Returning the Torah

hachnasat sefer Torah

הכנסת ספר תורה

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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

When the Torah scroll is set into the Ark, say:

Num. 10Ps. 132Prov. 4Prov. 3Lam. 5

Hebrew

וּבְנֻחֹה יֹאמַר, שׁוּבָה יהוה רִבְבוֹת אַלְפֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל:
קוּמָה יהוה לִמְנוּחָתֶךָ, אַתָּה וַאֲרוֹן עֻזֶּךָ:
כֹּהֲנֶיךָ יִלְבְּשׁוּ־צֶדֶק, וַחֲסִידֶיךָ יְרַנֵּנוּ:
בַּעֲבוּר דָּוִד עַבְדֶּךָ אַל־תָּשֵׁב פְּנֵי מְשִׁיחֶךָ:
כִּי לֶקַח טוֹב נָתַתִּי לָכֶם, תּוֹרָתִי אַל־תַּעֲזֹבוּ:
עֵץ־חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ, וְתֹמְכֶיהָ מְאֻשָּׁר:
דְּרָכֶיהָ דַרְכֵי־נֹעַם וְכָל־נְתִיבוֹתֶיהָ שָׁלוֹם:
הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ יהוה אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה, חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם:

Israeli

uvnuchoh yomar, shuvah Adonai rivvot alfei Yisra-el:
kumah Adonai limnuchatecha, atah va-aron uzecha:
kohanecha yilbeshu-tzedek, vachasidecha yeranenu:
ba-avur David avdecha al-tashev p'nei meshichecha:
ki lekach tov natati lachem, torati al-ta-azovu:
etz-chayim hi lamachazikim bah, vetomecheha me-ushar:
d'racheha darchei-no-am vechol-netivoteha shalom:
hashivenu Adonai elecha venashuvah, chadesh yameinu k'kedem:

They close the Ark.

On Ḥol HaMo'ed and Rosh Ḥodesh, Half Kaddish is said by the Leader, page 172. Tefillin are then taken off. The service proceeds with Musaf (Rosh Ḥodesh at page 788, Ḥol HaMo'ed at page 856).

On remaining days, the service proceeds with "A prayer of David" on the next page.

On Lag BaOmer, Tu BiShevat, during Nisan, from Rosh Ḥodesh Sivan until the day following Shavuot (in Israel until the 12th of Sivan), Erev Rosh HaShana, Tu B'Av, from Yom Kippur until the day following Simḥat Torah (in Israel until Rosh Ḥodesh Marḥeshvan), on a Brit Mila morning, whether at the place the brit will occur or wherever the father, Sandak or mohel is found, should a groom be present (and some say a bride) on his wedding day, and through the week of Sheva Berakhot, proceed with "House of Jacob" on the next page.

On Ḥanukka, Erev Pesaḥ, Tisha B'Av, Yom Yerushalayim, Yom HaAtzma'ut, Shushan Purim and Purim, Adar I the 15th, or within a house of mourning, and on Isru Ḥag in Israel, proceed with the Daily Psalm on page 190.

Commentary

They parallel the words we say when the scroll is taken out, "Whenever the Ark set out" (page 166), said by the Israelites when they began a new journey. Throughout the centuries, wherever Jews went, they took the Torah with them: it became their "portable homeland." עֵץ־חַיִּים הִיא לַמַּחֲזִיקִים בָּהּ It is a tree of life to those who grasp it: though Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat the fruit of the tree of life (Gen. 3:22), the Torah is our intimation of eternity in the midst of time. Immortality is a matter, not of how long we live, but of how we live.

… create an orderly society. Worshiping God at the Temple may not be divorced from honesty and integrity in everyday life. The latter part of the psalm, "Lift up your heads, O gates," was said by King Solomon when the Ark, containing the tablets of the covenant, was first brought into the Temple (Shabbat 30a). As the Torah scroll is returned to the Ark, we recall that historic scene.

וּבְנֻחֹה יֹאמַר When the Ark came to rest: These words, taken from Numbers 10:36, recall the journeys of the Israelites through the wilderness in the days of Moses.