Do we have to read Haftarah on Shabbat?

Answer:

    Every week we read a portion from the Torah which we call the parashah, and then we read a portion from the books of prophets, which we call the haftarah, which literally means, “the dismissal,” from the root ph-t-r, to dismiss, or release (grammatically speaking, by listening to the haftarah we are released from the obligation to hear the Torah!). The origins of the haftarah are not clear, although the midrash explains its existence in the third century of the Common Era (over 1700 years ago), sometime in the rabbinic period.

    Some say that haftarah originates from times when Jews were forbidden from reading Torah, the rabbis selected readings from the prophets that resembled the Torah portion and read them instead. This myth of subversion may sound like a heroic act of civil disobedience, but unfortunately we have no evidence that this was the case. Most likely this story developed after the expulsion from Spain, when some Jews remained in Spain practicing Judaism in secret. The obvious problem with this myth is that if the Roman authorities forbid the reading of Torah, then why would they allow reading the Prophets (also part of the Bible)? From the political point of view the prophets are far more incendiary than the Torah, and a foreign oppressive government would certainly forbid them as well.

    In contrast, the haftarah, most likely represents an expansion—not a replacement—of the Torah reading, to include more text. The expansion makes sense to Jews who read Torah three times per week, on Monday, Thursday and Shabbat. Including the haftarah only on Shabbat heightens the importance of the day, and makes sense because during the workweek people hardly have time to read Torah.

    This type of expansion also follows the rabbinic pattern in Jewish law and liturgy known as “building a fence around the Torah.” The idea was that if Jews have an obligation to perform mitzvah X, then the rabbis added related mitzvot Y and Z so that if somebody were to forget part of the mitzvot, it would most likely be Y or Z and they would not sin by forgetting X. In this way the haftarah represents an addition to ensure that we really can be dismissed (in Hebrew pator) from reading Torah.

    The reading of texts from the prophets also makes sense in the context of services. The Bible consists of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. Jews already had a Torah reading, and they read Psalms from the Writings during services. Jews also read other parts of the Writings on the festivals and other holidays (like Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations). Therefore, the rabbis were including in the service the only part of the Bible that had been left out—the Prophets.

    When we read Torah, we follow the order of the text from start to finish, and we complete the entire text in either one or three years (depending on the community tradition). Haftarah is entirely different. We read disconnected snippets each week, some resembling the portion, and in other cases the resemblance is difficult to find. The readings follow no pattern, and no cycle. They also include less than an eighth of all the Prophetic material. In fact, throughout our history and throughout the world, there are significant variations between community haftarah readings. Some Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities read entirely different haftarot.

    From a modern standpoint in which we do not read Torah three times per week, where service attendance on Shabbat is very low, and where we read Torah not because of obligation, but in order to learn and grow through the study of our sacred texts, the haftarah serves an entirely different purpose. Many communities have dispensed with the additional reading for reasons of time and relevance. Some may have gone too far, but the motivation is correct. If the additional reading adds little to the prayer experience for most people, and in fact deters synagogue attendance because it lengthens the service, then at times the haftarah should be omitted. In addition, in the case of Bar Mitzvah, where the haftarah may pose a significant burden on the child (because not only is it more text, but the music follows an entirely different system), we should consider shortening or eliminating the haftarah so that the student can focus upon the Torah reading.

    You may ask, why include the haftarah at all since it is not commanded in the Bible, the rabbinic inclusion is very vague, and there is not a universal practice of reading throughout the world? The answers are the same for the inclusion of the Torah reading: (1) we should be familiar with the religious services of the people of Israel and be exposed to the music and ritual surrounding the Torah and haftarah reading, and (2) it is a sacred text that can teach us valuable lessons of how we live our lives.

    This is especially true for the special haftarot, like the ones for Shabbat Tshuvah (between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) and Shabbat Hagadol (the Shabbat immediately before Pesach). These readings remind us how to approach the important holidays on our calendar, preparing us for the valuable lessons of repentance and liberty encapsulated by Yom Kippur and Pesach. In this way it makes sense for us to study other haftarot to prepare us for other holidays, like Hanukkah, Tisha B’av, or even secular holidays, like Mother’s day, or Independence day. Where the traditional list of haftarot is not useful in our modern lives, we should not hesitate to study the books of the Prophets in order to find other readings that may be more informative and fulfilling.

    To answer the original question. I would say that as liberal Jews we do not have to read the haftarah on Shabbat and we should only do so if it enriches our prayer experience and informs our life. To insist on reading the haftarah because it is traditional or “the way we have always done it,” is to become slavish followers of the past. As liberal Jews we have the freedom to make changes, and the responsibility to keep Judaism relevant and meaningful.

- Rabbi Michael Holzman

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