pre-aliyah berachah: The baal keriah is not permitted to begin the aliyah until all "Amen" responses are done, so that people will be able to listen, so this warns the congregation that the aliyah is about to begin.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 141:5; Mishneh Berurah 141:17)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Who stands with the baal keriah?

Hi,

Our practice is to have two people stand with the person reading from the Torah, even if he is the one receiving the aliyah.

This is supposed to reflect what happened on Mount Sinai: One person, usually the gabbai who calls people to the Torah, represents HaShem. The baal keriah then represents Moshe, and the third party represents the Jewish people receiving the Torah.

(Mishneh Berurah 141:16)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Reading along with the Baal Keriah

Hi,

The person who is called to the Torah for an aliyah must read, preferably from the Torah itself, along with the baal keriah. He should not read so loudly that he drowns out the baal keriah, though.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 141:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Posture during an aliyah

Hello,

The baal keriah (Torah reader) and the person who receives an aliyah must stand during the Torah reading. They may not even lean on anything.

One who is ill or infirm may lean on something, but he should not lean on the table on which the Torah rests. That table is dedicated solely for use with the Torah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 141:1; Mishneh Berurah 141:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Holding the Torah during an aliyah

Hi,

One who receives an aliyah to the Torah should hold on to the Torah's roller during both the berachah and the aliyah.

We also customarily kiss the Torah after the aliyah, generally by kissing tzitzit of a tallit and touching them to the spot. One should be careful, though, not to scrape the letters of the Torah when doing this.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 139:11; Mishneh Berurah 139:35-36)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The berachah after an aliyah

Hi,

After each aliyah, the oleh (person who received the aliyah) recites a blessing thanking Gd for giving us תורת אמת, a Torah of truth, and for planting within us חיי עולם, eternal life. The former phrase refers to the written Torah, and the latter refers to the Torah's verbal explanation, passed down through the ages.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 139:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The berachah before an aliyah

Hello,

The berachah before an aliyah should be recited loud enough for at least a minyan to hear, but the community has fulfilled its obligation to hear the Torah reading even if no one heard the berachah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 139:6; Mishneh Berurah 139:23-25)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The berachah before an aliyah

Hello,

One who is called to the Torah recites a berachah before the aliyah. One should make sure to look away from the Torah's text, or to close his eyes, lest it appear that the blessing itself appears in the Torah.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 139:4; Mishneh Berurah 139:19)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

An Aliyah: Seeing the text

Hello,

One who receives an aliyah to the Torah must first see the text to be read, before reciting the blessing, in order to know the object of his blessing.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 139:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Aliyot for the blind

Hi,

The person who reads from the Torah is required to read every letter from the scroll itself. Because of this requirement, some authorities do not permit a blind person to receive an aliyah, even if someone else is the formal baal keriah (reader).

Many Ashkenazi authorities do permit a blind person to receive an aliyah, though, and that is our practice at our shul.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 139:3; Mishneh Berurah 139:12-13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The unlearned aliyah

Hello,

Technically, an aliyah to the Torah should only be given to one who knows how to read the aliyah from the Torah. In practice, though, we will call up a person who cannot read from the Torah but could repeat it after the reader.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 135:4, 139:2; Mishneh Berurah 135:15, 139:4)

Be well,
Mordechai

Moving a Sefer Torah

Hello,

Here's an important rule highlighting the honor we give to a Torah scroll, even at the expense of people's ability to learn Torah. Note that it emerges from a time and place in which people used the Sefer Torah for actual learning, and not just for the formal Torah reading:

One may not move a Torah from its usual shul space, other than for the purpose of formal Kriat haTorah in a minyan elsewhere. This is true even where the people who would learn from it at this new site have no access to a Torah scroll on their own.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 135:14; Mishneh Berurah 135:47)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Absent Levi

Hello,

We generally call a Kohen for the first aliyah, and then a Levi for the second aliyah.

If there is no Levi present, we call the same Kohen for both the first and second aliyot. We would not call a Yisrael, lest people think he was a Levi. And we would not call a different Kohen, lest people think there was something wrong with the first one.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 135:8; Mishneh Berurah 135:28)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Unavailable Kohen

Hi,

We call a Kohen for the first aliyah (portion of the Torah reading).

However, if the Kohanim present are all still saying Shema or the Amidah (or the blessings before Shema, or between Shema and the Amidah), then we call a non-Kohen in their place.

One who was accidentally called up while he was still davening should take the aliyah. Ideally, he should daven quickly up to a point where he is halachically permitted to interrupt.

(Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 66:4, 135:5; Mishneh Berurah 66:26, 135:17)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Honoring the Torah

Hello,

When the chazan takes out the Torah on Shabbat, he recites three sentences - Shma Yisrael, Echad Elokeinu and Gadlu. According to some practices, he should raise the Torah when reciting each of the three sentences.

The Torah is then brought to the table where it will be read. People should come to meet the Torah, even if they are outside the shul when the Torah is first brought out; this increases the honor shown to the Torah, and to HaShem.

(Mishneh Berurah 134:10, 13)

Have a great day,
Mordechai