The Torah is read after Tahanun during the morning service on Mondays and Thursdays. This practice was instituted by none other than Moses himself, in what was possibly the very first rabbinic enactment in history. The idea behind this enactment is that there should not be three consecutive days without a public reading of the Torah. The Torah is also read on Shabbat, Rosh Hodesh, and festivals.

Further reading: For more on the Shabbat Torah reading, see p. 392.

A Torah scroll is taken out of the ark, and someone reads out of it aloud from the beginning of that week’s Torah portion. The reading of the Torah may be conducted only in the presence of at least ten men.

Three men are called up to the Torah, i.e., honored by approaching the Torah and saying blessings before and after a section of the reading: a kohen, a Levite, and an Israelite. When there is no kohen present, a Levite is called up first, followed by two Israelites; alternatively, if there is no kohen, three Israelites may be called up. If no Levite is there, the kohen is called up again, instead of a Levite. If there are no kohanim or Levites, three Israelites are called up to the Torah.

The oleh, the one who is called up to the Torah, opens the Torah scroll and looks at the place where the reading will start. It is customary to touch the first word of the reading with the edge of one’s tallit or with the girdle of the scroll and then kiss the tallit or girdle. He then recites the following:

Oleh: “Bless the Lord, the blessed One.”

Congregation: “Bless the Lord, the blessed One, for ever and all time.”

Many Sephardic Jews say instead:

Oleh: “May God be with you.”

Congregation: “May God bless you.”

Oleh: “Masters, bless the Lord, the blessed One.”

Congregation: “Bless the Lord, the blessed One, for ever and all time.”

The oleh then recites the blessing itself:

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has chosen us from all peoples and given us His Torah. Blessed are You, Lord, Giver of the Torah.”

The congregation answers “Amen,” and then the reader chants the passage from the Torah aloud, according to the traditional cantillation notes. The one called up to the Torah also joins in the reading, in an undertone. At the conclusion of the reading, the one who was called up recites the following blessing:

“Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has given us (Sephardic Jews add: ‘His Torah,’) the Torah of truth, and planted everlasting life in our midst. Blessed are You, Lord, Giver of the Torah.”

After the Torah reading on Mondays and Thursdays, or after the recitation of Tahanun on other weekdays, one continues the prayer as detailed in the prayer book: Ashrei (Psalms 145); Lamnatzeah (Psalms 20); Uva LeTzion, a compilation of prayers and verses from various passages in the Prophets and Writings; the Song of the Day, a different psalm for each day of the week corresponding to the psalm that the Levites would sing in the Temple on that day; in some congregations, the passage Ein Keloheinu, “There is none like our God,” which mainly details the incense service in the Temple; and Aleinu, “It is our duty,” an ancient prayer that focuses on belief in God and the expectation that the entire universe will one day acknowledge His reign. In congregations that recite the prayers in the nusah Ashkenaz format, Aleinu is recited before the Song of the Day.