baal keriah

A baal keriah (Hebrew: בַּעַל קְרִיאָה, romanized: baʿal qəriʾā, lit. 'master of the reading'), colloquially called the baal korei (בַּעַל קוֹרֵא‎, baʿal qôrē 'master-reader'), is a member of a Jewish congregation who reads from the Torah scroll during the service. As there are no niqqud, punctuation, or cantillation marks (called trop in Yiddish) in a Sefer Torah, and these are required features of the reading, the baal keriah must memorize them beforehand.