Haftarah?

Haftarah (plural: haftarot) is a Hebrew word meaning “taking leave” or “parting.” It refers to the collection of readings from the Prophets (Nevi’im) in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) that are read following the Torah in the morning service on Shabbat and on Jewish festivals and fast days. While Torah parashot or weekly portions are typically read in sections by several readers the haftarah is read by one person. The person who reads the last section of the Torah, called the maftir, also reads the entire haftarah that accompanies the Torah portion. The haftarah is chanted with a different melody than the Torah. The haftarah reading is preceded and followed by blessings that are also read.

It is unclear when the practice of reading the haftarah began. It may date to the 2nd century BCE. In 168 BCE, the maniacal Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV prohibited the reading of the Torah. The liturgical reading of the haftarah may have emerged at this time. It is widely held that the haftarah was also adapted by Jews in response to the Samaritans. The Samaritans strictly held to the reading of the Torah only. Their version of the Torah varied from the Hebrew Torah. The Samaritans rejected the other books of the Tanakh with exception to the book of Joshua. Pharisaical Judaism may have elevated the reading of the Prophets in response to the Sadducees. The reading of the haftarot alongside the Torah elevates the stature and authority of these writings. In any event, the practice of reading the Prophets after reading the Torah on Shabbat is firmly fixed by the 1st century CE. Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah in the Synagogue of Nazareth around 30 CE. There are other references to the reading of the haftarah, called the writings, as well as references to those writings in the New Testament (see Luke 4:17 and Acts 13:15). The Tosefta states that the haftarah was read in the presence of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus around 70 CE; see Tosefta, Megillah 4 (3): 1.

The haftarah readings are fixed and paired with the religious calendar and the annual reading of the Torah portions. There are small variations in the selections of the readings between religious communities (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Yemeni and others). This seems to indicate that that the readings were gradually adopted which gave room for regional preferences. Most of the readings in the haftarah are thematically paired with their associated Torah readings or with events on the religious calendar. The haftarot provide rich and valuable insight into Jewish liturgy, the understanding and use of Scripture and religious life and practice.

In modern times the haftarot are typically read from a book containing the entire Tanakh or in a book called a chumash which contains the Torah portions with the corresponding haftarot along with readings for festivals. There are also books that contain only the haftarah. Some communities of Jews read the haftarah on scrolls. One group following the teachings of the 18th century sage known as the Vilna Gaon believe that each book of the Prophets should be written on individual scrolls. The 12 Minor Prophets are on a single scroll. The scrolls are written following strict guidelines, and, like the Torah, these scrolls do not have vowels, punctuation, cantillation signs or chapter divisions. The reading would be found in the select Prophet scroll. There is ancient precedent for this. The earliest known record of reading from the haftarah is when Jesus was handed an Isaiah scroll and read from it in the Synagogue in Nazareth. We do not know whether the reading had been selected in advance or was selected by Jesus. We know that scrolls of individual Prophets were produced and in distribution. The story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts records that he was reading from a scroll of Isaiah he had obtained while in Jerusalem. Some groups continue to read the haftarah from a scroll containing all of the readings. Yemenite Jews translate the haftarah into Aramaic. Modern haftarah scrolls are also written on paper. A few antique haftarahs survive written on skin.