"The reading of the Torah as part of the synagogue service on Sabbaths, festivals, and fast days is followed by the reading of a selection from one of the prophetic books. This reading is known as the Haftarah, from the Hebrew word that means "conclusion" or "to take leave of."" "The Haftarah reading for each week was selected by the ancient rabbis because it has a correlation of some kind to the week's Torah portion. Many Haftarot deal with the same theme or subject as the Torah reading, so that the Haftarah seems to be an expansion or commentary on the Torah portion. Other Torah readings and Haftarot are related in other ways." "The origin of the custom of reading a selection from the Prophets after the Torah reading is unknown. Rabbi David Abudarham, who lived in the 14th century in Spain, claimed that the custom originated during the persecution that led up to the revolt by Judah Maccabee in the 2nd century B.C.E. Antiochus, the Syrian king, prohibited Torah reading in a brutal effort to stamp out Judaism. The Haftarot readings were introduced as a substitute. Later on, when the Jews won their freedom and restored the Torah reading, they retained the Haftarot readings in memory of this event." "The prophets of ancient Israel were a diverse group: some were farmers, some were shepherds, and some were members of the aristocracy; most were men, but a few were women. Whatever their background and training, they all boldly spoke out for God with prophetic messages calling for justice and peace." "The Book of Haftarot for Shabbat, Festivals and Fast Days: An Easy-to-Read Translation is the sequel to The Five Books of Moses: An Easy-to-Read Torah Translation."--BOOK JACKET.