baal koreh

Definitions

• n. The individual who chants Torah from the scroll at a synagogue. Sometimes used to refer specifically to a person capable of learning and chanting an entire parsha, or to 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.
  

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
• Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

Regions

• North America

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, ba'al koreh