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Glite Dictionary
Haftorah

Haftorah

2 9.9
A short reading from the Prophets read after the Torah on the Sabbath and festivals
  • noun
  • /hɑːfˈtɔːrə/
  • Jargon
: Haftará
  • During the Bar Mitzvah ceremony, he confidently recited his Haftorah after the Torah reading.
  • learn his Haftorah

Examples

  • Do you think he's going to have the time to learn his haftorah?

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Then came the Haftorah portion about Hannah's anguish about not being able to become pregnant.

    Blog text (3)

  • "Have you memorized your Haftorah?" The Haftorah was the section of the Torah that Tiff would have to read, in Hebrew, to the congregation.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Each week, students prepare their Haftorah portions to share during Saturday services at the synagogue.

  • The rabbi explained the significance of the Haftorah reading in connection with the Torah portion.

Synonyms

Haftarah
vsHaftorah
  • Jargon
1 9.9

A short reading from the prophets that people say in synagogue after the Torah reading

is identical in meaning but differs only in spelling or transliteration
Haphtorah
vsHaftorah
  • Jargon
9.9

A short reading from the Prophets read in synagogue after the Torah on Sabbath and holidays

is the same practice but is written with a different spelling
Haphtarah
vsHaftorah
  • Jargon
9.9

A short passage from the Prophets read in synagogue after the Torah reading

is the same meaning but uses a different written spelling

Surface Forms

Haftorah singular
Haftorot plural

Etymology

Haftorah comes from the Hebrew word haftara, meaning 'conclusion' or 'taking away'. It is the short reading from the Prophets that comes after the Torah portion and helps 'finish' that part of the service, so thinking of it as the 'concluding' reading makes the word easy to remember.