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Being called up for the Torah blessing is considered a great honor in most synagogues. This being called up is called making or getting an aliyah. What's involved in making aliyah la'Torah?

Each Shabbas, a weekly portion from the Torah (called a parashah) is chanted during morning services. This Torah portion itself is further divided into smaller sections called aliyot (literally, "ascents"), and it is customary to call up people from the congregation to recite a blessing before and after each section is recited by the cantor or Torah reader.

For Shabbas services each parashah is divided in seven aliyot with a concluding portion (called the Maftir) recited by the person who will also recite the Haftarah blessings. This means that during a given Shabbas Torah Reading service, eight people will be called to recite blessings over the Torah.

If you have been given the honor of being called up for an aliyah, you will chant the blessings before and after the reading of the Torah (by the cantor). Here is a brief guide to performing this honor:

1. When your name is announced, walk up to the bimah.

2. If you are wearing a prayer shawl (tallis gadol), the Rabbi or Torah reader will point to the word on the scroll where he or she will begin reading. Take the tzitzis (fringes) from a corner of your prayer shawl and touch them to the word; you may bring the tzitzis to your lips as an expression of your love for the Torah.

3. Stand directly in front of the scroll with both hands on the handles (etz chayim) and recite the following:
   
   "Praise Adonai, who is to be praised."

   Note: The congregation responds with:

   
   "Praised is Adonai, who is to praised forever and ever."

   Now recite the following blessing:

   

   Move to the right to allow the cantor to chant the portion from the Sefer Torah (torah scroll).

4. At its conclusion, the cantor will point to the final word that was read. Again, touch it with the tzitzis as noted above.

5. Recite the following blessing after the Torah reading:
   

6. After reciting this blessing, move over to the right of the bimah while the next person called for an aliyah comes before the Torah. After his recitation, return to your seat. Mazal Tov (good luck) or Yasha Koyach (greater strength to you), you have just completed making "the Aliyah."

Definitions:

Aliyah - (f.; pl. "Aliyot"); going up, rising; ascent; in location or in personal qualities; as in "Aliyah l'Eretz Yisrael," "going up to live in the Land of Israel" or "Aliyah La'Torah," "going up to make a blessing on the Torah." For a given (Shabbas) Torah reading service there are seven aliyot recited (that is, seven different portions of the weekly parashah that are recited during the Torah Reading service).

Bimah: (n) A platform from which Torah is read (usually in front of the Ark, but in Sephardic synagogues it may be in the center of the room).

Mazal Tov (inter.) "Congratulations" An expression of congratulation or heartfelt well-wishes ("Mazel Tov on the new baby").

Tallis Gadol: (n) A four-cornered prayer shawl worn by adults during the morning prayers. Each corner of the Tallis Gadol has fringes, called tzitzis. Wearing the tallis helps get us in the mood for prayer. The third paragraph of the Shema prayer contains the commandment to wear tzitzis. At the top of a tallis is an atarah, or a band. The purpose of the atarah is to make sure we do not put the tallis on upside down (as well as to list the Hebrew blessing recited upon donning the tallis gadol). The atarah is removed when the tallis is used to bury the dead. Traditional Jews also wear a tallis katan (small tallis). It is also called the arbah kanfot (four corners), which is a special garment like an undershirt. It also has four fringed corners. For traditional Jews, only men wear the tallis gadol and tallis katan.