Layn
Torah reading (Hebrew: קריאת התורה, romanized: K'riat haTorah, lit. '"Reading [of] the Torah"'; Ashkenazic pronunciation: Kriyas haTorah) is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillations (tropes), and then returning the scroll(s) to the Torah Ark.
This practice is also commonly called 'leyening, a loanword from Yiddish: לייענען, romanized: leyenen, lit. 'to read, to read out loud'. It is also spelt lain, leyn, layn, or otherwise, as the use of a standardized romanization of Yiddish in popular culture is irregular at best.
Regular public reading of the Torah was introduced by Ezra after the return of the Judean exiles from the Babylonian captivity c. 537 BCE as described in the Book of Nehemiah. In the modern era, Orthodox Jews practice Torah reading according to a set procedure almost unchanged since the Talmudic era. Since the 19th century, Reform and Conservative Judaism have made some adaptations to the practice of Torah reading, but the basic pattern has usually remained the same.
As a part of the morning or afternoon prayer services on certain days of the week or holidays, a section of the five books of the Torah is read from a scroll. On Shabbat (Saturday) mornings, a weekly section (known as a sedra or parashah) is read, selected so that the Torah is read consecutively each year. Conservative and Reform synagogues may read parashot on a triennial rather than annual schedule. On Sabbath afternoons, Mondays, and Thursdays, the beginning of the following the Shabbat portion is read. On Jewish holidays (including Hanukkah and Purim as well as the periods known as Chol HaMoed), Rosh Chodesh, and ta'anit (fast days), special readings connected to the day are read.
Many Jews observe an annual holiday, Simchat Torah, to celebrate the completion of the year's cycle of readings.
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