Prophets and Prophecy: An Introduction to the Haftarah
Hosted By: My Jewish Learning
Traditionally, on Shabbat and holiday mornings, a selection from one of the biblical books of the Prophets is read after the Torah reading. The portion is called the Haftarah. Legend tells us that this practice of reading the Prophets began when Jews were prohibited from publicly reading the first 5 books in the Torah. Today, we are able to chant the words of Torah without government oversight, so why do we continue reading the Haftarah? Why did the Rabbis of the Talmud think it was so important to incorporate the words of the prophets into the Torah service? How did we decide what passage is paired with which Torah portion?
