348. Who is Called to the Torah?

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 12:17

Women are not called to the Torah. A boy under the age of bar mitzvah may be called if he is able to read and he understands Who G-d is. The one who reads the haftarah is counted as one of the people called to the Torah because he also receives an aliyah. If the shaliach tzibbur interrupts by saying kaddish in between the end of reading the Torah and reading the haftarah, then the one who reads the haftarah is not counted as one of the people called to the Torah. If only one person in the community knows how to read, he is called to the Torah, reads, goes down, and repeats until he completes the necessary number of aliyos.

Tefillah u’Birkas Kohanim 12:18

When reading the Torah, a kohein is called first, followed by a Levi, followed by a Yisroel. The accepted practice is that even an unlearned kohein takes priority and is called before a scholar who is an Israelite. One who exceeds another in wisdom is given greater priority. The last person, who rolls the Torah closed, receives a reward equal to that of all the others combined. Therefore, even the person of greatest standing in the community may be called last.