Για να το διβάσετε στα Ελληνικά, κάντε κλικ εδώ
Every week in the synagogue, we take out the Sefer Torah from the Eichal where they are kept (the Ashkenazim call it Aron Hakodesh) and we read the portion of the week. The portion is divided into 7 parts and each part is called an Aliyah (literally elevation). For each aliyah, a man or boy over 13 is called to the Teva, the place where the reading is done, and says a blessing before and after the reading. We use the verb ‘ascend’ or ‘elevate’ not only because the teva is traditionally the highest place in the synagogue but because the person coming to read from the Torah gets elevated spiritually. The Jews have been doing this for over 3000 years (Yes, it’s thousands, I did not make a mistake 😊 )
Moshe Rabbenu, whom G-d sent to liberate us from Egypt, established to read the Torah every week on Shabbat. The Torah is divided in portions (parasha, plural: parashiot) so that the reading of the entire Torah is completed in one year. (We complete and start again the cycle of the Reading of the Torah on Simchat Torah). The Torah is read when there is a minyan assembled and a Sefer Torah. If there is no Sefer Torah available or if a minyan is not present, we read the Torah (without a blessing) from a Chumash, a printed edition of the Torah.
In the beginning, each person ascending to the Torah would read his own part. But in the times of the Talmud, because many people did not know how to read correctly from the Torah and were embarrassed that they could not have an aliyah, the custom prevailed to have a Baal Kore (reader) read all the portion, while the person receiving the aliya stands near him and reads silently along with him, word by word.
The baal kore does not need to be a rabbi but he must prepare very well in order to pronounce the words correctly. This is important because the Torah is written on parchment without nekudot (the symbols indicating the vowels) and it is easy to make mistakes. It is also customary to read the Torah with a special chant. In the chumash, there are symbols called Teamim indicating how to chant the words, like musical notes. The teamim are not found in the Sefer Torah either, so learning them is also part of the preparation of the baal kore. During the reading of the Torah, the congregation must listen and read the text from a chumash.
Next week, we will explain why we read the Torah on Mondays and Thursdays as well.
Shabbat Shalom,
Arie from the Yeshiva
