Honoring the Torah Scroll
כבוד ספר תורה
The Torah scroll written in ink on parchment is the faithful testimony to the revelation at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Torah. Therefore, it is a mitzva to honor and glorify the Torah scroll and to set aside a special place for it. Whoever sits before it must sit with gravity, awe, and fear. A person may not spit facing a Torah scroll nor expose his nakedness facing it (Rambam, Hilkhot Sefer Torah 10:10). The Sages said (Avot 4:6): “Whoever dishonors the Torah is himself dishonored by people, and whoever honors the Torah is himself honored by people.” All of a person’s honor stems from the fact that he has a Divine spark within him; the more he honors the Torah, the more prominent that spark becomes in his soul, and he becomes more honored. The more he disgraces the Torah, the more that Divine spark is covered and disappears, and he remains empty, hollow, and profaned.
Whoever sees the Torah scroll while it is being carried must stand. The Sages learned this by an a fortiori argument (kal va-ḥomer): if there is a Torah commandment to stand before Torah scholars, as it says, “and you shall honor the face of the elder” (Vayikra 19:32), all the more so must one stand before the Torah itself (Kiddushin 33a).
Even a person who is engaged in Torah study, if he sees that the Torah scroll is being carried, must rise (Pitḥei Teshuva, YD 282:3). Even if he does not see the scroll being carried but hears the sound of the bells on the Torah scroll and understands that the Torah scroll is now being carried, he must stand (Beit Yosef ibid., in the name of Rabbi Manoaḥ).
All this applies specifically when the Torah scroll is in the same domain – for example, it is in the synagogue and the Torah scroll is being carried from the ark to the bima, in which case everyone in the synagogue must stand. Likewise, one who is sitting outside and sees the Torah scroll being carried outside, even if the Torah scroll is far from him, must stand; only if he is about one hundred and thirty meters away from the Torah scroll is he not obligated to stand (based on Shakh, YD 244:8, who wrote in the name of the Semak regarding rising before one’s primary teacher that “as far as his eyes can see” is 266 amot).
But one who is sitting outside the synagogue, even if he sees through the window or doorway that the Torah scroll is being carried, since he is in a different domain, need not stand. Likewise, after the Torah scroll has been placed on the bima, or while the one who lifted it is sitting on the chair with the Torah scroll on him, the congregation need not stand, because the scroll is in the place designated for it at that time (MB 146:17).¹
When the holy ark is opened during the recitation of special prayers, according to the letter of the law there is no obligation to stand, because the Torah scroll is inside the ark and is in a different domain. Nevertheless, the custom is to be scrupulous in the mitzva of honoring the Torah and to stand, since the ark is normally closed, and when it is open it is proper to honor the Torah that is revealed to the congregation (Taz, YD 242:13). But one who is weak and finds it difficult to stand may sit, and only when the Torah scroll is carried from the ark to the bima and from the bima to the ark should he make an effort to stand.
Notes (1)
- Seemingly, according to this, it would be forbidden to sit in the synagogue during the hakafot on Simḥat Torah. But then it would turn out that specifically the elderly, who by virtue of their stature are more connected to the joy of the Torah, would have to leave the synagogue during the hakafot. Halikhot Shlomo (Mo’adim 12:9) justified the many who sit during the hakafot: since the custom is to dance with the Torah scrolls, the entire synagogue is considered their place. And perhaps the rows of dancers constitute a partition. But during the first circuit of each hakafa one should rise.