The reading of Scripture at Sabbath and holiday prayer services has been a feature of Jewish congregational worship for nearly two millennia. The precedent for a public reading of Scripture goes back to Moses’s instruction to the Israelites to read the Torah aloud once every seven years to all the people – men, women and children – assembled at the Temple to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Deuteronomy 31:10-13). Likely, the Torah to which Moses was referring was not the entire Pentateuch but was limited to Deuteronomy.

The rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud laid down the rules for a regular reading of the Torah on Sabbath and holiday mornings as well as for several shorter readings during the week. As Jewish practice evolved, all Jewish communities adopted an annual cycle, reading the entire

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