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Shabbat - Morning Service

Torah Service

seder k'ri-at hatorah

סדר קריאת התורה

Israeli: ' marks a reduced vowel that Israeli speech drops (b'rachah); when the vowel is pronounced it is written e (lefanecha). - separates syllables that would otherwise run together.

How to read the transliterations

בִּרְכוֹת הַתּוֹרָה

Blessings Recited by Those Called Up to the Torah

The person who is honored with an aliyah recites the following before the Torah is read:

Hebrew

בָּרְכוּ אֶת־יְהוָה הַמְבֹרָךְ:

Israeli

barechu et-adonai hamevorach:

English

Praise Adonai, to whom all praise is directed.

The congregation responds:

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה הַמְבֹרָךְ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד:

Israeli

baruch Adonai hamevorach le-olam va-ed:

English

Praise Adonai, to whom all praise is directed forever and ever.

The person who is honored repeats the above response, then continues:

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ מִכָּל־הָעַמִּים וְנָתַן לָנוּ אֶת־תּוֹרָתוֹ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה, נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה.

Israeli

baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam,
asher bachar banu mikol-ha-amim venatan lanu et-torato.
baruch atah Adonai, noten hatorah.

English

Barukh atah Adonai, our God, sovereign of time and space, who has chosen us from among all peoples, giving us the Torah. Barukh atah Adonai, who gives the Torah.

The person who is honored recites the following after the Torah is read:

Hebrew

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָנוּ תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת, וְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם נָטַע בְּתוֹכֵנוּ.
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהוָה, נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה.

Israeli

baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech ha-olam,
asher Natan lanu Torat emet, vechayei olam nata b'tochenu.
baruch atah Adonai, noten hatorah.

English

Barukh atah Adonai, our God, sovereign of time and space, who has given us a teaching of truth, planting eternal life in our midst. Barukh atah Adonai, who gives the Torah.

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ לָעוֹלֶה לַתּוֹרָה

Mi Sheberakh: Blessing for Those Called to the Torah

For an individual:

Hebrew

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ
שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה, הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת ________
שֶׁעָלָה/שֶׁעָלְתָה הַיּוֹם לִכְבוֹד הַמָּקוֹם וְלִכְבוֹד הַתּוֹרָה,
וְלִכְבוֹד הַשַּׁבָּת. הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִשְׁמֹר אוֹתוֹ/אוֹתָהּ
וְאֶת־כָּל־מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ/מִשְׁפַּחְתָּהּ, וְיִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה וְהַצְלָחָה
בְּכָל־מַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו/יָדֶיהָ, עִם כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶחָיו
וְאַחְיוֹתָיו/אַחֶיהָ וְאַחְיוֹתֶיהָ, וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

Israeli

mi sheberach avoteinu Avraham Yitzchak veya-akov, ve-imoteinu
Sarah Rivkah Rachel vele-ah, hu yevarech et ________
she-alah or she-aletah hayom lichvod hamakom velichvod hatorah,
velichvod hashabat. hakadosh baruch hu yishmor oto or otah
ve-et-kol-mishpachto or mishpachtah, veyishlach b'rachah vehatzlachah
b'chol-ma-aseh yadav or yadeha, im kol-yisra-el echav
ve-achyotav or acheha ve-achyoteha, venomar Amen.

English

May the one who blessed our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, bless _______, who has/have ascended today to honor God and the Torah and Shabbat. May the blessed Holy One protect him/her/them and his/her/their entire family, bring blessing and success to all the works of his/her/their hands, together with all his/her/their fellow Jews, and let us say: Amen.

For a group of people:

Hebrew

מִי שֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֲבוֹתֵינוּ אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק וְיַעֲקֹב, וְאִמּוֹתֵינוּ
שָׂרָה רִבְקָה רָחֵל וְלֵאָה, הוּא יְבָרֵךְ אֶת כָּל־אֵלֶּה שֶׁעָלוּ
הַיּוֹם לִכְבוֹד הַמָּקוֹם וְלִכְבוֹד הַתּוֹרָה, וְלִכְבוֹד הַשַּׁבָּת.
הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יִשְׁמֹר אוֹתָם וְאֶת־כָּל־מִשְׁפְּחוֹתֵיהֶם,
וְיִשְׁלַח בְּרָכָה וְהַצְלָחָה בְּכָל־מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵיהֶם, עִם
כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲחֵיהֶם וְאַחְיוֹתֵיהֶם, וְנֹאמַר אָמֵן.

Israeli

mi sheberach avoteinu Avraham Yitzchak veya-akov, ve-imoteinu
Sarah Rivkah Rachel vele-ah, hu yevarech et kol-eleh she-alu
hayom lichvod hamakom velichvod hatorah, velichvod hashabat.
hakadosh baruch hu yishmor otam ve-et-kol-mishpechoteihem,
veyishlach b'rachah vehatzlachah b'chol-ma-aseh yedeihem, im
kol-yisra-el acheihem ve-achyoteihem, venomar Amen.

For additional Mi Sheberakh prayers for special occasions, see pages 439–445.

Commentary

THE READING. In the Land of Israel in the 1st millennium, the Torah was read on a cycle of three-and-a-half years and divided into more than 150 portions. In Babylonia, the Torah was divided into larger portions, called parashiyot, which are read in sequence on Shabbat mornings throughout a single year. (The number of these portions was eventually fixed at 54.) Because some years are leap years and in some years festivals fall on Shabbat, certain parashiyot may be read together, so that the weekly readings remain coordinated with the calendar. Today, we follow the Babylonian custom, though some congregations read one-third of each parashah each week, thus completing a full Torah reading in three years. The trope, the musical notation with which the Torah is chanted, is the oldest form of musical notation still in use; it dates at least to the end of the 1st millennium. Trope serve as syntactical signposts and provide interpretive meaning to the text.

WHO HAS CHOSEN US בָּחַר בָּנוּ. At the moment of approaching the Torah, one may feel especially chosen and may also experience the moment as being directly commanded.

HAS GIVEN US . . . WHO GIVES THE TORAH נָתַן לָנוּ . . . נוֹתֵן הַתּוֹרָה. The Hebrew moves from the past tense to the present. The meaning of the words of Torah not only derive from the past, but each reading may offer a new revelation.

From Sephardic Practice Before reciting the Torah blessings, the honoree(s) turn(s) to the congregation with a word of blessing (in accord with the language of greeting found in Ruth 2:4), and the congregation then responds in recognition: Honoree(s): יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם. May God be with you. Adonai imakhem. Congregation: יְבָרֶכְךָ/יְבָרְכֵךְ/יְבָרֶכְכֶם יְהוָה. May God bless you. Y’varekh-kha/y’var’kheikh/y’var’kheim Adonai.

Shabbat: Resting-Place on Our Journey Each Shabbat is its own revelation, but each leads us further on the road to eternity. Each Shabbat is a resting place, an oasis on the journey that is the life of Torah. Each Shabbat’s Torah reading looks forward to yet another week—another revelation.

Studying Torah Once a young man who wanted to become a Ḥasid arrived at the court of Isaac Meir, the rebbe of Gur. The rabbi asked him if he had learned Torah. The young man didn’t know what to answer. He had studied Torah but didn’t want to appear too bold and answer “Yes,” as if he knew all of Torah; nor could he say “No,” for he would then be lying. So he responded, “I know a little.” The rabbi replied, “Can anyone know more than a little?”