03 Feb PARSHAS YISRO: STANDING FOR THE READING OF ASERES HADIBROS

And Hashem spoke
all of these words
saying.
Shemos 20:1
Introduction
Although a minority of
poskim hold that one is generally obligated
to stand for all of krias HaTorah, the more
commonly accepted psak is that one may sit.
Nevertheless, on a few special occasions,
the minhag in many kehillos is to stand for
particular parts of the Torah – most notably,
the Aseres HaDibros. Is this a preferable
practice, as it adds a measure of kavod and
intensity to the experience, or might it be
problematic, as it seems to indicate that
certain parshiyos are worthy of standing for
while others are not?
The Source of the Possible Problem
The Gemara in Berachos (12a) teaches that
in the Beis HaMikdash, the Kohanim would
read the Aseres HaDibros as part of their
morning seder hatefillah. The Gemara adds
that Chazal wanted to include the Aseres
HaDibros in the general public’s recitation
of Shema and its berachos, but they decided

against it, “mipnei taromes haminin,” “due
to the claims of the heretics.” Rashi (s.v.
mipnei) explains that people might claim
that the rest of the Torah is not true, since we
only heard the Aseres HaDibros from
Hashem at Har Sinai, and the proof is that
the Chachamim established that we should
read only these Dibros every day.
Based on this, it would seem that one should
specifically not read the Aseres HaDibros on
a daily basis. Nevertheless, the Shulchan
Aruch (OC 1:5) writes that “it is good to
recite” the Parshas HaAkeidah, the Parshas
HaMann, and the Aseres HaDibros every
day. It seems that there is no problem for an
individual to stress the Aseres HaDibros, but
we avoid making a formal takanah requiring
its recitation.
The Position of the Rambam
The Rambam writes in a teshuvah (46) that
the proper practice is to sit during the
reading of the Aseres HaDibros, and any
shul that has the minhag to stand should
change their practice, as this is a matter of
emunah. He adds that it makes no difference
that in many other places they have already
adopted the practice to stand. Rather, one

should try to convince the congregation to
change their ways and should certainly not
copy them.
Possible Heteirim for Standing
Given the Rambam’s strenuous objection to
the practice, why do most Ashkenazic shuls
have the practice to stand for the Aseres
HaDibros? The following are a number of
suggestions found in the poskim:
1. Rav Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos
VeHanhagos 1:144) explains that perhaps
the problem with distinguishing between the
Aseres HaDibros and other parts of Torah
pertains only when one chooses to recite
certain parts and not others. The Gemara’s
concern is that people would be misled,
since they never included any other pesukim
in the daily services. However, when it
comes to krias HaTorah, we read every
pasuk in the Torah; we merely position our
bodies differently for certain parts. This
minor distinction did not concern Chazal to
the same extent, and it is permissible.
Obviously, this does not conform to the
opinion of the Rambam. In order to solve
this problem, Rav Sternbuch suggests that
one simply begin standing a few pesukim
prior to the Aseres HaDibros, as one would
not be misled into thinking that these
pesukim plus the Aseres HaDibros are
more important than the rest of the Torah.
Rav Ovadiah Yosef (Yechaveh Da’as 6:8)
writes that if one establishes the practices
in a shul, he should see to it that the
congregation sits for the Aseres HaDibros.
Even if they already have the practice to
stand, he should convince them to change
the practice but make sure to do so in the
nicest possible way. If one finds himself in
a shul in which the congregation stands, he
should stand a little earlier, to not deviate
from the minhag hamakom, thereby
solving the problem in the same manner
prescribed by Rav Sternbuch
2. The Maharshal (Shu”t 64) suggests that
Chazal were concerned with taromes
haminim regarding the Aseres HaDibros
when they were being recited during krias
Shema. Since this part of davening deals
with the fundamentals of our emunah, it
can lead to problems if misunderstood.
However, there is no issue with standing
during krias HaTorah, as it is not
considered such a fundamental practice.
3. Rav Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe, OC
4:22) writes that there is no reason to
broaden the concern discussed in the
Gemara. Chazal had a specific concern
with the institution of saying the Aseres
HaDibros during davening, as they found
that this caused people to misunderstand
the relationship between the Aseres

HaDibros and the rest of the Torah, and they
therefore abolished the practice. However, if
something hasn’t been proven to pose a
problem, we don’t need to be worried about
it. When it comes to standing for the reading
of the Aseres HaDibros during krias
HaTorah, Rav Moshe thinks there is indeed
less room for concern, since the minhag of
Ashkenazim is to also stand for Az Yashir
during krias HaTorah, not just for the Aseres
HaDibros. This helps alleviate any concerns
that someone might conclude that we
believe that only the Ten Commandments
are divine.
Why, then, do we stand for the Aseres
HaDibros? Rav Moshe explains that the
goal is to recreate the feeling of Maamad
Har Sinai. Just as the Jewish People stood
with great trepidation when experiencing
Hashem’s revelation, we similarly stand
when recounting it.
4. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Harerei
Kedem 2:117) points out that there are two
styles of trup with which we read the Aseres
HaDibros – the ta’am elyon and the ta’am
tachton. The ta’am tachton divides the
words into pesukim, as the trup normally
does, while the ta’am elyon divides the
words into dibros. Rav Soloveitchik
suggests that the Rambam would only have
a problem with standing for the Aseres
HaDibros when they are read as pesukim –
that is, with the ta’am tachton – since we are
reading them as pesukim in the Torah. If we
were to then treat them differently than the
other pesukim, it could lead to taromes
haminim. However, when we read them
with the ta’am elyon, we are reading them as
dibros, and we are clearly reading them in
order to create the feeling of Maamad Har
Sinai, and we therefore stand. The Rambam,
who never read with the ta’am elyon,
rejected the notion of standing, because he
always viewed reading the Aseres HaDibros
as a regular krias HaTorah, while we, who
read with the ta’am elyon, are not violating
the Rambam’s sensitivity.