<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;" align="left"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">On Shabbos and Yom Tov, four berachos are recited after the haftarah. From Maseches Sofrim (13:10) we can see that the first of these four berachos is &ldquo;semi-divided&rdquo; into two, with the second part beginning with the words &ldquo;ne&rsquo;eman ata hu&rdquo;. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Machzor Vitri (section 166) goes as far as to state that &ldquo;ne&rsquo;eman ata hu&rdquo; is the beginning of a separate berachah. It was once pointed out to me that if we take the acrostic of these berachos (including &ldquo;ne&rsquo;eman&rdquo;), we have beis, nun, reish, shin, ayin which spells out &ldquo;ben rosho&rdquo;. Can we learn from this that the father of the composer of these berachos was a rosho?</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;" align="left"><span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Which haftorahs cannot be recited by a kohen or levi? The answer is haftorahs which are recited at minchah on Yom Kippur and other fast days and on the morning of Tisha b&rsquo;Av. The reason is that they are read by the person called up for shlishi and this can only be a yisrael.</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">There is a unique situation where the same haftarah is read two weeks running. This can only occur in a city where Purim is celebrated on Shushan Purim, and in practice the only place in the world today where this occurs is Yerushalayim. Should Shushan Purim occur on Shabbos, then the maftir is the leining for Purim and the haftarah is that of Shabbos Zachor. (Mishnah Berurah 688:16) The previous Shabbos was Parshas Zachor and the haftarah was naturally that for Shabbos Zachor, hence the same haftarah two weeks running. The custom in places which celebrate two days Purim because of a safek, is to read the haftarah for that Shabbos, and not that of Shabbos Zachor. (Mishnah Berurah 688:16) An exception is Baghdad and it would seem that there they would read the haftarah for Shabbos Zachor on two successive weeks. (Ben Ish Chai, First year, Parashas Tetzaveh, Hilchos Purim paragraph 14)</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Mishnah Berurah (284:12) writes that the Tanach from which the haftarah was read should remain on the bimah whilst the after berachos for the haftarah are being recited, but does not state whether the Tanach should be open or closed. If a comparison is to be made from reading from the Sefer Torah or from Megillas Esther then it should be closed. However in fact there are differences of opinion on whether the Tanach should be open or closed. (see: Piskei Teshuvos volume 284:13 and footnote 98)</span> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">&nbsp;</p> </span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">When reading the haftarah, if one should have to choose between a klaf which has just that haftarah written on it (but not the entire Navi), or a printed Navi shalem, which should one choose? According to Rav Ovadiah Yosef, the klaf with just that haftarah is preferable. (Yalkut Yosef, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 284:2)</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Although there are numerous haftarahs read on Shabbos which come from the book of Yeshayahu, there is only <span style="text-decoration: underline;">one</span> Shabbos haftarah which comes from the book of Yehoshua, namely the haftarah for parashas Shelach Lecho. (There are also two Yom Tov haftarahs which come from Yehoshua, namely on the 1st day of Pesach and Simchas Torah.)</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">There is an occasion when one interrupts the haftarah to insert a piyut. This is on the 2nd day of Shavuos (in Chutz La&rsquo;aretz), when after the first verse of the haftarah, one inserts the piyut &ldquo;yetziv pisgam&rdquo;. The authorship of this piyut is attributed to Rabbenu Tam (c1100-c1171), the grandson of Rashi. </span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">&ldquo;What chutzpah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>They promised me an aliyah and all they gave me was gelila, but Moishe who has protexia with the gabbai got maftir.&rdquo; This is a comment that one might well hear. But this is all wrong! Hagba and gelila are&nbsp;the&nbsp;best two mitzvos. (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 147:1; see: Piskei Teshuvos, volume 2:147, footnote 14 &ndash; Chazon Ish states that today we equate gelila with hagba) In contrast, maftir is &ldquo;low&rdquo; on the scale, so much so that a person receiving it is &ldquo;compensated&rdquo; by receiving amongst other things to be the shliach tzibur. (Megillah 24a)</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">In almost all haftarahs, one reads from the beginning to end without any omissions of verses. There are a few occasions where one jumps forward to another place in the novi and this is often to the following chapter. However, there is also a case where one goes backwards to the previous chapter. This is in the haftarah of parashas Mishpotim. There the haftarah begins in Yirmiyohu, chapter 34 verses 8-27, and then ones goes <span style="text-decoration: underline;">backwards</span> to chapter 33, verses 25-26.</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">One can have the situation where the maftir read is that for Rosh Chodesh, but the haftarah is not. This occurs when Rosh Chodesh Menacham Av falls on Shabbos. Since this is during the period of the &ldquo;three weeks&rdquo;, each Shabbos of which has a special haftarah. (these haftarahs are known as the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>&ldquo;shelosho d&rsquo;puronusa&rdquo;),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>the haftarah for Rosh Chodesh is <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>overridden.</span></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">For every Shabbos throughout the year there is a haftarah after the Torah reading. When the Eretz Israel 3 year cycle Torah reading was in force, there had to be three times as many haftarah readings as we have today. From various sources, we today know in which navi and from where in the navi, almost all these haftarahs came from. The main sources are: a) two manuscripts which were found in the Cairo genizah. One of them gives about 70 haftarahs from Noach until the beginning of sefer Vayikra and the other manuscript gives some of those in sefer Devarim; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>b) the payetan Yannai <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>who lived in Eretz Yisroel about the 6th century (exact century not known). He composed &ldquo;kerovos&rdquo; for the amidah of each Shabbos in accordance with the 3 year cycle and included in these kerovos is the first verse of each haftarah. Only some of these kerovos are extant today.</span></span></span></p>