Answer by Rabbi Chaim Hillel Raskin – Rov of Kfar Chabad Beis, Israel:
It is incumbent upon the baal korei to prepare properly and read the Torah with the precise nekudos, dikduk and trop (cantillation). If he pronounced a word incorrectly, there are differing views among the rishonim what is to be done.
Some hold that the congregation is yotzei nonetheless, and the baal korei shouldn’t be corrected since it will make him uncomfortable. Others hold that the kriah is invalid and the baal korei must be corrected for any mistake.
A third view, which is the halacha, distinguishes that if the mistake doesn’t alter the meaning (e.g. es and eis), the baal korei should only be corrected quietly and on the spot, but not if he already went further. If, however, the mistake alters the meaning (e.g. chalav and chielev), the baal korei must return to correct the mistake. Incorrect trop should also be corrected if it alters the meaning of the posuk by joining the wrong words together.
If he skipped a word, even without altering the meaning (e.g. ki hichbad’ti instead of ki ani hichbad’ti), it must be repeated. If he skipped a letter without altering the meaning (e.g. omitted alef of aharon), some poskim hold that it needn’t be corrected, yet others disagree as every letter in Torah is important. The Alter Rebbe appears to rule like the latter opinion.
When returning to correct a mistake, if he will have to repeat Hashem’s name, the custom (although not mandated) is to complete the posuk first and then return to the beginning. Yet, if there is another mention of Hashem’s name later, one should go back right away and not finish the posuk.
If the mistake was only noticed after the aliya, the baal korei should begin the next aliya from that posuk or the closest permissible starting point (and if needed, he can subtly skip to the current aliya after reading three pesukim).10 If krias haTorah has ended, on Shabbos they must take the Torah out again and read that posuk and two more pesukim with a bracha.
On a Monday or Thursday, this needn’t be done as long as three pesukim in each of the three aliyos (total of ten pesukim) were read correctly (and the missing posuk will be made up on Shabbos). The five aliyos of yom tov are valid as long as three pesukim in each were read correctly, however, the pesukim in maftir that discuss the korbanos of the day must be entirely correct.
Published in the Weekly Farbrengen email of Merkaz Anash. See Sources
i was once at a barmitzva of a chasidishe yid whose son read entire parsha. i asked the father hayitochon? he replied Rebbe’s view was better to use the time for higher priorities etc, but if boy will not use time for that, rather sit on phone, ipad etc and waste his time, better to learn entire parsha
You don’t even know whom this person is, yet you personally insult him. So what was his crime that deserved such an aggravated insult? 1) Bringing up what I personally view as a valid point, though perhaps not in the most diplomatic of ways, it is far from being personally insulting. 2) For the rest of his comment he simply quoted anecdotes from the Rebbe which seem very clearly supportive of his general viewpoint. His comment may have seemed somewhat militant and maybe even a bit antagonistic, however that seems simply to be his writing style. Yes, it may call… Read more »
just because YOU didn’t do your bar mitzva parsh cause you aren’t smart enough don’t bash people who could and SHOULD do it
Another good reason why boys should not be reading the so called “bar mitzvah parsha,having the whole crowd suffer their mistakes and then have to LIE to the kid and his parents how “GREAT” he did.and how about the temptations of CHILUL SHABBOS for all the women and men who come to attend,which is one of the reasons the rebbe said not to celebrate the bar mitzvah on shabbos. This is all in ADDITION to the main reason that the REBBE wrote many times and told many people in yechidus and asked to be “MEFARSAIM DAATI” NOT to prepare a… Read more »