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DAAT · LEVEL 1 — INTRODUCTION

Siman קמ״א · The reader and the prompter

דיני הקורא והמקרא — the laws of the reader and the one who prompts: reading standing (מעומד), without leaning; two do not read together; the מקרא who prompts word by word; via a סרסור; אמן וברכה; the עין הרע for two brothers; going up and down the בימה; and the קרי וכתיב הלכה למשה מסיני
סימן קמ״א · ח׳ סעיפים
דיני הקורא והמקרא
🌱 Introductory level · מתחילים
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This siman teaches the conduct of the קריאת התורה from the side of the reader (הקורא) and the prompter (המקרא): reading standing without leaning; that two do not read together; the מקרא who prompts word by word; the use of a סרסור; the rhythm of אמן וברכה; the עין הרע; the way to go up and down the בימה; and the קרי וכתיב. Hebrew text, fluent English translation and explanation of the ח׳ seifim, with a section of practical cases.

Topic: The laws of the reader and the prompter — מעומד, לא יקראו שנים, המקרא, סרסור, אמן, עין הרע, המגדל, קרי וכתיב
Source: שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן קמ״א · ח׳ סעיפים

Compiled by: רב יוסף חיים סממה
DAAT · daattorah.com

The public reading of the Torah is modelled on the giving of the Torah at Sinai: one reads standing, with awe and reverence, only one voice being heard, and the Torah is transmitted « על ידי סרסור » — through an intermediary, as Moshe received it. The siman deals with the conduct of the reader and the prompter. We study here at the level of principle; for personal conduct, one refers to the custom and to the ruling of the Rav.

📑 Study outline

A. The ח׳ seifim — מעומד (א׳), לא יקראו שנים (ב׳), המקרא (ג׳), סרסור (ד׳), אמן וברכה (ה׳), עין הרע (ו׳), העולה למגדל (ז׳), קרי וכתיב (ח׳)
1. Practical case — reading standing and the chazan's role
2. Practical case — the prompter (מקרא) and the oleh who reads בנחת
3. Practical case — answering אמן in time
+ Comprehension questions and going further

A. The reader and the prompter — the ח׳ seifim

הַקּוֹרֵא וְהַמַּקְרֶא — the reader and the prompter — the reading of the Torah before the public reproduces the solemnity of the giving of the Torah: it is done standing (מעומד), with a single voice (the two do not read together), with a מקרא who prompts and a סרסור (intermediary). From this also follow the rhythm of אמן וברכה, the concern for the עין הרע, the way of going up to the בימה, and fidelity to the קרי וכתיב.

Séif 1 — לקרות מעומד: reading standing

צריך לקרות מעומד, ואפילו לסמוך עצמו לכותל או לעמוד אסור אלא אם כן הוא בעל בשר. הגה: וכן החזן הקורא צריך לעמוד עם הקורא.
Séif 1: one must read (from the Torah) standing; it is even forbidden to lean against a wall or a pillar, unless he is heavy-set (בעל בשר). Rama: likewise, the chazan who reads must stand with the reader (העולה).
One reads standing, out of awe and reverence, in the image of the giving of the Torah, when the people stood « at the foot of the mountain ». Leaning (against a wall, a pillar) is even forbidden, for it is no longer a genuine standing — except for a heavy-set man (בעל בשר) for whom standing unsupported is difficult. The Rama adds that the chazan who reads aloud must also remain standing, with the oleh.

Séif 2 — לא יקראו שנים: two do not read together

לא יקראו שנים, אלא העולה קורא וש״צ שותק, או ש״צ קורא והעולה לא יקרא בקול רם, ומכל מקום צריך הוא לקרות עם ש״ץ כדי שלא תהא ברכתו לבטלה, אלא שצריך לקרות בנחת שלא ישמיע לאזניו.
Séif 2: two do not read together; either the oleh reads and the ש״צ is silent, or the ש״צ reads and the oleh does not read aloud; nevertheless he must read along with the ש״ץ, so that his blessing not be in vain (לבטלה), but quietly (בנחת), without making it audible to his own ears.
Only a single voice should be heard — תרי קלי לא משתמעי, two voices are not intelligible together. In practice today the ש״ץ (baal koré) reads aloud; but the one who made the blessing (the oleh) cannot fall entirely silent, otherwise his berakha would be in vain (לבטלה) — for he blessed in order to read. He therefore reads בנחת, softly, along with the ש״ץ, without even making it audible to his own ears.

Séif 3 — המקרא: the prompter, word by word

יש נוהגים להעמיד מי שמקרא לעולה מלה במלה, ואחר שגומר המקרא המלה אומרה העולה.
Séif 3: some have the custom to appoint someone who prompts the oleh word by word (מלה במלה); and after the מקרא finishes the word, the oleh says it.
The מקרא (prompter) precedes the oleh word by word, to help him read without error. The order matters: the מקרא says the word, and then the oleh repeats it — so that the oleh himself reads, in order, and it is his reading that accompanies the ש״ץ.

Séif 4 — על ידי סרסור: via an intermediary

אם ש״צ רוצה לברך לעצמו ולקרות, צריך שיעמוד אחר אצלו, שכשם שנתנה תורה על ידי סרסור כך אנו צריכים לנהוג בה על ידי סרסור.
Séif 4: if the ש״צ wishes to bless for himself and read, another must stand beside him; for just as the Torah was given via an intermediary (סרסור — Moshe), so must we conduct ourselves with it via an intermediary.
The Torah was given « על ידי סרסור » — via an intermediary, Moshe, between Hashem and Israel. To preserve this mode of transmission, even when the ש״ץ blesses and reads for himself, another stands beside him (like an intermediary), so that he does not read alone but « via a סרסור ».

Séif 5 — אמן וברכה: no overlap

אין הצבור רשאים לענות אמן עד שתכלה ברכה מפי הקורא, ואין הקורא רשאי לקרות בתורה עד שיכלה אמן מפי הצבור.
Séif 5: the צבור may not answer אמן until the ברכה is complete from the reader's mouth, and the reader may not read from the Torah until the אמן is complete from the צבור's mouth.
Two moments that must not overlap. The public waits for the blessing to end before answering אמן — so that the אמן is on a complete, well-heard berakha. And the reader waits for the אמן to end from the public before beginning to read — so that the אמן is not lost in the reading. Each in its turn, with attention.

Séif 6 — ב׳ אחים: two brothers and the עין הרע

יכולים לקרות ב׳ אחים זה אחר זה, והבן אחר האב, ואין מניחין אלא בשביל עין הרע. ואפילו אם אחד הוא השביעי ואחד הוא המפטיר, לא יקראו השני בשמו משום עין הרע.
Séif 6: two brothers may be called one after another, and the son after the father; one refrains only because of the עין הרע (the evil eye). And even if one is the seventh and the other is the מפטיר, one does not call the second by his name, because of the עין הרע.
On the level of the din, nothing prevents calling two brothers in succession, or the son after the father. One refrains only out of fear of the עין הרע (drawing unfavourable attention). And even where it is permitted — the seventh then the מפטיר — one takes care not to call the second by his name (« so-and-so son of so-and-so »), still because of the עין הרע.

Séif 7 — העולה למגדל: going up and down the בימה

העולה למגדל עולה בפתח שהיא לו בדרך קצרה ממקומו, וירד מהמגדל בדרך אחר שהיא לו בדרך ארוכה עד מקומו, ואם ב׳ הדרכים שוים עולה בפתח שהיא לו בדרך ימין וירד בפתח שכנגדו, ולא ירד עד שעלה כבר הראוי לקרות אחריו.
Séif 7: one who goes up to the בימה (מגדל) ascends by the entrance that is the shorter way from his place, and descends by another way that is the longer way to his place; if the two ways are equal, he ascends by the entrance on his right and descends by the opposite entrance; and he does not descend until the one who is to read after him has already ascended.
One hastens to the mitzva — hence he ascends by the shorter way — and shows that he is reluctant to leave it — hence he descends by the longer way. If the two are equal, preference goes to the right at the ascent. Finally, one does not descend until the next reader (the next oleh) has already ascended, so that the בימה not remain « without Torah ».

Séif 8 — קרי וכתיב: reading according to the מסורה

כל תיבה שהיא קרי וכתיב הלכה למשה מסיני שתהא נכתבת כמו שהיא בתורה ונקרית בענין אחר, ומעשה באחד שקרא כמו שהיא כתובה בפני גדולי הדור ה״ר יצחק אבוהב וה״ר אברהם ואלנסי ושמואל ואלנסי בנו ז״ל, והתרו בו שיקרא כפי המסורה ולא רצה, ונדוהו והורידוהו מהתיבה.
Séif 8: every word that is קרי וכתיב is a הלכה למשה מסיני: it is written as it is in the Torah and read differently. And there was a case of one who read (a word) as it is written, before the great ones of the generation — Rav Yitzchak Abuhav, Rav Avraham Valensi and Shmuel Valensi his son, of blessed memory —; they warned him to read according to the מסורה, he refused; they placed him in נידוי (ban) and had him descend from the בימה.
Some words have a written form (כתיב) and a read form (קרי) that differ: this is a הלכה למשה מסיני. In the public reading one always follows the קרי (the מסורה). The reported episode teaches the gravity of the matter: one who read according to the כתיב against the מסורה, and refused to correct himself before the great ones of the דור, was placed in נידוי and removed from the בימה.
The siman in one sentence: one reads the Torah standing and without leaning, with a single voice (the oleh reading בנחת so his berakha not be לבטלה); one may appoint a מקרא who prompts מלה במלה and a סרסור; one does not overlap אמן וברכה; one takes account of the עין הרע; one ascends by the shorter way and descends by the longer; and one reads every קרי וכתיב according to the מסורה, for it is הלכה למשה מסיני.

Practical cases

Case 1 — Reading standing and the chazan's role

Situation: may the oleh (or the chazan who reads) lean against the בימה during the reading?
Conduct: one reads standing, without leaning (against a wall, a pillar or the בימה), for it is no longer a genuine standing — except a heavy-set (בעל בשר) person for whom it is difficult. The chazan who reads aloud also stands, with the oleh. For the practical application, one follows one's Rav.

Case 2 — The prompter (מקרא) and the oleh who reads בנחת

Situation: the baal koré (ש״ץ) reads aloud for the oleh. Must the oleh also read? in what voice?
Conduct: two do not read aloud together. The oleh who made the berakha reads בנחת (softly) with the ש״ץ — שלא תהא ברכתו לבטלה, so his blessing not be in vain — and not even audible to his own ears. One may also appoint a מקרא who prompts מלה במלה. For the details, one follows one's Rav.

Case 3 — Answering אמן in time

Situation: when does one answer אמן to the blessing, and when does the reader begin to read?
Conduct: the public waits for the ברכה to be completed from the reader's mouth before answering אמן; and the reader waits for the אמן to be completed from the public's mouth before beginning to read. One does not overlap the two, so that each — blessing, amen, reading — is heard on its own. For borderline cases, one follows one's Rav.

Comprehension questions

Check your understanding:
  1. Why does one read the Torah standing, and who may lean (séif 1)?
  2. Why must the oleh read בנחת with the ש״ץ, and what is otherwise feared (séif 2)?
  3. What is the מקרא and in what order does he prompt (séif 3)?
  4. What does it mean to transmit the Torah « על ידי סרסור » (séif 4)?
  5. Why not overlap אמן וברכה, and what is the קרי וכתיב (séifim 5 and 8)?

Going further

If you wish to deepen this siman:
Continue to the next simanSiman 142 →
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DAAT · רב יוסף חיים סממה

סימן קמ״א · ח׳ סעיפים · Level 1 — Introduction
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