19 Nov THE PROBLEM OF STANDING FOR THE TORAH READING

We stand up for a
Torah scroll when it is
removed from the ark
or moved from place
to place. Doing so is
a sign of respect for the
divine word inscribed on
its parchment. Do we also have to stand
while the Torah is read? This conclusion
seems like a logical extension but it can be
burdensome when the Torah reading takes
a long time. While different customs exist
about standing during Torah reading, it is
somewhat surprising that historically there
has been actual opposition to standing.
I. Sitting or Standing
The Mishnah (Megillah 21a) says that
someone who read Megillas Esther may
do so sitting or standing. The Gemara
distinguishes this from Torah reading,
for which the reader must stand. Today,
this applies to both the Torah reader and
the person called up to the Torah, both
of whom must stand. The Gemara points
to a verse about the giving of the Torah:
“And you, stand here with Me” (Deut.

5:27). But what about everyone else in the
congregation?
Rav Ya’akov Ben Asher (14th cen.,
Germany-Spain) quotes a responsum of
Rav Sar Shalom Gaon (9th cen., Iraq) in
which he says that we sit throughout the
entire Torah reading until Kaddish (Tur,
Orach Chaim 146). However, Rav Meir
(Maharam) of Rothenburg (13th cen.,
Germany) is said to have been careful to
stand during the Torah reading and during
a bris milah (Mordechai, Shabbos, ch. 19,
no. 422). Maharam brought a proof from
when they found a Torah scroll (possibly
Moshe’s personal scroll) during the time of
King Yoshiyahu. When they read from that
Torah scroll, “and all the people stood to
the covenant” (2 Kings 23:3).
Based on these two views, Rav Yosef Karo
(16th cen., Israel) rules that you may sit
during the Torah reading while Rav Moshe
Isserles (Rema; 16th cen., Poland) adds
that some are strict to stand, based on the
Maharam’s practice (Shulchan Aruch,
Orach Chaim 146:4). Rav Yisrael Kagan
(the Chafetz Chaim; 20th cen., Poland)

writes that many authorities agree that
baseline law follows the first opinion,
that you do not have to stand (Mishnah
Berurah 146:19). There is room to say
that even Maharam would agree. Rema’s
brother-in-law, Rav Yosef Katz (16th
cen., Poland), argues that Maharam stood
during the Torah reading when he was
called to the Torah. The message of his
story is that someone called to the Torah
should read for everyone, and therefore
stand, although today we do not do that
so as not to embarrass those who cannot
(She’eiris Yosef, comments on Mordechai,
Shabbos, ch. 19, p. 552 in Mossad HaRav
Kook edition). Rav Yoel Sirkes (17th cen.,
Poland) argues that Maharam stood only as
an extra measure of respect, not because we
must stand during the Torah reading (Bach
to Tur, Orach Chaim 141:1).
II. Standing for the Blessing
However, Rav Menachem Azariah (Rama)
of Fano (17th cen., Italy) adds that certainly
you have to stand during the preliminary
blessing, specifically the “Barechu.”
Significantly, Rav David Segal (17th cen.,
Poland) and Rav Avraham Gombiner
(17th cen., Poland) quote this view
from him and others (Taz, Orach Chaim
146:1; Magen Avraham 146:6). Later
authorities follow their lead and say that
even if you do not stand during the Torah
reading, you must at least stand during
the “Barechu” and its response before
each reading (e.g. Chayei Adam 31:3;
Mishnah Berurah 146:18).
There is room to disagree with this
middle position of standing only
for “Barechu.” The Rama of Fano
(Responsa, no. 91) says that you must
stand for the “Barechu” because it is
a matter of kedushah and the Talmud
Yerushalmi says that we must stand for
any matter of kedushah. Rav Joseph B.
Soloveitchik argues that since Torah
reading requires a minyan, logically
we should stand for it. However, Torah
study can be done nearly anywhere and
in any position: “You shall teach them
diligently to your children, and shall talk
of them when you sit in your house, and
when you walk by the way, and when
you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut.
6:7). There is a special exception for
Torah study that we do not have to stand
for it. Rama of Fano says that we have
to stand for “Barechu” because it is a
matter of kedushah but really the entire
Torah reading, starting with Barechu, is
a matter of kedushah. Since the study of
Torah is exempted from the regular rule
of standing for a matter of kedushah,

certainly its blessing is also exempted.
Therefore, says Rav Soloveitchik, we do
not have to stand at all during the Torah

reading, not even for Barechu (Nefesh Ha-
Rav, pp. 124, 162-164; Rav Schachter on

Orach Chaim: Volume 1, p. 71).
Rav Chaim David Halevy (20th cen.,
Israel) writes that the common practice
among Sephardim is to sit during the entire
Torah reading (Mekor Chaim 123:18).
Rav Ya’akov Chaim Sofer (20th cen.,
Iraq-Israel) writes likewise that even the
pious sit during the Torah reading (Kaf
Ha-Chaim 146:20). There seem to be two
reason for this. Rav Sofer attributes it to the
established practice of the Arizal to sit for
the entire Torah reading, presumably for
kabbalistic reasons. The Arizal’s custom
spread widely, as did many other of his
customs. The Arizal also did not always
stand for Kaddish, even though it is a
matter of kedushah. These two practices
seem to be connected.
Rav Gedaliah Felder (20th cen., Canada)
offers another reason for the dominant
Sephardic custom of sitting during the
Torah reading. He quotes the responsum of
Rav Sar Shalom Gaon, mentioned above, to
sit during the Torah reading and that those
who stand are mistaken. He also quotes
from Rav Nassan ben Yehudah (13th cen.,
France) who writes that standing during the
Torah reading is in the manner of heresy.
He quotes a responsum of Rambam in
which the questioner says that they are not
like Karaites, who stand during the Torah
reading (Responsa Rambam, Freiman
edition, p. 360). Rav Felder concludes that
Karaites, who accept only the Written Torah
and not the Oral Torah, had the practice of
standing whenever a Torah scroll was read.
In order to emphasize the rejection of their
mistaken beliefs, the traditional Jews were
careful to sit during the Torah reading.
Since Karaites were originally primarily
in Sephardic countries, this influenced the
Sephardic practice but not the Maharam
in Germany (Yesodei Yeshurun, vol. 2, pp.
201-203). Rav Chaim David Halevy (20th
cen., Israel) makes the same point about
countering Karaites (Aseh Lecha Rav, vol.
1, no. 38). Rav Shlomo Zalman Braun
(20th cen., US) suggests that the Sephardic
practice then spread to Ashkenazic
communities, where even many religiously
strict people sit throughout the entire

Torah reading (She’arim Metzuyanim Ba-
Halachah 23:3).