Wikipedia's first sentence called it “final section of the weekly parsha read on shabbat morning in synagogue from a sefer torah scroll”. Today it says “last person called up to the torah on shabbat and holiday mornings”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Maftir is the final section of the weekly Parsha read on Shabbat morning in synagogue from a Sefer Torah scroll. The person who is called up for maftir may then read the related haftarah from a related section of the Nevi'im or Ketuvim .1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17155700.
The opening as it stood in 2010 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Informally the portion of the Torah read by or to the maftir is called the "maftir portion", or the "maftir" for short: in printed Hebrew Bibles the word "maftir" is printed in the margin at the beginning of that portion.(Accordingly, in those communities where the bar mitzvah acts as maftir , his readings are informally referred to as "maf and haf".) On a normal Shabbat morning seven people are formally called up to the Torah, and a part of the week's Torah portion is read by each of them.The maftir is not counted among the seven, and is not formally called up by name: on the conclusion of the seventh reading the reader simply calls " maftir " (usually after reciting Chatzi kaddish ) and repeats the last few verses to the maftir .On Jewish holidays and certain special Shabbatot there are readings from two or more Torah scrolls.On these occasions, the maftir is called up by name, followed by the word "maftir", and the reading from the last scroll is read to him.On Tisha b'Av morning and fast day afternoons, the maftir portion is the third (and final) section of the portion.After the Torah reading, the maftir says the blessings for the haftarah and reads it.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 335977949.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Informally the portion of the Torah read by or to the maftir is called the "maftir portion", or the "maftir" for short: in a Chumash the word "maftir" is printed in the margin at the beginning of that portion. (Accordingly, in those communities where the bar mitzvah acts as maftir , his readings are informally referred to as "maf and haf".) On a normal Shabbat morning seven people are formally called up to the Torah, and a part of the week's Torah portion is read by or to each of them. The maftir is not counted among the seven, and is not formally called up by name: on the conclusion of the seventh reading the reader simply calls " maftir " (usually after reciting Chatzi kaddish ) and repeats the last few verses to the maftir . On Jewish holidays and certain special Shabbatot there are readings from two or more Torah scrolls. On these occasions, the maftir is called up by name, followed by the word "maftir", and the reading from the last scroll is read to him. On Tisha b'Av morning and fast day afternoons, the maftir portion is the third (and final) section of the portion. After the Torah reading, the maftir says the blessings for the haftarah and reads it.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 641173377.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings Main article: Torah reading Maftir ( Hebrew : מפטיר , "concluder") is the last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads the haftarah portion from a related section of the Nevi'im (prophetic books). Informally the portion of the Torah read by or to the maftir is called the "maftir portion", or the "maftir" for short: in a Chumash the word "maftir" is printed in the margin at the beginning of that portion. On a normal Shabbat morning seven people are formally called up to the Torah, and a part of the week's Torah portion is read by or to each of them. The maftir is not counted among the seven, and is sometimes not formally called up by name: on the conclusion of the seventh reading the gabbai simply calls " maftir " (usually after reciting Chatzi kaddish ) and repeats the last few verses to the maftir . On Jewish holidays and certain special Shabbatot there are readings from two or more Torah scrolls. On these occasions, the maftir is called up by name, followed by the word "maftir", and the reading from the last scroll is read to him. On Tisha b'Av morning and fast day afternoons, the maftir portion is the third (and final) section of the portion. After the Torah reading, the maftir says the blessings for the haftarah and reads it.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962519456.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings Main article: Torah reading Maftir ( ) is the last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads (or at least recites the blessings overs) the haftarah portion from a related section of the Nevi'im (prophetic books). Informally the portion of the Torah read or blessed by the maftir is called the "maftir portion", or the "maftir" for short: in a Chumash the word "maftir" is printed in the margin at the beginning of that portion. On a normal Shabbat morning seven people are formally called up to the Torah, and a part of the week's Torah portion is read by or to each of them. The maftir is not counted among the seven, and is sometimes not formally called up by name: on the conclusion of the seventh reading and after reciting Chatzi kaddish , in some communities the gabbai simply calls " maftir " (or in Western Ashkenazic communities does not call at all and the Maftir simply goes up) and repeats the last few verses in the presence of the maftir . On Jewish holidays and certain special Shabbatot there are readings from two or more Torah scrolls. On these occasions, some call the maftir by name, followed by the word "maftir", and the reading from the last scroll is read in his presence. On Tisha b'Av morning and fast day afternoons, the maftir portion is the third (and final) section of the portion. After the Torah reading, the maftir says the blessings for the haftarah, and in most communities reads it (in communities where the Haftarah is read from a Klaf , the Maftir will usually just recite the blessings, and the Baal Koreh will read the Haftarah itself).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1145333284.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings Main article: Torah reading Maftir ( Hebrew : מפטיר , lit. ' concluder ' ) is the last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads (or at least recites the blessings over) the haftarah portion from a related section of the Nevi'im (prophetic books). Informally, the portion of the Torah read or blessed by the maftir is called the "maftir portion", or the "maftir" for short: in a Chumash , the word "maftir" is printed in the margin at the beginning of that portion. On a normal Shabbat morning, seven people are formally called up to the Torah, and a part of the week's Torah portion is read by or to each of them. The maftir is not counted among the seven, and is sometimes not formally called up by name: on the conclusion of the seventh reading and after reciting Chatzi kaddish , in some communities the gabbai simply calls " maftir " (or in Western Ashkenazic communities does not call at all and the Maftir simply goes up) and repeats the last few verses in the presence of the maftir . On Jewish holidays and certain special Shabbatot , there are readings from two or more Torah scrolls. On these occasions, some call the maftir by name, followed by the word "maftir", and the reading from the last scroll is read in his presence. On Tisha b'Av morning and fast day afternoons, the maftir portion is the third (and final) section of the portion. After the Torah reading, the maftir says the blessings for the haftarah, and in most communities reads it (in communities where the Haftarah is read from a Klaf , the Maftir will usually just recite the blessings, and the Baal Koreh will read the Haftarah itself).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1298116566. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “final section of the weekly parsha read on shabbat morning in synagogue from a sefer torah scroll”. Today it says “last person called up to the torah on shabbat and holiday mornings”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
final section of the weekly parsha read on shabbat morning in synagogue from a sefer torah scroll
Now
last person called up to the torah on shabbat and holiday mornings
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.