First, we will summarize the matter of an oleh reading along with the regular kri’at haTorah. The Shulchan Aruch[5] rules that the oleh must read along because if he did not do so, his beracha would not be connected to anything he read and would therefore be l’vatala.[6] For the same reason, the Shulchan Aruch[7] rules that a blind man cannot have an aliya because he is not able to read from the sefer Torah, as is required. The Rama[8] argues that nowadays, since the oleh says only the berachot and the ba’al korei reads the Torah for the community to hear, the blind and those who do not know how to read along may get aliyot, as is indeed the practice. The Bi’ur Halacha[9] presumes that the Rama relied on the lenient opinion that reading along is not absolutely necessary in order to avoid a divisive situation in which many people would be denied aliyot. The Rama agrees, however, that under ordinary circumstances, the oleh should read along with the ba’al korei.
Are the halachic dynamics of haftara comparable to those of kri’at haTorah? The Rama[10] says that the oleh for maftir should be the one to read the haftara. Only if he cannot read the haftara should someone else read it. Why can’t the oleh for maftir just recite the berachot on the haftara and have someone else lain it? The Pri Megadim[11] says that just as in the context of the regular kri’at haTorah, one must not recite the berachot without reading, the same is true for the haftara. Thus, he implies that just as the oleh reads along quietly with the regular laining, so does the oleh for the haftara.[12] The Mishna Berura[13] and Yaskil Avdi[14] also equate the haftara to kri’at haTorah in allowing one who cannot read the haftara himself to receive maftir and recite the berachot on the haftara.
The Chayei Adam[15] says that the Gra instituted a change in minhag. Instead of having the oleh for maftir recite the berachot and lain the haftara, he separated the two by insisting that a klaf be used for the haftara. Since a klaf can only be read by experts, many of those called up for maftir will be unable to read the haftara themselves. This raises the next question: does the recommended reading along need to be from the klaf, when it is used? First, we should understand that the idea to require a klaf was raised by the Levush[16] (contrary to the prevalent minhag of his time), who assumed that the rules for the document from which a haftara is read is like that of a Torah or a megilla. Despite the fact that the Magen Avraham[17] and Taz[18] justified the old minhag,[19] the use of a klaf spread, with the encouragement of later Acharonim. Nevertheless, it is readily accepted that the one reading may read from a chumash as long as people in the congregation read along from a chumash[20] Therefore, if the reason for an oleh for maftir to read along is that he should not make berachot without reading, then even reading from a printed haftara suffices. If the Levush is correct that we must read the haftara from a klaf because it is no different from Torah reading, then just as a regular oleh must read along from the Torah, the oleh for maftir/haftara must read along from the klaf. However, the latter approach appears to be a chumra.
We suggest that if an oleh can easily read along with the ba’al korei from the klaf, he might as well do so. However, one need not insist on this, and it would be counterproductive for an oleh who cannot read effectively without punctuation.