Book of Haftarot for Shabbat, Festivals and Fast Days

The origin of the custom of reading a selection from the Prophets after the Torah reading is unknown. Rabbi David Abudarham, who lived in the 14th century in Spain, claimed that the custom originated during the persecution that led up to the revolt by Judah Maccabee in the 2nd century B.C.E. Antiochus, the Syrian king, prohibited Torah reading in a brutal effort to stamp out Judaism. The Haftarah readings were introduced as a substitute. Later on, when the Jews won their freedom and restored the Torah reading, they retained the Haftarah readings in memory of this event.