The Haftarah - What Is It and Why Do We Read It

On Shabbat and festival mornings, a Haftarah, or brief passage from one of the books of the Neviim or prophets is read immediately following the day’s Torah reading. The books of the Neviim comprise the second of the three sections of the Tanach—Torah, the five books of Moses that are read in their entirety each year, the Neviim and the Ketuvim or writings. Although the origins of the reading of the haftarah are not certain, two prominent theories are that haftarot were instituted as a challenge to sects of Judaism which only accepted the Torah as scripture or alternatively that haftarot were read in the place of the weekly Torah portion under the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes, who forbade the study of Torah. According to this theory, selections were chosen from the Neviim which had themes in common with the Torah portion that would have been read that week.

Although many haftarot share themes in common with the weekly Torah portion or parshah hashavuah which proceeds them, there are haftarot that are specifically designated to be read on specific Shabbatot throughout the year. One example of this are the three haftarot of rebuke, read on the three Shabbatot before Tisha b’Av or the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar on which we mourn the destruction of both the first and second Temple in Jerusalem along with many other tragic events throughout Jewish history and the seven haftarot of consolation, read on the seven Shabbatot between Tisha b’Av and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. In addition to being read in synagogue every Shabbat morning, Haftarot are read on the High Holidays—Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, as well as on Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Rosh Chodesh and fast days. In addition to Yom Kippur, the most widely observed and well-known of Judaism’s fasts, there are five additional fast days—Tisha b’Av, the 17th of Tamuz, Ta’anit Esther—the fast of Esther, usually observed on the 13th of Adar, the day before Purim, the 3rd of Tishrei (the day after Rosh Hashanah) and the 10th of Tevet. Additionally, in many communities, a haftarah is read on Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. The Torah is read at Minchah, the afternoon service on Shabbat and fast days, including Yom Kippur. While a haftarah is generally only read following the Torah reading in the morning, a haftarah is read occasionally in the afternoon as well. Two examples of this are on Yom Kippur, when we read the Book of Jonah and on Tisha b’Av.

The passages from the Neviim read as the haftarah differ amongst Jewish communities and liturgical rites, but in all cases, the selection has been fixed and one cannot substitute an alternative passage.

The haftarah is chanted using trop, just as the Torah portion is, but the trop used for the chanting of the Haftarah is distinctive from that used when chanting from the Torah. The Maftir, or individual who is given the final aliyah to the Torah chants the haftarah. Just as blessings are recited before and after each aliyah of the parsha, so, too, are blessings said before and after the haftarah. The blessings proceeding and following the reading of the haftarah are said by the same individual who chanted the haftarah. It is quite common for a child who is celebrating his or her bar or bat mitzvah to chant the haftarah in addition to the Maftir portion or the entirety of that week’s parsha.

The haftarah is most commonly chanted from either a Tanach or a Chumash, a book containing the Torah and haftarot. It is less common that a haftarah will be chanted from a scroll, although this practice does exist in some communities.