Shavua Tov. We’re beginning Siman Kuf Lamed Tet.
If you live in a place where whoever gets an Aliyah (being called up to the Torah) reads, and he has not reviewed the parasha at least two or three times, he should not get the Aliyah. If there’s a ba'al koreh (Torah reader), then he has to be the one to read, and he has to prepare two or three times. He’s not allowed to get the Aliyah if he didn’t prepare. Again, that’s if he’s reading, even though they called him by name.
There are three things that can cause a person’s life to be diminished. One of them is that they call him up to read the Torah and he doesn’t go. So here, the person may be putting himself at risk. He’s still not allowed to go up because he has to prepare before he reads. Presumably, then, he won’t be violating any laws by not going up, and he won’t lose any years of his life because he’s following the halakha (Jewish law) by not going up.
The rabbis found support for this concept of preparing before you go up based on a pasuk (verse) in Iyov. The rabbis use this pasuk to teach us how, when the Jewish people learned the Torah, first Hashem taught it to Moshe, then He reviewed it. He taught it to Aharon, and Aharon taught it to the Zekenim (elders). There was a lot of review, and each person learned it four times. So before you’re able to know anything, it requires a lot of review. Here, for this, we’re relying on two or three reviews before you get an Aliyah. We don’t want you to make mistakes.
Number one: Let’s say somebody knows the parasha very well. If somebody already knows the parasha well and doesn’t even need to study, and he’ll read it perfectly, he still cannot do it, because this is called having to go over it twice or three times. So it doesn’t matter whether you know it or not. The Torah says that if he already did that and he knows he’s going to make mistakes in the Ta'amim (cantillation marks), he’s not obligated. If you went over it two or three times and you know the words, but you’re going to make mistakes in the Ta'amim, he says you’re not obligated to study again.
But the Kaf HaChaim says—note two—that this Chazal (the rabbis) teaching us that a person is not allowed to turn down an Aliyah, or, heaven forbid, that it could shorten his life, is from Chodesh HaAviv. This is even if he has a good reason. He’s running out to a job or to do business, and he gets called for the Aliyah; he’s still not allowed to leave.
Now, if turning down an Aliyah shortens a person’s life, then if someone is called for an Aliyah and refuses, we force him to go up. Just as we have to prevent someone from doing an Isur (prohibition), we have to prevent someone from getting into Sakana (danger), and this is Sakana if he turns down the Aliyah. He writes at the bottom that this applies even if the person is called up for the Aliyah of the Tochacha (rebuke). People don’t want to get it; he’s not allowed to turn that down either, and we force him because we’re worried about this punishment.
There was a story of someone who refused the Aliyah. After some time, some marauders threw him into burning-hot water. They explained that he was thrown into hot water because—and he basically got burned because—the Torah is comparable to fire, and he had turned it down.
But what if they didn’t call out his name? They didn’t say, “Ya'amod (Let him stand),” and then say the name, like they do among the Ashkenazim. Ella (rather), the Gabai (synagogue attendant) went over to him privately and invited him for an Aliyah. Is that the same severity?
The Kaf HaChaim says that this is not included in this Chazal about someone who turns down an Aliyah. Of course, it’s a great zechut (merit) to get an Aliyah, but in this instance, where he wasn’t called out by name, they say he would not receive this severe punishment for turning it down. At the bottom, in note 11, they say, however, that it sounds from Torah L'shma like he is included. So we have three rabbis saying explicitly that he’s not included—the Shu't Chaim Sha'al, the Shu't Rav Pe'alim, and the Kaf HaChaim—and saying he’s not included, while the maybe of the Torah says that he would be. Be that as it may, it’s a tremendous zechut to get an Aliyah, and we should be looking to get one and not turn it down.
Note three: As we mentioned before, if you’re not going up, even if you’re called by name, because you didn’t prepare, then you can’t go up. If you live in a place where you have to read, you’re not included in the Chazal, because you’re not going up for a reason that the halakha says means you’re not allowed to go up.
Maybe the person doesn’t want to go up because he’s worried the sefer Torah is pasul (invalid). It’s an old Torah; it doesn’t look good. Or he’s not going up because, for example, they call out the amount of money and he doesn’t have any money to bring or give. In those instances, he’s not included in the curse for not going up, because his reason for not going up is not that he’s cheapening the mitzvah (commandment) of reading from the Torah, but a side reason. He’s not taking the Aliyah because he thinks he’s going to make a—he thinks the Torah is pasul, or because he doesn’t want to be shamed in public. But if he doesn’t go up because he’s fighting with the Chazan (cantor), doesn’t like the way the Torah is being read, or has the money but just doesn’t want to donate, then he would be included in the curse of this Chazal.
Okay, Seif Katan (small subsection) Bet, hu tzarich. It says in Maran—let me find where this is—the Rema, I’m sorry: when the Chazan calls you up, if the Chazan is reading, he has to prepare. Let’s say there’s no one in the shul (synagogue) who prepared to read. In order not to miss a week of reading, the minhag (custom) is to be lenient and call up someone who generally knows how to read, even though he didn’t prepare. We whisper the words to him from a Chumash (Pentateuch) so that he’ll be able to read them correctly. Again, this is better than nothing. What he writes there, Be'ezrat Hashem (with God’s help), we’ll see in a few simanim (sections).
Gimel, Seif Gimel: “Tehillah o mitzvah (commandment) min hamuvchar (the choicest fulfillment of a mitzvah) shegam ha'oleh (person called up for the Torah) yesader techilah bein oleh bein atzmo.” It’s also mitzvah min hamuvchar (the choicest fulfillment of a mitzvah) for the oleh who’s just going to read word for word with the Chazan. Meaning, there’s a ba'al koreh; it’s still mitzvah min hamuvchar for the oleh. If you know you might get an Aliyah that week, you should prepare it just to read along, so that you know you’re reading the words correctly. If you did this, that counts as preparation.
Number four: He said that the minhag is not to be careful about this—to make sure that you read twice if you get an Aliyah—even if you’re not the reader and are just reading along. He said that although the Mishnah Berurah says otherwise, the minhag is that we’re not careful about it. We don’t make sure to read twice before we get an Aliyah.
Five: Even if the ba'al koreh read Shnayim Mikra (two readings of the Torah portion), he is also Yotzeh (fulfills his obligation) with regard to his obligation of preparation.
Se'if Bet: If someone does not know how to read from the Torah, people should protest if he gets an Aliyah. Let’s say you need him because he’s a Kohen (priest) or a Levi (Levite), and there are no other Kohanim or Levi’im. If he knows how to follow along word for word and will be able to read with the Chazan, he can get an Aliyah.
So that means that when he said you should protest if someone doesn’t know how to read, he means that, in general, the person doesn’t know how to read the Torah. If he’s able to read word for word, at least, we’ll let him go up if we need him. But that’s not even the best; that’s Bidieved (after the fact). If we’re stuck, we’ll take a guy who doesn’t know how to read in general but can at least read along.
“Ve'im lav”—but if he doesn’t even know how to read along with the Chazan, he won’t be able to mouth the words. “Lo ya'aleh.” Maran holds he’s not allowed to get any Aliyah. This may disqualify a lot of people from an Aliyah. Let’s see the Mishnah Berurah.
From the words of Maran, it’s apparent that even if you can read word for word with the Chazan, we shouldn’t call you for an Aliyah, because we can get someone who is a general reader. We want people who know how to read; they should be the ones getting all the Aliyot. But according to the Tur later on, and the teshuva (responsum) of the Rosh brought in the Bet Yosef, it is mashma (it is implied) that you can be lenient about this, and get an Aliyah even if you know how to read along with the Chazan. Especially what I wrote in the name of the Maharil, which we’ll see very soon: then you wouldn’t have to be machmir (stringent). But again, that’s not following Maran. Maran holds that you have to be an experienced reader to get an Aliyah lechatchila (ideally).
Se'if Katan Hei: “Lo ya'aleh, lefi she'asur likro afilu ot achat shelo min haketav” (he should not go up, because it is forbidden to read even one letter not from the written text). If the person does not know how to read word for word from the scroll, that means he has to be able to see the words, not just repeat after the Chazan. While the Chazan, the ba'al koreh, is reading, he has to be able to say the words from the scroll, because it is asur (forbidden) to read even one letter not from the scroll. Since you’re getting an Aliyah, you have to read it from the scroll. The Rema is going to be lenient about this law. But according to Maran, you have to be able, at a bare minimum, to read from the scroll with the ba'al koreh.
Six: In Eretz Yisrael and other places, the minhag is to send up people for Aliyot who do not know how to read from the Torah writing, even though they can’t read from the ketav (written text). They say they’re allowed to continue their minhag. The Kaf HaChaim writes that if you don’t have that minhag, you have to follow Maran, and you’re not allowed to send them up. Or LeTzion writes the same.
Some say that if you sent them up in a place where they’re not nohegtu (accustomed to doing so), you should add another Aliyah to get at least seven Aliyot, if it’s Shabbat, in order to fulfill the minimum requirement of people who actually read from the ketav. In the notes at the bottom, they bring the view of Hacham Ben Tzion: whenever he would read, he would rely on Shnayim Mikra for the two times and do a third round of preparation to read.
In note 21, they add that if you live in a place where the minhag is to follow Maran—that means you don’t send up someone who doesn’t know how to read from the ketav—and that week there happens to be a Chatan (groom) in shul or an Avi HaBen (father of the son), it would be a big busha (shame) if he didn’t get an Aliyah. In those places, you would be allowed to give him an Aliyah. However, if it’s possible, it’s better for him to stand next to the Torah without saying a Beracha (blessing), while the Chazan, the ba'al koreh, says the Beracha, and he just stands there. I guess it assumes people are not going to realize what’s going on, but it would also be a busha if people saw what was happening. Still, if it’s possible, it’s better to do that.
So again, if you have a minhag, that means the minhag must have preceded Maran, to send up people who can read word for word but not from the words of the Torah. The Kaf HaChaim and Hacham Ben Tzion say we’re allowed to continue that minhag. However, if you don’t have that minhag, you’re not allowed to start it because it’s against Maran. Even if you don’t have the minhag, though, if it’s a Chatan or an Avi HaBen, there’s still a leniency for them.
Note seven: It’s asur to read even one word, even one letter, not from the ketav, not from the scroll. If you see the word and then say it within, let’s say, one and a half seconds of seeing it, that’s called reading it from the ketav. It could happen that you go to the next line and saw the word, but you say it once the ba'al koreh goes to the next line. He’s already started looking at the next line before he finished saying the word in the previous line. But if he saw the word and said it within one and a half seconds of seeing it, it counts as reading it from the ketav.
Last one for today: Even the shamash (person who is in charge) who, let’s say, gives out all the Aliyot, or the Chazan, the guy in charge of keeping the shul orderly and fixing everything, is not allowed to just take an Aliyah unless he’s called up. No one in the shul can just go up and take an Aliyah. However, if the ba'al koreh wants to take an Aliyah without being called, he’s allowed. It’s as if, when they called him up to be the ba'al koreh, they permitted him to do that.
He wants to just take an Aliyah. In our circles, nobody does this. The Chazan, the ba'al koreh, doesn’t just take an Aliyah. Rather, the Gabai has to tell him, “Kavod.” But they don’t call the Chazan by name like all the other Olim (people called up to the Torah), whom they call by saying, “Ya'amod, Moshe, ben (son of) whoever his father is.” For the Chazan, they just say, “Ya'amod.” They don’t call his name.
“U'mi she'aviv mumar” (one whose father is an idol worshiper). Now, the Ashkenazim always call people up by their name and their father’s name when they give them an Aliyah. Again, they say, “Ya'amod,” and then the name. Now, let’s say the father of this oleh is an idol worshiper. “Kor'in oto b'shem avi aviv”—you have to call him after his grandfather. You say, “Moshe ben,” and give his grandfather’s name, but don’t call him by his name alone. Still call him, then you’ll embarrass him, so you just call him—say “ben,” but give the grandfather’s name.
But this is only if he has never gotten an Aliyah with his father’s name yet. He’s new to the community, so it wouldn’t be a busha to call him by his grandfather’s name, because nobody knows his father’s name anyway. But if everybody already knew him in the city and they called him by his father’s name, and then his father became an idol worshiper, then we could continue to call him by his father’s name, because it would be a busha not to. We don’t want to embarrass the guy in public, or have his father find out, hate the shul, and cause machloket (conflict).
If you have someone whose father you don’t know, call him by his mother’s father. So again, his grandfather on his mother’s side. [An unidentified phrase.] If you don’t even know who his mother is, then he’s an asufa—literally, you don’t know who his mother is at all. In that case, call him after Avraham Avinu (Abraham our father), as we call a ger (convert), “ben Avraham (son of Abraham).”
Maran continues: A blind person is not allowed to read from the Torah. You can’t give him an Aliyah, because Maran holds you’re not allowed to read even one word, one letter, not from the scroll, and a blind person obviously can’t read from the scroll. Even if he’s reading along word for word, that won’t help, because it has to be from the scroll. The Maharil says that we do call up blind people. This is the Rema, just as we call up an am ha'aretz (unlearned person). The Rema argues with Maran here and allows a blind person to get an Aliyah.
Let’s see the Mishnah Berurah. “Ve'afilu rosh haknesset”—and even the head of the synagogue. You’re not allowed to take an Aliyah on your own, even the rosh haknesset. “Ve'chol shekein adam de'alma”—and certainly an ordinary person. “Veha-ta'am”—a person should never try to take honor for himself. “Ve'od delo leiti lidei inatzuyei”—and also, it’s going to lead to fights. Everyone’s going to try to take their own Aliyot.
Number eight: If you have a certain minhag in your shul where they send up the head of the shul or the rabbi for certain Aliyot, as the Kaf HaChaim says, then he’s allowed to just walk up without permission because the minhag has already been established. They know he’s getting the Aliyah. Or if you’re in a place where there’s a simcha (celebration) that week and they call out, “Whoever wants an Aliyah today, come up.” Or if you live in a place where the Aliyot go according to your seat, you don’t need to be called; you know it’s your turn. That’s considered as if you already got permission.
Number nine: Another reason why you shouldn’t take an Aliyah without being called is that it’s not kavod (honor) for the Torah. If anyone wants an Aliyah, he can just take it. It would be like Adam having a daughter and anyone who wants to take her could just come and take her. It’s not nice.
When the Chazan calls the oleh to come up, he should have in mind to imbue his soul with spirituality from the Torah and the land and the tree of life that’s in Gan Eden HaElyon (upper Gan Eden). He’s trying to give him—he’s giving him spirituality from the upper Gan Eden when he calls out his name to get an Aliyah laTorah (to the Torah). In note 30, they quote that for this reason we sometimes say, “B'kavod (with honor).” Kavod is the name that the Neshama (soul) is called. Neshama is called Kavod. It’s a reference to the neshama. You should have in mind that you’re saying kavod to the neshama, so that it should attach itself to the spirituality that’s above, like the body down here is attaching itself to the Torah.
We said that the ba'al koreh could take an Aliyah on his own because it’s as if they already gave him permission when they appointed him. The words were that when they appointed him for the Chazan job, the ba'al koreh, it’s as if they gave him permission. The Bet Yosef explains further: Since nowadays the ba'al koreh reads for everyone, by appointing him to be the ba'al koreh, they allow him to read from the Torah. So why would they worry? Why would they bother him if he says a Beracha on the Torah? They’re letting him read the whole Torah anyway; he’s the reader, so let him say a Beracha on it too. That’s Maran’s reason for allowing the ba'al koreh to just take an Aliyah.
Number 10: In most places in the world, even the ba'al koreh does not take an Aliyah without permission. This is also the minhag in Yerushalayim. Everyone has to be called. “Ein kor'in lo bishmo keivan shehu omed sham”—you don’t call him by name since he’s standing there. You don’t need to call that ba'al koreh by his name. He’s right there.
Eleven: The Kaf HaChaim and Hacham Ovadia kadvu (wrote). According to the minhag in Yerushalayim, we never call anyone by his name. The Gabai goes over and invites him for an Aliyah. This minhag of calling the person up privately is a very early minhag. The reason it was instituted was in case the person was going to say, “I don’t want the Aliyah”; he shouldn’t be included in that curse of shortening his life. So the whole reason for this institution was to save the people.
If you go to a place where they do call you by your name and your father’s name, and they ask your father’s name, Hacham Ben Tzion Abba Shaul and Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu say that you should say, “my father, my master, Peloni (so-and-so), Avi Mori (my father, my master),” and then say his name. You’re not allowed to just say your father’s name. You have to say a title first. Technically, if someone asks you on the street, “What’s your father’s name?” you could say, “My father’s name is...” You have to say “my father” first; you can’t just say the name. But over here, we’re saying it’s even better to say “my father, my master.” If you’re calling your father up for an Aliyah, you should do so without saying his name.
Okay, continuing in the Mishnah Berurah: We don’t want to embarrass the person in public by calling out his grandfather’s name when you’ve already been calling him by his father’s name. So if you have to call up his father, even though he’s an aveil (mourner), don’t add any superlatives to his name. Don’t say, “our good friend,” “our this,” “our that,” or “our master.” You’re not allowed to say falsehoods. Say it quickly, so people don’t even hear it or realize. Just say it fast.
But if this person goes to a new city where nobody knows him, and they ask for his father’s name, he should say his grandfather’s name instead, or, if they don’t know who his father is, his grandfather on his mother’s side.
The story here is about a guy who came here before he was—he told us that his mother is so-and-so. So we know his mother. And then—the question is, how can you have somebody whose mother you knew, and then you don’t know her anymore? He started off with his mother saying, “I’m his mother.” They came into the community, but later we found out he was really gathered off the street, and now she picked him up off the street. We can’t verify it anymore. The Taz says that in that case, call him ben Avraham, like a ger. It’s better to call him ben Avraham. So if the mother said—and before we found out he was gathered from the street, his mother was saying, “I’m his mother,” so we knew his mother—he said to call him by his grandfather on his mother’s side. The Chayei Adam says it’s more correct to call him ben Avraham.
Let’s see the notes: If they found him in the street during a hunger time, his mother is believed when she says she’s his mother, even after they realize that he was gathered from the street, because she has an excuse to say, “I put him there because I needed someone to feed him.”
Thirteen: Why is it better to call him ben Avraham than by his mother’s father? He says never to call a person by his father’s name on his mother’s side, because maybe he’ll get divorced one day and they’ll call him by this name, ben this, as if it were his father’s name, and the get (Jewish divorce document) will be pasul (invalid). We hold that he has to be called by his father’s side, not his mother’s side. At least, you can call him by his mother’s father if you know his mother. We’re not worried about this decree—that maybe he’ll get divorced with that name—because the rabbi who writes the get knows how to look and investigate, and he’ll know that it’s not his father—it’s not his, uh, it’s not his own father or his own grandfather from his father’s side; he’ll realize it’s from his mother’s side. And if you don’t know any of his grandparents, call him ben Avraham, because Avraham is—
Then we said you’re not supposed to call up a blind man for an Aliyah, but the Rema allowed it. “Ve-ta'amo” (and its reason). What’s the Rema’s reason? “Keivan she'anu nohagim she'ha-tzibbur koreh”—since the custom is that the congregation reads—“ve'hu koreh mitoch ha-ketav, shuv lo kapdinan al ha'oleh, shomea ke'oneh”—and he reads from the written text, we are no longer particular about the oleh; one who hears is as if he answers. He says the Rema holds that we rely on shomea ke'oneh: if you listen to something, it’s as if you’re saying it. So he’s reading from the scroll and you hear it; it’s like you’re reading from the scroll. That’s what they rely on, so they could even send up a blind man.
Fourteen: Even though according to Maran a blind man cannot read, if you can only read with eyeglasses, that’s considered reading on your own. It’s not a blood; that’s not a problem. Let’s say you can hear—um, sorry, you can speak but not hear—you can get an Aliyah because you’re able to read with the Chazan. You don’t have to hear him. Someone who is not mentally there, if he could be—if he’s somewhat normal—sometimes during those times you can give him an Aliyah.
Fifteen: If the blind man is also deaf, then nobody would allow it, because you don’t have shomea; not even the Rema would allow it. The Rema says we are lenient even if he’s not able to read. The oleh can’t even read the words together with the Chazan. What’s the reason? He said all he has to do is listen, so therefore a blind man is the same.
The Mishnah Berurah writes that the law is—the Aharonim (later authorities) have said the minhag is to be meikil (lenient), like the Maharil. Mikol makom (nevertheless), that means you can rely on this shomea ke'oneh even if the person can’t read. However, for the parashiyot (Torah portions) of Parah and Zachor, it’s proper not to call up the blind man lechatchila. You should read those directly from the ketav. Those are the two parashiyot a year that are de'oraita (from the Torah), according to Maran.
Number 16: There’s nothing here. Number 17: He said the minhag is to be lenient and call up the blind man. The minhag today is to allow the blind man to take an Aliyah. He says the Beracha, and he listens. If you live in a place that sends up blind people, you’re allowed to continue that custom, even though it’s against Maran. However, if you don’t have the minhag, you should be machmir like Maran and not send him up, even if he’s a Talmid Chacham (Torah scholar). Or LeTzion writes the same. The minhag in Israel, in Jerusalem and all of Israel, is to send up the blind man against Maran, and so it’s written in the name of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu. However, Hacham Ovadia says, “I don’t think that the minhag is so clear about sending up the blind man,” and therefore you should follow the principle of the law and not send them up. But if he already went up, you have to rely on giving him the Aliyah.
They said not to send up the blind man for the Kaf HaChaim, and not to send them up for the maftir (concluding Aliyah) of Chovat HaYom (maftir of Yom Tov). “Gam le-maftir shel Chovat HaYom”—also for the maftir of the day’s obligation, meaning the maftir of Yom Tov (festival).
“Baruch Adonai Le'olam, Amen ve'Amen” (Blessed is Adonai forever, amen and amen).