Parshas B'shalach: Leining the Haftorah from a klaf

In this weeks parshas we learn that Moshe instituted the din of leining every 3 days. Since we also lein the Haftorah every Shabbos, I decided to speak about that.

Basically, the question I discussed is whether one can lein the Haftorah from a chumash or must it be done from a klaf.

The source for this halacha is a gemara in Gittin 60a. The gemara is discussing the sugyah of "devarim sh'bichsav ee atta omram al peh", meaning one is not allowed to say words of Torah that is supposed to be written down. Included in this issur would be reading words of Torah that are not written correctly. The gemara then asks that there were amoraim who would lain the haftorah from a "sefer aftarata", which was a scroll that had all the haftorahs written in it. The problem with this is that really each Navi should be written as a whole sefer and you are not allowed to write half a sefer or even one parsha of Navi by itself. If one reads from such a sefer then you are in violation of the issur of "d'varim sh'bichsav..". The gemara answers that we have no choice in the matter (eis la'asos) and as Rashi explains it would be too expensive to have scrolls for each sefer of Navi. Therefore, we are allowed to write one scroll for all the haftoras.

The question is how does one understand the above gemara and what was the original takana.

Shittas Levush and Aruch Hashulchan

One could say that the original takana was to read the haftorah from a klaf that is written with the same rules that apply to a sefer torah (i.e you need klaf, d'yo, gidin etc). On top of that there is an additional issue of "d'varim sh'bichsav..". Based on the takana alone, one could use a sefer aftarata. However, due to the prohibition of "d'varim sh'bichsav.." we need to use a whole sefer of Nach. It is only because of eis la'asos that we can use a aftarata. This seems to be the opinion of the Levush (Y.D. Siman 284) and Aruch Hashulchan. They both hold that b'zman hazeh even with the advent of the printing press, one should still use a klaf for the haftorah. Since this was part of the original takana, the eis la'asos never took off that requirement.

Shittas Shulchan Aruch HaRav

The other way to understand the sugyah is that there never was a takana to read the haftorah from a klaf. One could even read it ba'al peh. The only reason one needs a klaf that is written with the same rules that apply to a sefer torah is for the same reason that you need a whole sefer, because of the issue of "d'varim sh'bichsav..". However, once we say eis la'asos and "d'varim sh'bichsav.." don't apply, then not only don't we need a whole sefer but we don't even need a klaf and a printed chumash works also. This is the shitta of the Ba'al Hatanya and he basically spells out this tzad in Siman 284. I believe the Chazon Ish also holds like this as well.

Shittas Magen Avraham

There is a middle shitta and that is the opinion of the Magen Avraham. It appears that the MG"A holds like teh Ba'al HaTanya because he says in 284:6 that b'shas hadchak you can lein the haftorah ba'al peh. So you see he holds there was no takana to use a sefer. However, there is one major chiluk between the MG"A and Ba'al HaTanya. The MG"A writes that printed seforim have a din of a proper kesiva and therefore there is no chisaron of "d'varim sh'bichsav" when using a printed Nach. However, it has to be a sefer shaleim. To use a haftorah book or a chumash with the haftorah printed at the end would be a chisaron of d'varim sh'bichsav. According to the Ba'al HaTanya, it seems a haftorah book is no different then a sefer shaleim of Nach. (The Chazon Ish seems to agree with the Ba'al HaTanya)

L'maskana, if one wanted to be choshesh for all shitttos, this should be the order of preference.

1) a klaf of a sefer shaleim (if leining Yirmiyahu, you should lein from the entire sefer)
2) printed sefer shaleim. (which means taking the volume of Yirmiyahu from your Mikraos Gedoos set is better than the Artscroll Chumash with the haftorah at the end)
3) A printed book of haftoras or a chumash with haftorah in it.

An interesting question is which is better, a book of haftora written on klaf or a printed sefer shaleim.