Maftir

Maftir (Hebrew: מפטיר, "concluder") refers to 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. (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.