Gaftra

In addition to the version of Gaftar, spellings are also used:

• Haftar;
• Aftar;
• Gaftor ^{[1] [2]} ;
• Gaftarot ^[3] .

The word Gaftar indicates that after reading a passage, those present in the synagogue are free and can go home.

On holidays and Saturdays, Haftar is read after reading the Torah in the morning service; in fasting and mourning days - in the afternoon prayer of Minch ; The ninth of Av and on Yom Kippur Haftar is read both in the morning and in the afternoon prayer.

There is usually some connection between the contents of Gaftar and the head of the Pentateuch that is read before her, but in most cases only one verse in the whole of Haftar mentions the event, which is the content of the chapter being read from the Torah. Often, between the contents of both chapters, only a general similarity in the events described is noticed; These include most of the Haftarot holidays, 4 Saturdays before Pesach , etc.

Gaftra is read by the last person called to the Torah (maftir). Before Gaftar, the "maftir" reads two blessings indicating the great mission of the prophets, the favor of God for their speeches, and the election of the Torah, and after it 4 praises, the content of which is:

1. an indication of the faithfulness of the Lord to His promise,
2. request for the restoration of Zion,
3. a request for the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of the throne of David,
4. gratitude for the gift of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Sabbath or the feast (on the fast days, the last hymn goes down).

The Talmud, in attributing to Moses and Ezra the introduction of the custom of reading the Torah on certain days, says nothing to the one who established this custom; it makes you think that it arose much later. Abudargam relates it to the era of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes (168-165 BC), when, in view of the prohibition against reading the Torah, they began to read passages from the Prophets.

According to others ^{[ who? ]} , this happened because after the cessation of persecution in many communities there were no scrolls of the Pentateuch and had to be content with reading from the Prophets (It can also be assumed that the Pharisees introduced Gaftar as a protest against the Sadducees . The latter, as adherents of the Hasmonean dynasty , and then the dynasty Herod did not want to acknowledge the same holiness with the Torah (the Pentateuch of Moses) behind the books of the Prophets, because they constantly say about the restoration of the house of David . There is a message , although it is unreliable that the Sadducees did not at all recognize the Prophets. Based on this assumption, it is easy to explain the content and nature of the blessings that are read after Haftar. In prayer for the restoration of the throne of David it is said directly: " Let no one else sit on his throne, and may he not inherit his other glories ." Although these opinions cannot be recognized as the meaning of unconditional correctness, it is nevertheless likely that the custom of reading to Gaftar was established even before our era.

From the Talmud, it appears (cf. also Luke 4:17 ) that reading Haftars on Saturdays was an established custom in the 1st century AD. e., so that the Talmudists of this century are already discussing the question of withdrawing from the public reading of some passages from the prophetic books; ^[4] it is clear from this that the reading of Gaftara was then practiced. However, since the Aramaic translation of the Prophets, caused by liturgical demand, was made in the 1st half of the 1st century AD. e., ^[5] it should be assumed that the introduction of the Haftar reading in the synagogue occurred no later than the first half of the 1st century AD. er Only a selection of passages was made gradually, from the beginning for holidays and special Saturdays, then for some other days (Tosefta, Maggil IV, 1-10), finally, for the rest of Saturdays.

The dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees seemed to play a very prominent role in the initial selection of passages for Gaftar. The Pharisees, who had clashes with the Sadducees, selected to read the chapters of the Pentateuch such passages from the Prophets, in which they saw confirmation of their understanding of the laws ο holidays, ο temple worship, etc. Therefore, the ancient Gaftarot have to look in those chapters of the prophetic books that can be used for polemics on these issues. The prophetic book most suitable for this purpose is the book of Ezekiel . Indeed, the two original Haftarots designated for special Saturdays are taken from this book: Ezek. 36:16 - for the Sabbath שבת פרה and Ezek. 45:16 - for the Sabbath שבת החודש. The last Gaftar includes poems ( Ezek. 45: 18–20 ), which are in conflict with the Pentateuch and without the traditional interpretation of the Pharisees, rejected by the Sadducees, could have led to the removal of the book from the canon (cf. Menachot 45a).

In Israel, respectively, the three-year cycle of reading the Torah and the reading of the Prophets was completed in three years, so that the number of passages corresponded to the number of weeks for three years. A manuscript is kept in Bodleyan with an incomplete list of these passages; the manuscript was found in a Cairo synagogue, probably belonging to Palestinian Jews, who were still in the XII century. stuck to a three-year cycle.

Haftarot often consisted of only two or three verses, as in antiquity, and after reading them in Hebrew, they were immediately translated into Aramaic, phrase by phrase, by the official translator (Meggila IV, 4). Some phrases that were not adapted to the level of popular understanding were left without translation. Sometimes the reading of the Prophets was followed by a teaching (cf. Luke 4:17; and ff. And Pesikta), which the read chapter of the Torah served as the theme. Over time, Ghaftar increased in volume (Maggila 31a), especially when they became guided by the principle that one should not begin or end Gaftar with a narrative ο disasters (Meggil III, 8), as a result of which, by the end of Gaftar, verses that were not have nothing to do with the meaning of the day or the content of the readable chapter of the Pentateuch. Following this principle, Tosefta (Megila IV, 18) permits to skip verses that are not suitable for this purpose and move on to another passage of the same book, and in the Little Prophets - even to another book. In Babylonia, the three-year cycle was replaced by a one-year cycle, and the former three chapters of the Torah formed one cider, and the passage that originally belonged to the first chapter, rather than the second and third, remained as Haftara. Karaites almost always give preference to Haftarot in the middle chapter. In addition to the already mentioned special Haftarot on the four Saturdays before Easter, there are also special Haftarot on the Sabbath, which coincides with the new moon (the last chapter of Isaiah), on the Sabbath on the eve of the new moon ( 1 Sam. 20: 18-42 ), on the great Saturday (Maleah., 3, 4-24; Sefardi read this Gaftar only if Easter eve coincides with subbot), on semi-festive Saturdays (שבת חול המועד) and on Chanukkah Saturdays. In all these cases, instead of Gaftar, corresponding to the next chapter from the Pentateuch read on this Saturday, a special Gaftar is read. On the three Sabbaths preceding the fast of the Ninth of Av, and the three Sabbaths that follow, Haftarot have no connection with the content of those chapters from the Pentateuch that they follow. The establishment of these six (then ten) Gaftarot is undoubtedly a product of a later time. The praises before and after the reading of Gaftar, which was discussed above, were first placed in the Palestinian treatise Sofrim (XIII, 9-14) and, as amended, in Siddur Amram (900). In some communities (mainly in Russia), Gaftar, like the Torah, is read from the Scroll by the same reader, the “maftir” is limited to reading benedications. In reformed communities, Ghaftaru is read by a rabbi in the native (native for those present) language.

Both Gaftar and the 2 preceding e-benedictions (blessings, Hebrews - “brakhot”, ברכות) are read according to the emphasis of a special, so-called “prophetic” melody (נגבז הנביאים) ^{[ unknown term ]} . In Russia, moreover, the motif from איבה is applied to Haftarot. Pre-benedictions are always sung by a “prophetic” motif that varies in other countries. Antiquity is hard to define. Of all the variations, the “prophetic” motive of Russian Jews is more complete and slim, and contains more elements of ancient oriental music. Accentuation and cantillation of two preliminary Gaftar benedications refers to a later time. The first has a double accentuation, of which one has no more than fifty years, and is a composition by an anonymous author. In the old biblical editions, the first accentuation is given, in modern the second.

In some places in Babylonia, during the Talmudic period, Haftarot of hagiographs was read during the ministry of Shahbat (116b). In Persia, in the 12th century, there were certain pre-evening Gaftarot for a whole year; according to Rashi (Shabbat, 24a), the custom of reading Gaftar under Minhe was abolished at the request of the Persian authorities.

• Jewish Encyclopedia , Ed. Islands for Scientific Jewish Ed. and Brokgauz-Efron. St. Petersburg: 1906-1913; reprint: M .: Terra, 1991. ISBN 5-85255-057-4 .

• Haftar - Article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia