Q: Can any Jew
receive an aliya?
A: Jews who have gone the wrong way in the eyes of Jewish
law are not forbidden by halacha from being called up to the Torah. A sinner can be given and given an aliya
(after all, who among us is free sin?).
The particular sin, or crime, may have some bearing on the
merit of a person being honored with an aliya. For example, public larceny is
so much harder to ignore then a private misdemeanor. In some communities, those
who have been found guilty of a crime would be barred from ascending the
bima. Who’s who had participated in an
overt negative Jewish behavior which simile be disbarred from an aliya as a
protest against such behavior, such as an adulterer, one who has deliberately
strayed from their roots, or a person it was publicly gone against the
teachings of Judaism.
However, once a person has been accepted as a member of a
community it would be a “shame” to not call such an individual up for an aliya
when they are observing a yahrzeit.
