The Laws of Those Called Up to the Torah - Rabbi Eyal Peled shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast of Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 We’re going to talk now about the halachos concerning people called up to the Torah. Let’s start with something familiar: the Gemara says that if someone is given a Torah scroll and does not read from it, then, G-d forbid, his days are shortened. That raises the same question about being called up for a Torah reading. Once the gabbai calls a person by name and asks him to come up, he should be careful not to refuse, because refusing is not a good thing. So he should accept the invitation and come up for the reading. It’s very important not to refuse for no reason. You’ve been invited to come up to the Torah—may everyone be granted long life—so just come up and read. “And you who cleave to Hashem your G-d are all alive today.” Still, if someone does not come up for a reason—not just because he doesn’t feel like it, but because he’s in the middle of davening, needs to leave, or has some other reason—then that is permitted. Otherwise, he should make an effort to come up. Now, regarding how people are called up to the Torah: there are customs to call a person by his name and his father’s name, and that is our custom too. The halachic authorities write that this is very, very important. In other words, it shouldn’t be omitted or treated lightly. Calling someone up to the Torah by his name and his father’s name benefits the soul, and there are also reasons for it according to Kabbalah. So it is important to be particular about calling him by his name and his father’s name. There are certain people about whom we have a question: can they be called up to the Torah, such as a blind person? But first, on the subject of his name and his father’s name,

02:29 Speaker 2 there are certain people whose father’s name we don’t know. They are called an asufi or a shetuki: people who, sadly, were found abandoned in the street, as happened in the past. A shetuki is a child whose father’s identity is simply unknown. Sadly, such situations do exist. How do we call such a person up to the Torah? There are two possibilities. The Taz writes that we should call him “ben Avraham.” Another option is to use his maternal grandfather’s name. We don’t know his father’s name, so we use his grandfather’s—the mother’s father’s. We know who the mother is, so we call him by her father’s name. But the Taz writes that it is preferable to call him “ben Avraham.” What about a stepson or an adopted son? When a family has adopted a child, the halachic authorities write that great care is needed concerning marriages that would not be permitted. That is why they write that one should take care not to call him by his adoptive father’s name, but by his maternal grandfather’s name or as “ben Avraham.” It is preferable to call him “ben Avraham,” as the Taz writes. On the other hand, if we don’t know the father’s name, those authorities write that—even if I don’t know the biological father’s name—let me put it this way: if I do know his biological father’s name, I call him by that name. But if I don’t, I call him “ben Avraham.” Rabbi Dvorkin, however, writes in Kovetz HaDrashah that if the biological father’s name is unknown, I call him by the name of the person raising him. He writes quite definitively

05:08 Speaker 2 that he may also be called by his adoptive father’s name. If I don’t know his biological father’s name, I can call him by his adoptive father’s name. That is what Rabbi Dvorkin writes, and it seems that this can be done. What happens if a Jewish man marries a non-Jewish woman, G-d forbid, they have a son, and that son converts? Since the son was born to a non-Jewish mother, his lineage does not follow his Jewish father. So I cannot call him by his father’s name; I call him “ben Avraham” instead. If I call such a person up to the Torah, I call him “ben Avraham.” The question arises: can a blind person be called up to the Torah? After all, if he comes up, he cannot read because he cannot see. Similarly, can an illiterate person who does not know how to read—or someone so unlearned that he cannot read, or who does not understand Lashon Hakodesh at all—be called up to the Torah? In the original halachic sources, this is a dispute between the Mechaber and the Rema. The Mechaber holds that a blind person cannot be called up to the Torah, because if he cannot read, he cannot make the blessings; his blessings would be blessings in vain. He must know how to read. Only then can he be called up. The Rema, on the other hand, holds that he can be called up. True, ideally he should read along with the baal korei, but after the fact, if he does not read, or does not know how to read, he fulfills his obligation through the baal korei under the principle of “one who listens is considered as one who responds.” So he can be called up. That

07:02 Speaker 2 is the Rema’s view. The Avnei Nezer explains that their dispute turns on whether, under the principle that one who listens is considered as one who responds, he is considered to be reading from the text or reciting it by heart. The reading must be from the scroll: “Words that are written may not be recited by heart.” I have to read from the scroll. If I listen to the Torah reader and fulfill my obligation only because one who listens is considered as one who responds, it is as though I am reciting by heart. That is the Mechaber’s view. But the Rema holds that listening and being considered as responding also counts as reading from the text. Since the baal korei is reading from the text, when you hear him, it is as though you too are reading from the text, and that is acceptable. That is the Rema’s view. So in practice, this would seem to be a dispute between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. Nevertheless, even later Sephardi halachic authorities agreed that a blind person may be called up to the Torah. The Kaf Hachaim rules this way too: even according to Sephardi practice, a blind person can be called up and make the blessings. Yalkut Yosef writes, though, that in Tzfas, which is considered the Mechaber’s own locale, they should not do so; he should not be called up there. Elsewhere, he is more qualified about it: he says that ideally the person should not be called up, but if he has already gone up, he should not come down. That is the halacha regarding a blind person. As for us, we follow the Rema, so of course we can call a blind person up to the Torah when needed. What about someone who is mute and cannot speak? Can I call him up to the Torah? Ideally, I certainly cannot, because he cannot say the blessings. Why would I call him up if he cannot say them? So plainly, calling a mute person up to the Torah is not an option. However, if

09:10 Speaker 2 a mute person has learned to speak with impaired speech, as it’s called—there are mute people who are taught to speak—there is a dispute about whether that counts as truly speaking or is merely something mechanical. He has been taught the mechanics of speech, but perhaps he is not truly speaking. Perhaps he does not have the mental faculty behind speech, the power of speech as it should arise from a person’s understanding. There is a dispute about this. Some permit calling him up to the Torah when needed; that is what the responsa Keren LeDavid writes. Others say not to. Some argue that since there is a dispute, we apply the principle of leniency in cases of doubtful blessings: we do not call him up and risk a blessing that may be in vain. So there is a dispute concerning a mute person who has learned to speak. Perhaps in a case of great need, where he might be hurt or embarrassed, we can rely on the authorities who hold that he may be called up to the Torah. There is also the case of someone who has difficulty speaking after a medical event—may no one experience such a thing. His ability to speak may have been impaired, and he speaks in a way that is hard to understand. Can such a person be called up to the Torah? The halacha offers a way to decide: if we see that even someone who is not accustomed to his speech can understand him—it may take a little effort, but his words can be understood—then he can be called up. There is no problem; he is considered able to say the blessings. That is what Minchas Shlomo writes, and the book Nesivim Bishvilei Hashlichus also discusses this case. But if only people who are accustomed to his speech understand him, while others who are not used to hearing him cannot understand him, then again

11:05 Speaker 2 We have a problem: he can’t be called up; he can’t be given an aliyah. What about a deaf person? Can a deaf person be called up to the Torah? So, in practice, if a deaf person can speak, he can be called up. The Rema writes, though, that he should read quietly along with the Torah reader. In other words, he makes the blessing and reads quietly along with the Torah reader. What does that mean? He can’t hear what the Torah reader is saying, so how can he read along with him? The Pri Megadim explains that he watches the Torah reader’s lips and reads to himself, more or less together with him. So that is how a deaf person can be called up to the Torah; it is possible. What about autistic children who have what is called an intellectual disability, or something like that? This question comes up often: can children like that be called up to the Torah? They don’t have to be children, of course. They might be much older, eighteen or nineteen, but their intellectual functioning is not in the best state. Can they be called up to the Torah? The ruling is that if the young man has the understanding of a six- or seven-year-old, he can be called up. But if his condition is more severe and he does not even have the understanding of a six- or seven-year-old, then he is not called up to the Torah. That is the ruling regarding a young man with an intellectual disability. Another question: what about a person with a disability who uses a wheelchair? Can he be called up to the Torah? Because

13:10 Speaker 2 someone who is called up to the Torah must stand for the reading: “But you, stand here with Me.” Out of respect for the Torah and for the congregation, he must stand. So what happens when a person with a disability uses a wheelchair? Can we call him up to the Torah? The truth is, this really is a problem. It really is a problem. We would not call up a person with a disability who uses a wheelchair, even though we are very considerate and so on, because it would not be respectful to the Torah or to the congregation. But the halachic authorities write that if he is needed to make up the seven people called up, and you do not have seven without him, or if you are somewhere like a hospital, where there are elderly people or people with disabilities who cannot stand, then we can call them up in such circumstances. Ordinarily, though, it really would be a problem. There is also a question about an uncircumcised man: can he be called up to the Torah? The approach to an uncircumcised man is unusual. Perhaps we should first ask whether someone who desecrates Shabbos can be called up to the Torah. Many people who do not observe Torah and mitzvos come to daven in shul, and we want to know whether we can call them up. Generally, the practice is to call up even someone who publicly desecrates Shabbos. We regard him as someone raised without knowledge of Jewish observance; we regard his actions as unintentional, and we want to bring him closer. So we call him up to the Torah. The Rebbe addressed situations like these. The Rebbe writes that one should act with “the right hand drawing close and the left hand pushing away,” try to judge them favorably, and call them up to the Torah even though they publicly transgress. But when someone is openly defiant toward religion and explicitly says that he believes in nothing, that it is all nonsense, and so on,

15:15 Speaker 2 then it really is a major question whether he can be called up to the Torah. Some write that, nevertheless, if he comes to shul, then presumably, at least deep down, he does want to come closer. So each case has to be considered on its own: to what extent has he come because he still feels some connection, and to what extent has he come just to provoke, because his family told him or asked him to come, and so on? One has to respond according to the actual circumstances. But when it comes to an uncircumcised man, it is somewhat different, because he is, as it were, neglecting the mitzvah of circumcision, or has, as it were, placed himself outside Judaism altogether. It is a very serious transgression. So there is a question whether he can be called up to the Torah. In the end, the ruling is similar: if he is openly and deliberately uncircumcised and has no interest in being circumcised, he should not be called up. But if he is unaware or was prevented from being circumcised—some Chabad halachic authorities discuss people who came from Russia and regard them, too, as unaware or as having been prevented—then he can be called up. Especially if he accepts the obligation and is willing to be circumcised, he can certainly be called up to the Torah even though, at present, he is uncircumcised. Since he is willing to be circumcised and is not deliberately refusing, but was unaware or prevented, he can indeed be called up. Another matter: there are certain disqualifications concerning a man married to a non-Jewish woman. A man married to a non-Jewish woman is not called up to the Torah. One who has relations with “the daughter of a foreign god” is considered like an idol worshipper, G-d forbid. So a man married to a non-Jewish woman

17:21 Speaker 2 is not called up to the Torah. He can be given hagbah and so on, but he is not called up. Sometimes people come to shul dressed inappropriately, in a sleeveless undershirt or shorts, for example. Can they be called up to the Torah? Someone wearing a sleeveless undershirt is not called up; he is considered improperly dressed and is not called up. But if he is wearing shorts, it depends. Some permit it if that is how he normally dresses and he goes around dressed that way even among prominent people. Others still prohibit it. So there is a difference of opinion, and each case must be considered on its own merits. What happens when there is a question about someone’s Jewish status? We are unsure whether he is Jewish. What do we do? Of course, when someone wants to get married, we have to investigate his mother, his maternal grandmother, and several more generations to establish with certainty that he is Jewish. But regarding making up a minyan or being called up to the Torah, many halachic authorities write that if he comes before us and says he is Jewish, we believe him. We are lenient and believe him for the purpose of an aliyah. Some, however, require a little more than that. They require some knowledge of what life was like for his family in his country of origin. If the family there kept Jewish tradition and the fundamentals of Judaism, then he can be believed. Others require an investigation as well. Some require, particularly for immigrants from Russia and the former Soviet Union, verification that he has a clearly Jewish name or that the documents from his country of origin record his mother and maternal grandmother as

19:23 Speaker 2 as Jews on their documents of origin, then we can rely on that. We can call him up to the Torah, and so on. So that is a more, uh, more reliable way of establishing it. We’ll also mention a matter that comes up in halachah concerning a minor: Can a minor be called up for the Torah reading? The truth is, it says in a baraisa, in the Mishnah, that “a minor may be called up; a minor may read.” That is, it says that “a minor may read from the Torah.” So there is a disagreement about what that means. What do we mean when we say a minor may read from the Torah? Can he be called up for any aliyah, or only for maftir? That is essentially a disagreement between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. According to the Mishnah Berurah and the Alter Rebbe’s Shulchan Aruch, he may be called up only for maftir. A minor may be called up only for maftir. According to the Mechaber, he may also be called up for the other aliyos, not just maftir. The Sephardic halachic authorities ruled that he may be called up only on Shabbos and Yom Tov, but not on Monday or Thursday, at least not initially. In practice, we don’t call up a minor even for maftir. In actual practice, we don’t call up a minor even for maftir. Some explained—I think it was the Eliyah Rabbah—that when may I call up a minor for maftir? Only when additional aliyos are being added beyond the seven. When I add aliyos beyond the seven and call up various other people, I can then call up the minor for maftir. But since we do not customarily add those aliyos, we do not call up a minor for maftir. It is also worth knowing that sometimes a boy approaching bar mitzvah is in a situation where he won’t be able to have an aliyah afterward, and we can give him one only before his bar mitzvah. I don’t know, because at the time—because after the bar mitzvah, or at the time of the bar mitzvah,

21:55 Speaker 2 he won’t be able to have an aliyah, or he won’t be here, or something like that. There are all sorts of situations where a minor, a boy approaching bar mitzvah, asks for an aliyah before his bar mitzvah. The halachic authorities, including Chabad halachic authorities, write that if necessary, he can be given an aliyah. If he is a few days before his bar mitzvah, he can be given an aliyah if necessary. All this concerns a minor who is not a kohen. But if he is a minor who is a kohen, then even according to the Sephardic view, we do not call him up. The custom is for him to step outside, and a Yisroel is called up in his place. Speaking of kohanim, we know, first of all, that a kohen is the first to be called up to the Torah. Because of “you shall sanctify him,” we must give him precedence in everything, so the kohen is called up first. There are situations where no kohen is present. What do we do then? According to the basic law, the order is no longer binding: a Yisroel may be called up, and we do not have to call up a Levi. But we have a teaching in the name of the Alter Rebbe, and there is also testimony from Rabbi Landau, that when there is no kohen, care is taken to call up a Levi. The Alter Rebbe says that one who gives precedence to the Levi will be granted long life, and so on. So yes, there is definitely reason to give the Levi precedence. But again, all this is on condition that there are no Yisroelim with an obligation to receive an aliyah. If a Yisroel has some obligation—a yahrzeit or something like that, or he is a sandek—then of course we will give the aliyah to the Yisroel. The question, really, is whether the Levi has standing in his own right, or whether his standing is dependent on the kohen. In other words, the kohen comes first, and the Levi’s standing comes from being second to the kohen. But once there is no kohen, the Levi no longer has that standing either. Yet some say—and this does seem reasonable, and it also seems to follow from what the Alter Rebbe

24:10 Speaker 2 writes—that a Levi does have standing in his own right as a Levi, not necessarily just as someone secondary to the kohen, and therefore there is reason to give the Levi precedence. Now, we said that if there is no kohen, we give the Levi precedence. Fine—that is when there is a Levi. But what happens if I thought there was a kohen? I call out, “Let the kohen arise,” and so on, and suddenly it turns out that this kohen is not in shul. Now I want to call up someone else, a Yisroel, in his place. In that case, the halachic authorities write that I should not call the Yisroel by name. I should just signal to him to come up to the Torah. I should not call him by name, so as not to cast doubt on the kohen’s status. People might wonder, “Why didn’t you call up the kohen? Apparently it turned out that he isn’t a kohen.” So in such situations, we do not call the Yisroel who replaces the kohen by name; we signal to him to come up without calling his name. What about a kohen who is married to a divorcee or a convert? A kohen who is married to a divorcee or a convert is not called up first to the Torah. The mitzvah of “you shall sanctify him”—giving him the first opportunity and calling him up first—does not apply to him. Since his standing has been compromised by marrying a divorcee—or, rather, he has not lost his own status, but has rendered his offspring ineligible—he is not entitled to the honor of “you shall sanctify him,” and we do not call him up first for the Torah reading. We can, however, call him up for another aliyah. We will see later whether a kohen can generally be called up for another aliyah, but we can call him up for an aliyah other than the first. More generally, there is a question: If a kohen is in shul and we are about to begin the Torah reading, but nobody there knows him, does he need to come forward and announce that he is a kohen

26:16 Speaker 2 or not? The halachah says that he does not have to announce that he is a kohen. If he sees that the gabbai does not know him and goes straight to calling up a Yisroel, he does not need to come forward and say, “I’m a kohen. There is a kohen here. I should be called up first.” He is under no obligation to do that. But if the gabbai asks, “Is there a kohen here?” then he must come forward and say, “Yes, there is a kohen. I’m a kohen, and I should be called up.” And in general, the obligation to call up a kohen is an absolute obligation. In other words, you cannot skip it. We will see that there are certain situations in which I can pass over the kohen, but that is only when there is some need to do so. If it is deliberate, though—say a gabbai has some dispute with the kohen and decides not to call him up, deliberately passing him over—then all the blessings are in vain. One may not answer amen to the blessings of the person called up, and he does not count among the seven people called up. It is considered as though there had been no Torah reading here. We really need to be careful to give the kohen this honor, to give him the first aliyah. We cannot simply disregard it for any reason, unless there is some need—for example, there are many Yisroelim who have obligations to receive aliyos, or various situations like that, where there is no way around it: we want to call up the Yisroelim, and there are not enough aliyos to give one to the kohen as well. Also, once you have a kohen, he takes up the next aliyah too, the Levi’s aliyah. So there are often situations where there is no choice and we have to pass over the kohen. In such situations, the common practice is—and many also write this

28:15 Speaker 2 The poskim, the Mishnah Berurah and others, say that a kohen cannot waive the honor due to him. A kohen cannot say, “I waive my honor; go ahead and call up a Yisroel.” He cannot waive that honor. Why? Because of the need to maintain peace. The kohen must be given the first aliyah. So the only way to do it is for him to step outside. Then we call up the Yisroel, and when the reading begins, the kohen comes back in. But it is worth knowing that the Alter Rebbe does not hold this way. The Alter Rebbe says that the mitzvah of honoring kohanim, and the rule that a kohen cannot waive his status, apply only to matters stemming from the sanctity of the kohanim. He cannot waive his sanctity. He cannot decide, “I waive my sanctity, so I’ll marry a convert or a divorcée,” and so on. But when something is a matter of honoring the kohen, he can waive that honor. Therefore, according to the Alter Rebbe, he does not need to go outside. He can waive his honor and give the aliyah to a Yisroel. That is when we need to call up Yisroelim instead of the kohen. There is also a question about a kohen who is in the shul but is not part of the minyan: are we obligated to call him up? The answer is yes. We have the mitzvah of “you shall sanctify him,” so we must call him up. What if we called a Yisroel to the Torah for the first aliyah, and then discovered that a kohen is present, or a kohen walked in? We have already called up the Yisroel, and just then we discover a kohen is there, or the kohen walks in. What do we do? The halachah says that if the Yisroel called up has said Hashem’s name in the Torah blessing—he has said, “Blessed are

30:16 Speaker 2 You, Hashem”—he does not stop. He continues, even though, seemingly, he could say “teach me Your statutes.” But the Rosh cites the idea that “teach me Your statutes” can prevent a blessing from being in vain in the name of “some say.” In other words, it is not entirely clear-cut, so it is better not to rely on it. Therefore, he continues. If he went up to the Torah and said “Blessed are You, Hashem,” he finishes the Torah blessing and continues with the reading. But if he has only said “Bless Hashem,” he stops and the kohen goes up in his place. There is a disagreement about whether that kohen needs to say “Bless Hashem” himself. It seems that he does, but in any case the kohen goes up in his place. The Shulchan Aruch says that the Yisroel should remain standing there so as not to embarrass him, and after the Levi goes up, the Yisroel can go up and complete his aliyah. He can do so if he wants to; he does not have to. He can decide to forgo it, and so on, but that is the halachah. The same applies when a kohen received the first aliyah and, thinking there is no Levi, we call him up for the second aliyah as well, but suddenly a Levi walks in, or it turns out there is a Levi present. The halachah is the same: if the kohen has already begun the blessing, he does not stop. He finishes the blessing and reads from the Torah. But if he has only said “Bless Hashem,” he stops and gives the aliyah to the Levi. What about a situation where there are many kohanim? Sometimes there are not enough Yisroelim to call up after the kohen. There are more kohanim than Yisroelim, and we need to give kohanim later aliyos—not

32:32 Speaker 2 just the first aliyah. There might even be a kohen following another kohen. Can he go up? What do we do in such situations? If there is one Yisroel in that minyan, he goes up first to maintain peace, and all the kohanim go up after him—or all the Levi’im, if it is a minyan of Levi’im. If there are several Yisroelim there, the kohen goes up first and second if there is no Levi. Then the Yisroelim go up, followed by the remaining kohanim. But if possible, they should arrange it as kohen, Levi, Yisroel, kohen, Yisroel, and so on. Or they should put a Yisroel between kohanim: a kohen goes up, then a Yisroel, then a kohen, then a Yisroel, then a kohen, and so on. On the other hand, there are situations where we ask: can I give a kohen an aliyah other than the first? I want to give him an aliyah in the middle of the reading. Is that possible? The Mechaber, in the Shulchan Aruch, writes that when necessary, it is possible. He can go up in the middle of the reading, even for the fourth or fifth aliyah, and so on. The Mechaber permits it when necessary, provided that he follows a Yisroel, not another kohen. If a Yisroel goes up for the third aliyah, a kohen can be given the fourth. But what must we do when calling up the kohen? We must say, “Even though he is a kohen,” so people will not think he is a Yisroel. We make that clear by announcing, “Let so-and-so son of so-and-so come up, even though he is a kohen.” That way, he can go up in the middle of the aliyos too. But the Rema disagrees. The Rema says no: only after the required seven aliyos have been completed is it

34:40 Speaker 2 permissible to call up a kohen. The Levush and the Magen Avraham explain that he can go up specifically for the last aliyah or for maftir. That means a kohen can go up for the last aliyah—the seventh on Shabbos, the fifth on Yom Tov, or the sixth on Yom Kippur—or for maftir. The Eliyah Rabbah, however, writes that even when we say a kohen can be called up for the final aliyah, that is only if we add aliyos beyond the seven. If we add aliyos beyond the seven, I can give the final aliyah to a kohen. But if there are only seven aliyos, I cannot give a kohen the final one, only maftir. That is what the Eliyah Rabbah writes. This also seems to be the basis for our custom: we do not call up a kohen for the final aliyah, only for maftir. So a kohen can be called up for maftir. In fact, the institute’s book discussing Simchas Torah says that, for Chassan Torah and Chassan Bereishis, the halachah allows us to call up a kohen or a Levi for either one. In those cases it is possible; there is no problem. Now we will discuss whether family members can receive aliyos. Can relatives be called up to the Torah one after another? There are relatives who cannot. For example, a father and son cannot be called up one after the other. What does “cannot” mean? The main reason is concern about the evil eye. That is what the poskim write: we are concerned about the evil eye if both go up one after the other. Some write that it also relates to the laws of testimony—a father and son cannot testify about one another, and the Torah reading is a kind of testimony—but that is not the reason that was accepted. The accepted reason is concern about the evil eye. Therefore, we do not call up a father and son one after the other. There needs to be some sort of interval between them. The same applies to two brothers on their father’s side: we do not call them up one after the other. The question arises about a grandfather and grandson: can they be called up one after the other? If it is a grandfather and his son’s son, there is reason to be stringent and make sure they are not called up consecutively. Especially if they have the same name, one should certainly be careful about it. But all this applies before they have been called up. If the grandfather and grandson have already been called, they may go up. That is when the grandson is his son’s son. But if the grandson is his daughter’s son, there is no concern at all. We are not particular about a grandfather and his daughter’s son; they can go up one after the other, and that is completely fine. As for brothers on their mother’s side, some people are particular about that too. It is not necessarily required, but some are particular. So, before they are called up, someone who is particular should not call them up consecutively. But if they have already been called, there is no problem with their going up. At that point it is fine. Even with a father and son, if they have been called up, the halachah says they should go up. Say the father went up and then they want to call up the son: the son should go up. In that case, though, the father should immediately step down from the bimah rather than remain there, as is usually done until after the next person’s aliyah. So, in a situation where the son is called up after the father, or

36:49 Speaker 2 Not the—actually, that is not the reason that became accepted. The accepted reason is concern about the evil eye. That is why we do not call a father and son to the Torah one after the other; there needs to be some sort of break between them. The same applies to two brothers. Two brothers who share a father are also not called to the Torah one after the other. The question arises: What about a grandfather and grandson? Can they be called up one after the other? The answer is that if it is a grandfather and his son’s son, there is reason to be stringent and make sure they are not called one after the other. Especially if they have the same name, one should certainly be careful about this. But all of this applies in the first instance. If they have already been called—the grandfather and grandson have already been called—then they may go up. All of this is when the grandson is his son’s son. But if the grandson is his daughter’s son, there is no concern at all. People are not particular about that. When the grandson is his daughter’s son, there is no reason for concern, and they can go up one after the other; that is completely fine. As for brothers who share a mother, some people are particular about that too. It is not necessarily required, but some people are particular. So, in the first instance, someone who is particular should not call them up one after the other. But if they have already been called, there is no problem with their going up. After the fact, it is fine; there is no problem. Even with a father and son, if they have been called up, the halachah says they should go up. In other words, say the father went up and then they want to call up the son—the son should go up. It is just that, in that case, the father should immediately step down from the bimah and not remain there, as one normally does until after the next person’s aliyah. So in a situation where they call the son up after the father, or

39:08 Speaker 2 one brother after another, then the person who had the previous aliyah simply steps down from the bimah and does not linger there. On the other hand, there are certain situations where relatives can be called up. For example, the Mishnah Berurah requires two conditions: there must be a Kaddish separating the readings, and the second reading must be from a different Torah scroll. In that case, there is no concern at all. I can call the father up to one Torah scroll; then that reading ends, Kaddish is said, and the next reading is from another Torah scroll. On Shabbos or other days when two Torah scrolls are taken out, such as Shabbos Chanukah, Rosh Chodesh, and the like, we can call the relative—the father—up to one scroll, and then, after Kaddish and with a second Torah scroll, call up the other one. So, ideally, both conditions are needed: Kaddish and a different Torah scroll. Nevertheless, the poskim write that when both conditions are not met, but one of them is—either Kaddish or a different Torah scroll—one may also be lenient when necessary. Shalom u’vrachah. Today we’ll discuss mistakes that can occur during an aliyah to the Torah. We’ve spoken about who can receive an aliyah and who cannot. We’ve spoken about relatives and about the aliyos of a kohen, a Levi, and so on. Now we’ll discuss mistakes during an aliyah. Let’s start with a common one. There are several common mistakes, but one is that someone who is not very familiar with halachah and davening is called up to the Torah and immediately begins the Torah blessing without saying Barchu.

41:20 Speaker 2 What I’ve seen happen many times is that people stop him in the middle. He has already begun the blessing, and they interrupt him: “Barchu, Barchu, Barchu.” That is not correct. Barchu is not indispensable. Saying Barchu before beginning a blessing in public is an enactment, but its omission does not invalidate the blessing. So if he did not say Barchu and has begun the blessing—he has already said Hashem’s name—we do not interrupt him. Some say that if he has said Hashem’s name, he should say “lamdeini chukecha” and then start again with Barchu, but that is not required. Once he has begun the blessing, we do not stop him. I did see a place that cites an instruction from the Rebbe: when this happened, the Rebbe told the person receiving the aliyah to say Barchu after reciting the final blessing, following the reading. In other words, he said the first blessing without Barchu, the Torah was read, he recited the final blessing, and then he said Barchu. That is also an interesting solution; it was an instruction from the Rebbe. Barchu can also be said at the end, after the final blessing. There is something very important to note about Barchu: it is addressed to the congregation. Therefore, the congregation must hear it. Ten people must hear Barchu before they can respond, “Baruch Hashem hamevorach le’olam va’ed.” But if the person receiving the aliyah says Barchu quietly, and only those

43:26 Speaker 2 standing near him—the baal korei and a few others, three or four people—hear him, then the congregation cannot give that response. This happens a lot with boys receiving an aliyah for the first time at their bar mitzvah. They are very shy and say Barchu so quietly. So pay attention: if you think fewer than ten people heard him, you do not say “Baruch Hashem hamevorach le’olam va’ed.” You can only say amen; you cannot give the response. If ten people heard the person receiving the aliyah say Barchu and they respond “Baruch Hashem hamevorach le’olam va’ed,” then even if I did not hear him but heard those responding, I can respond too. But if ten people did not hear him, and I did not hear him either—only the people near him heard him, and I hear their response—I cannot respond “Baruch Hashem hamevorach le’olam va’ed” either. The opportunity has been missed, which is a shame, so we need to pay attention. That is regarding Barchu. There is another question about what the person receiving an aliyah says when he is called up for the Chazak aliyah: does he say “Chazak, chazak venischazek” along with the congregation? The truth is that the poskim write that he should not. The Mishnah Berurah writes that he should not, because he is the one receiving the aliyah. The congregation says Chazak to him; like the baal korei, he does not need to say “Chazak, chazak venischazek.” That is also the ruling of the Ketzos Hashulchan. But on the other hand, the practical instruction and the actual Chabad custom is that the person receiving the aliyah

45:19 Speaker 2 says it together with the congregation. I think it may even appear in Hayom Yom—that he, too, says “Chazak, chazak venischazek” along with the congregation. That is on that subject. With the blessings, too, there are very common mistakes. Often, someone is called up to the Torah and, instead of beginning the first blessing, begins the final one. Instead of saying “asher bachar banu,” he says “asher nosan lanu.” In that case, even if he has already begun and said Hashem’s name, it is not a problem. If he says, “Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, who gave us a Torah of truth…” and remembers before finishing the blessing, he goes back to “asher bachar banu.” He does not repeat “Blessed are You, Hashem”; he goes back to “asher bachar banu” and then finishes the blessing. That is fine. But if it is too late and he has already finished—he mistakenly said the final blessing in place of the first—then he simply reverses their order. Some hold that the blessings have no fixed order, though others disagree. But in principle, they have no fixed order. So if he mistakenly said the final blessing first, then at the end, instead of saying the final blessing, “asher nosan lanu,” he says the first blessing, “asher bachar banu.” This is indeed the halachic ruling, and it is also the Chabad practice. Some disagree. There are opinions that hold the reverse: if he made the mistake with the final blessing, it does not invalidate it, but the first blessing is indispensable. Others hold differently. In any case, this is what we do in this situation.

47:16 Speaker 2 Now, regarding the final blessing: if he said the first blessing instead of the final one, he needs to recite the blessing again. If, at the end of the aliyah, he said “asher bachar banu” instead of “asher nosan lanu,” he has not fulfilled his obligation. He must recite the correct blessing. That is when he has switched the blessings. There are other situations that can occur. Someone is called up to the Torah, recites the blessing properly, and in the middle of the reading he becomes unable to continue—he faints or cannot speak. Such things can happen. Someone receives an aliyah and then feels weak, cannot remain standing, and has to step down from the bimah. What do we do? In such a situation, we call someone else up to the Torah. If the person receiving the aliyah cannot continue, I call someone else in his place, and the second person must recite the Torah blessing. The baal korei then starts reading from the place where he began for the first person, who fainted in the middle. That is the procedure. If someone cannot remain standing and steps down from the bimah in the middle of the reading, another person is called up and recites the Torah blessings, and the baal korei begins reading for him from where he began for the previous person. Other situations can arise involving an interruption between the blessing and the reading. What happens if someone recites the Torah blessing and then speaks before the reading begins? Speaking during the reading is not considered an interruption, but speaking between the blessing and the start of the reading can be a problem. It depends: if what he said was needed for the reading—say, he asked where to read from, or something else related to the reading—then he does not

49:38 Speaker 2 He has to recite the blessing again. But if his interruption was speech unrelated to the reading, he has to recite the blessing again. All this concerns the person called up to the Torah. But if the baal korei interrupted by speaking, the baal korei does not have to recite the blessing again. No—neither the person called up nor the baal korei has to recite the blessing again. So an interruption by the baal korei does not prevent them from continuing. Now, if the person called up to the Torah spoke before the final blessing—that is, after the reading, instead of immediately reciting the final blessing—he does not have to recite the blessing again in any case. In fact, some cite a practice from earlier times: a rabbi would be called up to the Torah, and after the reading ended, he would give a short talk, and only then would they recite the Torah blessing. In other words, they would even interrupt with speech deliberately, so after the fact it certainly does not prevent them from continuing. If the interruption was after the reading, it does not prevent them from continuing. And of course, the laws of interruption certainly do not apply to the baal korei in the same way. As for what we said earlier—that if the person called up to the Torah falls silent, we call up someone else and he recites the blessing—that applies to the person called up. But if the baal korei falls silent in the middle and cannot continue reading, there is no problem: another baal korei simply comes and continues from where he stopped. Another kind of mistake can happen when someone is called up to the Torah and, as we usually do, we show him the place of the reading. We showed him where to read, but it turns out that it was the wrong place. Suddenly we realize, as we are about to begin reading, that we should not be reading here at all; we need to read further on, or a little earlier. If he was shown the wrong place, there are several possibilities. The Mechaber implies that he does not

51:38 Speaker 2 recite the blessing again. He does not recite it again; we simply turn to the correct place and read. It may be a matter of doubt about blessings, or something like that, but he does not have to recite the blessing again. And that is indeed how the Sephardic communities rule: in any such case, he does not recite another blessing, because of the concern that it might be a blessing in vain, and so on. But the Rema says otherwise. The ruling is—as the Mishnah Berurah writes—that if the correct place for the reading was visible to him, he does not have to recite the blessing again. Usually, when the Torah scroll is open, several columns are visible. So if the correct place was visible to him, he does not have to recite the blessing again. But if the reading was in an entirely different place that was not open before him, he does have to recite the blessing again. That is also how the Ketzos Hashulchan rules. However, there is the Pri Megadim, whom the Biur Halachah also cites. The Pri Megadim writes that even if the correct place was not visible to him, he does not have to recite the blessing again. Why? He says it all depends on what the person called up to the Torah knew. If he knows what the weekly parsha is, the fact that they showed him another place makes no difference. So even though they showed him a different place, and even though the correct place was not visible to him, he still does not have to recite the blessing again. They can roll the scroll to the right place and read. When would he have to recite the blessing again? The Pri Megadim says this applies when he did not know at all which reading was required. Those cases are uncommon. It could happen, for example, with the readings on Pesach, when there is a different reading each day and it changes. With those readings, it really could happen that they did not show him the correct place

53:43 Speaker 2 and, if that place was not visible to him, he would have to recite the blessing again even according to the Pri Megadim. Because if they did not show him the correct place, the person called up presumably did not know exactly what was supposed to be read either. So in that case, if the correct reading was not visible to him, he does have to recite the blessing again, according to everyone. It seems that the Ketzos Hashulchan does not cite this Pri Megadim. In other words, apparently the Ketzos Hashulchan does not make this distinction. He rules simply that if the correct place was visible to him, he does not have to recite the blessing again; if it was not visible to him, he does. It would seem that according to the Ketzos Hashulchan, whenever it was not visible to him, he would have to recite the blessing again. Nevertheless, this needs careful thought, because after all, the Kaf Hachaim writes that there is doubt here concerning blessings and the possibility of a blessing in vain. So we need to consider whether we can really tell the person called up to recite the blessing again. It would seem that, because of the doubt concerning blessings, we would not tell him to do so. Regarding a mourner being called up to the Torah, we know that a mourner is not called up to the Torah and does not read from it, because Torah study is forbidden to him. So ordinarily a mourner is not called up. Nevertheless, if he has an obligation—for example, it is his yahrzeit or a daughter was born to him—he may be called up. That is also written in Chabad books. There is a book called the guide by Gardik[unclear]. It cites this Chabad custom that he may be called up. The only thing is that when we call up a mourner because there is a need, he goes up on his own. We do not call him by name; rather, he goes up to the Torah on his own, recites the blessing, and reads. Of course, if someone is in the middle of davening, the question arises whether he may be called up to the Torah. The halachah is that he

55:41 Speaker 2 may be called up even if he is in the middle of the blessings of Shema. He may go up, but he should not read along with the baal korei, because he may not do so while he is in the middle of the blessings of Shema. So he goes up but does not read along with the baal korei. A question was asked about whether he may be called up for maftir. We want to call someone who is in the middle of the blessings of Shema for maftir. May he go up and read the haftorah and so on? The answer is that he may. He may be called up for maftir, and he may also read the haftorah together with its blessings. That is possible too.