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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Wikipedia
under "Haftarah" has the following:</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<P dir=ltr><FONT face="Times New Roman">"No one knows for certain the origins
of reading the <I>haftarah</I>, but several theories have been put forth. The
most common explanation, accepted by some traditional Jewish authorities is
that in 168 B.C.E., when the </FONT><A title=Chanukah
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanukah#Story"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>Jews were under the rule</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> of the Seleucid king </FONT><A
title="Antiochus IV Epiphanes"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiochus_IV_Epiphanes"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>Antiochus IV Epiphanes</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman">, they were forbidden from </FONT><A
title="Torah reading" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah_reading"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>reading</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> the </FONT><A title=Pentateuch
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentateuch"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#000000>Pentateuch</FONT></A><FONT face="Times New Roman"> and made do
with a substitute. When they were again able to read the Pentateuch, they kept
reading the <I>haftarah</I> as well.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">An alternative explanation, offered by Rabbis
</FONT><A class=new title="Reuven Margolies"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reuven_Margolies&action=edit"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>Reuven Margolies</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> and </FONT><A title="Samson Raphael Hirsch"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Raphael_Hirsch"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>Samson Raphael Hirsch</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman">, is that the <I>haftarah</I> reading was instituted to
fight the influence of those </FONT><A title=Sects
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sects"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#000000>sects</FONT></A><FONT face="Times New Roman"> in Judaism that
viewed the Jewish Bible as consisting only of the
Pentateuch."</FONT></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">I know that the former rationale is given by the
15th century R. Elijah Bahur, <I>Sefer haTishbi</I>, sec. “<I>Peter</I>;”
cited by R. Yom Tov Lipmann-Heller, <I>Tosafot Yom Tov</I>, <I>Megilla</I>, 3:4,
<I>s.v.</I> “<I>li-keSidran</I>.” See also Abudarham, <I>Shaharit shel
Shabbat</I>, <I>s.v.</I> “<I>veAhar she-golelin</I>” - who gives a similar idea
without dating it to Antiochus.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">The latter rationale is suggested by
</FONT><FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">R. Judah Leib Fishman
(Maimon), <I>Hagim uMo’adim </I>(</SPAN><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City><st1:place><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Jerusalem</SPAN></st1:place></st1:City><SPAN
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">: 5704), pp. 197-198.
</SPAN></FONT><FONT face="Times New Roman">Does anyone know the source of the
similar statements of Rabbis </FONT></FONT><A class=new title="Reuven Margolies"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reuven_Margolies&action=edit"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>Reuven Margolies</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> and </FONT><A title="Samson Raphael Hirsch"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Raphael_Hirsch"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=#000000>Samson Raphael Hirsch</FONT></A><FONT
face="Times New Roman"> cited by Wikipedia?</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman">Gemar Hatima Tova</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Times New Roman"> Aryeh</FONT></P>
<P>--------------------------------------------------------<BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman">Dr. Aryeh A. Frimer<BR>Chemistry Dept., Bar-Ilan
University<BR>Ramat Gan 52900, ISRAEL<BR>E-mail: </FONT><A
href="mailto:FrimeA@mail.biu.ac.il"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">FrimeA@mail.biu.ac.il</FONT></A><BR></P></BODY></HTML>