The number of persons who were to take part in the reading varied according as the people were likely to devote less or more time to Divine Service: on weekdays and on Sabbath afternoon three, on New-moon and Chol-hammoed four, on the Festivals five, on the Day of Atonement six, [63] and on Sabbath seven. Some may have required the assistance of the chazan, and in some cases the chazan’s voice was the only one that was heard; gradually the chazan became the reader, and the original reader became silent, being content with reciting the b’rachoth. Only in the case of the Bar-mitsvah, the Chathan-torah, and the Chathan-b’reshith the original practice has been retained. As regards the order of those who take part in the reading of the Law, the first place is given to a Cohen, i.e., a descendant of Aaron, the priest; the second to a Levite, i.e., a non-priest of the tribe of Levi; and then follow other Israelites, that are neither Levites nor Cohanim, without any prescribed order. The last who concludes the reading from the Law on those days on which a chapter from the Prophets is also read is called maftir, “concluding;” and the lesson from the Prophets is called haphtarah, “conclusion.” In the selection of the haphtarah care was taken that it should contain some reference to the contents of the lesson from the Pentateuch, and as there was not much choice, the haphtarah, once chosen, was as a rule read again on the recurrence of the same sidra. Different communities had different series of haphtaroth. A few negative rules concerning the selection of the haphtarah are mentioned in the Mishnah (Megillah iv. 10); Ezek. i. and xvi., 2 Sam. xi. and xiii., are to be excluded. These rules, however, were not observed, as Ezek. i. is the haphtarah for the first day of the Feast of Weeks. There is an ancient rule about the nature of the haphtaroth between the Fast of Tamuz and New-year; viz., there should be three haphtaroth of “rebuke” and seven of “comfort” (‏נ׳ דפרענותא‎, ‏ז׳ דנחמתא‎). The former are taken from Jeremiah (i. and ii.) and Isaiah (i.); the latter are selected from Isaiah (xl. to lxvi.) Various accounts are given of the origin of the haphtarah. One account traces its origin to a period of persecution, when the Jews were not allowed to read from the Torah, and the scrolls of the Law were either confiscated or concealed. In both cases it was easy to read from the Prophets, for this could be done by heart and in any place; whilst for the reading of the Torah it was necessary to produce a copy of the Law. According to another account, the haphtarah served as a protest against the theory of the Samaritans, who recognised the Torah alone as holy. But it is more likely and more natural to suppose that the haphtarah was introduced as soon as the Prophets became part of the Holy Scriptures.