ba'al koreh

Edit

Pronunciations

ba'al koreh (ba-ahl KOH-reh) listen

Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • n. The individual who chants Torah from the scroll at a synagogue.

  • n. A person capable of learning and chanting an entire parsha; a professional, paid reader as opposed to an amateur.

Example Sentences

  • "Our baal koreh will be reading the first five aliyot, but the bar mitzvah boy will handle the last two."

  • "The baal kore skipped a word, so the rabbi corrected him." (Glinert)

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew

Etymology

  • בעל קורא ba'al kore 'master reader'

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      baal korei, baal-kore, bal koreh, baal koreh, baalat koreh, baalat korei, baalat-kore, balat koreh

Notes

  • Also baal keriah / ba'al k'riyah / bal kriya (Heb. בעל קריאה), which is "correct" according to Hebrew grammar.

    "ba'alat korei" is the feminine counterpart
    "ba'alei korei" is the plural masculine counterpart
    "ba'altot korei" is the plural feminine counterpart

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.