Quantity and manner of reading were at first, no doubt, variable. In the course of time certain systems found favour and became the fixed rule. Some completed the reading of the whole Pentateuch in three years, others in one year. The former mode was gradually displaced by the latter, and the attempts which have lately been made to revive it have not succeeded. Traces of the triennial reading may be noticed in the number of sedarim contained in the five books of the Pentateuch. At present, however, the annual course is followed in almost all our Synagogues. The section read on one Sabbath is called sidra; the first, ‏בראשית‎, is read the first Sabbath after the Feast of Tabernacles, and the last sidra is read on Simchath-torah (the 23rd of Tishri).

For the Festivals such sections were selected as contained either direct or indirect reference to the Festivals. If these happen to be on a Sabbath, the ordinary reading is interrupted, and that of the Festivals substituted for it.

The number of persons who were to take part in the reading varied according as the people were likely to devote less or more time to Divine Service: on weekdays and on Sabbath afternoon three, on New-moon and Chol-hammoed four, on the Festivals five, on the Day of Atonement six,[34] and on Sabbath seven. Some may have required the assistance of the chazan, and in [[347]]some cases the chazan’s voice was the only one that was heard; gradually the chazan became the reader, and the original reader became silent, being content with reciting the b’rachoth. Only in the case of the Bar-mitsvah, the Chathan-torah, and the Chathan-b’reshith the original practice has been retained.

As regards the order of those who take part in the reading of the Law, the first place is given to a Cohen, i.e., a descendant of Aaron, the priest; the second to a Levite, i.e., a non-priest of the tribe of Levi; and then follow other Israelites, that are neither Levites nor Cohanim, without any prescribed order. The last who concludes the reading from the Law on those days on which a chapter from the Prophets is also read is called maftir, “concluding;” and the lesson from the Prophets is called haphtarah, “conclusion.”

In the selection of the haphtarah care was taken that it should contain some reference to the contents of the lesson from the Pentateuch, and as there was not much choice, the haphtarah, once chosen, was as a rule read again on the recurrence of the same sidra. Different communities had different series of haphtaroth. A few negative rules concerning the selection of the haphtarah are mentioned in the Mishnah (Megillah iv. 10); Ezek. i. and xvi., 2 Sam. xi. and xiii., are to be excluded. These rules, however, were not observed, as Ezek. i. is the haphtarah for the first day of the Feast of Weeks. There is an ancient rule about the nature of the haphtaroth between the Fast of Tamuz and New-year; viz., there should be three haphtaroth of “rebuke” [[348]]and seven of “comfort” (‏נ׳ דפרענותא‎, ‏ז׳ דנחמתא‎). The former are taken from Jeremiah (i. and ii.) and Isaiah (i.); the latter are selected from Isaiah (xl. to lxvi.)

Various accounts are given of the origin of the haphtarah. One account traces its origin to a period of persecution, when the Jews were not allowed to read from the Torah, and the scrolls of the Law were either confiscated or concealed. In both cases it was easy to read from the Prophets, for this could be done by heart and in any place; whilst for the reading of the Torah it was necessary to produce a copy of the Law. According to another account, the haphtarah served as a protest against the theory of the Samaritans, who recognised the Torah alone as holy. But it is more likely and more natural to suppose that the haphtarah was introduced as soon as the Prophets became part of the Holy Scriptures.

There was a tendency to have recourse to the Divine messages of future comfort and glory when the present was gloomy and sad. At the end of the Service or a religious discourse, just before leaving the Synagogue or the Beth ha-midrash, passages from the Prophets were read, in order that the people might carry away with them a strengthened faith in God and in the ultimate victory of their religion. On Sabbath morning the lessons from the Prophets were of greater importance, since a larger number congregated, and more time could be devoted to it. A b’rachah therefore introduced it, and b’rachoth, including a prayer for the restoration of Zion, followed it. The name haphtarah suggests this explanation; it denotes literally “causing to leave,” “departure,” or “conclusion.” [[349]]

After the return of the Jews from Babylon they spoke the Chaldee dialect; the lessons from the Bible were accordingly accompanied by a Chaldee translation called targum. The translation was not always literal, but was frequently a paraphrase. It was given, as a rule, after each verse, by an appointed methurgeman.—In communities which only understood Greek the Greek version was read. A Spanish translation of the haphtarah is still added at present on the Fast of Ab in the Portuguese Ritual; but otherwise the practice of adding a translation to the text has long since been discontinued.

b. ‏שמור‎ “Take Heed.”

The negative commandment concerning the Holy-days is: ‏לא תעשה כל מלאכה‎, “Thou shalt do no manner of work.” The very name Sabbath (‏שבת‎, “rest”) implies absence of labour. We are commanded to rest on the Sabbath, but not to indulge in laziness and indolence, which are by no means conducive to the health of the body or the soul. The Sabbath rest is described in our Sabbath Afternoon Service as “voluntary and congenial, true and faithful, and happy and cheerful.” Moderate exercise, cheerful reading, and pleasant conversation are indispensable for a rest of this kind.