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Torah Reading Tips and Customs
Congratulations! You have completed the Torah reading exercises. Now go and Open any of the Torah portions by clicking the TANACH button on the menu bar and then click TORAH. Once inside the TORAH module select a reading from the window that is displayed.
Readings in the list are shown in the order they are read in a year. Be sure to open the reading for the year you are reading it by going to the SETTINGS and selecting the cycle you want to follow in the Reading Defaults section. Some readings have special additions in certain years due to holidays or are longer, and some readings are combined with others except when it is a longer leap year. You can also select readings by the date they are read by pressing the CALENDAR button on the menu bar as well. Advanced users of TropeTrainer can further find a reading by clicking on the DATE CONVERTER feature or customize a reading in the CUSTOM READING module.
Below are some notes and recommendations that can help you prepare Torah portions.1) When you chant from the Torah, you will be reading from a scroll that has neither vowels nor Tropes. You basically must memorize the vowels, the Tropes, the ends of Aliyot and any K’ri (words that are pronounced differently than how they are written in the scroll -- we show these in green). For your convenience, horizontal black lines show where many modern Torahs start a new panel of text.
Texts in a Torah scroll are handwritten in a special style and have no vowels or tropes. To help you learn how to read from a scroll, a two-column display shows the Torah style (STaM) text in the left column, and the printed style with vowels and tropes in the right column. This is called Tikkun style.
To turn on Tikkun style, move your mouse pointer over the "What You See" button. The View Options popup appears. Click the, STaM left <|> Trope right, box. The display changes to two-column Tikkun mode. Move the mouse pointer out of the View Options popup.
Later study can be done from a display that only shows the hand-written style STaM text without vowels or tropes. To turn on STaM mode, move your mouse pointer over the "What You See" button. The View Options popup appears.
Click the TORAH STaM, button. The display changes to STaM mode. Move the mouse pointer out of the View Options popup.
2. There is no clear-cut method to memorize the verses. Some study each verse repeatedly until they learn it, then move to the next verse. Others do this by pairs of verses, others by Aliyot. Whatever way you choose to do it, note that this is the hardest part of learning to chant from a Torah for most people. It takes lots of study and practice to chant from the Torah properly.It is very helpful to understand the Hebrew for each verse. The Tropes specify the grammatical construction of each verse. Understanding what the verse means also helps you better remember the Tropes associated with each word and consequently, the melody for each part of the verse.To help you better see and learn phrases in Torah text, Stacked display mode is helpful. The “Stack Trope Phrases” feature divides lines at major trope boundaries, and divides the English Transliteration below the line to its related Hebrew phrases. You can also capitalize the letters of the accented syllable to help you. It is also helpful to know what you are chanting in English.To turn on this Stacked display, Transliteration, and Translation features, click on the "What You See" feature. The View Options popup appears. Select in turn these options:VOWELS & TROPESTACK TROPESHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATIONSHOW ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION3. When preparing the readings, the most important things you must learn are, in order:- Words, their vowels and their meaning- SOF PASUK (ends of verses)- ETNACHTA (ends of phrases)- The other TropesThe "Four-Step Method" mentioned in an earlier Tutorial should be helpful also. To review:-- Step 1 = read the Biblical text, trying for phrasing if you understand it;-- Step 2 = read the names of the Trope as the text presents them;-- Step 3 = chant the names of the Trope as the text presents them;-- Step 4 = chant the Biblical text, thus integrating reading and chanting.Additionally, some may choose to practice directly on the TropeTrainer site by recording their own voice chanting the biblical word, phrase, or verse then playing it back to hear themselves and check pronunciation. To record your voice directly on the site, click on the “Record” feature located in the upper toolbar of any text-view page. Once in the “Record” tool, click “Start Recording” and then sing the word, phrase, or verse. When you have finished recording click “Stop Recording.” To play back your voice, click the black triangle button (▶) within the recording oval.4. When you are studying the readings, it is better to study and pronounce Gd's name. If you study and say the word "Hashem" instead of Gd's name, it is likely that under the pressure of actually reading, you will forget to actually pronounce Gd's name, making the reading invalid. Jewish law (according to most Rabbis) says that as long as you finish reading a verse until its end, you are not saying Gd's name in vain. Consult your Rabbi if you have any questions about this.5. It is traditional for a congregant to stand at each side of the Torah reader with a Chumash or Tikkun following what the reader is reading. It is often the responsibility of these people (NOT that of any other congregant who hears the reader) to correct the reader if the reader makes a mistake. The best of Torah readers make mistakes. If you are corrected, don't panic, and don't apologize. Just go back to the word that was corrected, repeat that word, and continue chanting.6. It is important to say EVERY word while looking at that word in the Torah. Keep looking at the word you are chanting until you have finished reading it. You may be tempted to recite the words from memory. Don't do that -- it invalidates the reading and causes the person who has the Aliyah to say God's name in vain when reciting the blessing over the Torah. Be particularly careful if you know the words by heart when you are going from one line to the next and at the end of an Aliyah.7. In many synagogues, it is traditional to use a Yad (pointer) when reading from the Torah. Use the Yad to point to the word you are chanting. Be sure not to touch the words or the parchment. Touching the letters can scratch the ink off the parchment, invalidating the Torah. It is important not to touch the parchment with your hand. Grease from your fingers can get absorbed into the parchment, leading to faster deterioration of the parchment and damage to the handwritten letters. A Torah that is well taken care of can last for centuries. Do your part to ensure that the Torah from which you are reading lasts a very long time.8. When chanting from the Torah, stand to the left side of the Torah when the person getting the Aliyah is called up.9. Show the person getting the Aliyah the word that begins the reading. It is the custom in some synagogues for the reader to point to the last word of the reading as well.The person should touch near the first word of the reading (and then the last word if that is the local custom) with a tzitzit from their tallit and then lightly kiss the tzitzit (NOT kiss first and touch later, so that saliva is transferred to the parchment.) When the person who has an Aliyah is not wearing a tallit (e.g. for Shabbat Mincha), they may use the belt from the Torah, the cloth used to drape the Torah between aliyot, or a tallit they are not wearing.
After the person has chanted the blessing before the reading, say "Amen" out loud (unless you are the person getting the Aliyah -- then you just wait for others to say "Amen" and begin reading.) After reading, point to the last word (and in some congregations to the first word) so that the person getting the Aliyah can touch the tzitzit to the word(s).
10. The HazzanSolutions team recommends that you consult your Rabbi before chanting from the Torah. Your Rabbi or someone appointed by your Rabbi can check that you are doing everything correctly and explain to you any special local customs that the congregation expects you to follow.