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Aliyot and Honours at the UHC - A Deeper Insight

Many people think that the way the Wardens allocate the Aliyot/Mitzvot on Shabbat is totally left to chance (the only chance we take is who turns up!) We can assure you that a lot of planning goes into this task. It starts with the Yartzheit lists approximately one month beforehand and continues through to the Shabbat morning with little tweaks here and there.

Firstly there are the rules and secondly there are minhagim (local customs).

So to start off with, let us deal with the rules:

The first Aliyah is given to a Cohen; if no Cohen is present then anyone can be given the first Aliyah. The second Aliyah is given to a Levi, if no Levi is present then the Cohen called for the first Aliyah is also given the second. If no Cohen was called for the first Aliyah then a Levi need not be called for the second.

This is the order of priority according to which aliyot should be distributed:

  1. a bridegroom on the day of his wedding;
  2. a bridegroom on the Sabbath before his wedding when songs are sung in his honor - i.e., someone getting married for the first time - and a youth who became Bar Mitzvah during the previous week. These two are of equal priority.
  3. a sandak - i.e., the person who holds the child while he is being circumcised - on the day of the circumcision;
  4. the kwatter - i.e., the person who carries the child into the synagogue for the circumcision - on the day of the circumcision;
  5. the husband of a woman who gave birth to a girl, provided the mother attends the synagogue;
  6. the husband of a woman who gave birth to a boy, provided the mother attends the synagogue. If the mother does not attend, her husband is not given priority in receiving an aliyah, except on the forty-first day after the birth of a boy and the eighty-first day after the birth of a girl. These are days when his wife would have been obligated to bring a sacrifice in the Temple.
  7. a groom who was married on Wednesday or later of the preceding week.
    8. This applies only when either the bride or the groom is being married for the first time.
  8. a person who has yahrzeit that day;
  9. a father on the day of his son's circumcision;
  10. a person who has yahrzeit in the coming week;
  11. the mohel on the day of a circumcision;
  12. the sandok, the father, and the mohel (in that order) on the Sabbath before the circumcision.

When there are two individuals of equal priority, the decision to whom to give the aliyoh is left up to the gabbai, or lots should be cast. A person who is not a resident of the city is not given priority over others.

It is customary to give aliyot to individuals who are leaving on a journey after the Sabbath or to one who has returned from a journey. It is proper to give an aliyah to an honored guest; however, he is not given precedence over any of the individuals listed above. (See Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 78:11, also Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayyim, and Biur Halachah 136 for a slightly different opinion and analysis).

To make matters a little more interesting, all the above are subject to the following further rules:

A father and son or two brothers may not be called up in for successive Aliyot unless from a different Sefer Torah (i.e. on Yom Tov) they may also not perform the same mitzvah together (i.e. Pesichah, Hagbahah / Gelilah).

When a father and son are observing the same Yartzheit the son is entitled to the Aliyah. When two brothers are observing the same Yartzheit the elder brother is entitled to the Aliyah.

For the last two instances every effort is made to give a mitzvah to all family members but this is not always possible. Similarly at any simcha all the above rules have to be followed before grandparents, in-laws and family friends may be considered.

  • We can make further splits to the Sedra on an ordinary Shabbat (but not on Yom Tovim) in order to accommodate extra Aliyot but so as not to overly lengthen the service and so as not to fragment the portion we limit this to three extras.

A Cohen or a Levi (but not both) may have the last extra (Acheron) Aliyah.

Hagbahah and Gelilah may be offered to anyone (pre or post Bar Mitzvah) and are subject to all the call ups and blessings associated with an Aliyah. They are not 'Second Class' mitzvot and the Wardens do not offer them as such.

  • We cannot call up or offer any Mitzvah to one who has 'married out' except on the Yartzheit of a parent and then they must be the only child.

The wardens all believe that the youth of the community are its life-blood and should not have to wait from their Bar Mitzvah until they are G-d forbid ovelim in order to get "called up". Every effort will be made to include them in our call up lists.

After all these rules and Minhagim (customs) have been followed and every effort has been made to accommodate all members of the Kahilah (congregation), all the Wardens ask of you is that, if you have a Yartzheit or if you are celebrating a simcha please be in Shul in good time (9:45am on a regular Shabbat). If you're not able to attend please find a way of letting us know (either by telephoning or emailing the office before Thursday at noon).

- Ian Freeman