All rise!

What passes for popular understanding of synagogue rituals is often at variance with its true and halachic significance. A case in point is the lifting and dressing of the Torah known as hagbah and gelilah. Historically, the lifting and rolling of the Torah was done by one person. Recently, during the COVID pandemic we have become very proficient in doing just that.

There are no blessings associated with these ritual honors, so it is commonly assumed that they are religiously less significant than an aliyah. As a result of this presumed diminished importance, these honors are often given to children or those whose brawn may overshadow merit, piety or religious stature.

This widespread practice and understanding is in direct opposition and contradiction to the Talmud (Megilla 32a) and Shulhan Arukh (OH 147:1) as well as the Mishna Berurah. The texts clearly and emphatically inform us that this honor is above all the aliyot, should be given to the most important person in the congregation, and the reward for receiving this honor is equivalent to all the aliyot combined.

It is interesting to note that among certain Sephardim, all of whom perform hagbah prior to the reading of the Torah, this honor is reserved for distinguished community leaders or to members of an elite society known as levantadores, who have been designated to perform this function. Rabbi Joseph Prouser offers an insightful analysis of this ritual practice, shedding light on its significance and importance.

The lifting or raising of an object is a legal procedure called kinyan, which grants ownership status of the object. One who lifts an object may also acquire it for someone else who is so designated. In both scenarios the lifting formalizes ownership of that item. However, concerning ownership of a Canaanite slave, the process is reversed. When the slave performs personal services for his master, he is acquired by his master. [Note that the Jewish understanding of “slave” is more like a servant or butler or cook and we are forbidden to mistreat them in any way.] Rashi and the Tosefta emphasize the presumptive ownership (hazakah) of this practice.

Now perhaps we can gain an understanding of hagbah. Lifting the Torah scroll is a public act of kinyan, of establishing rights of ownership. The one who lifts the Torah also demonstrates his willingness to submit to his Master as does the one who does gelila, who wraps or dresses the Torah, much like the personal service performed by the Canaanite slave. This public display of submission and fealty to the Divine Master is the reason why the rewards associated with this ritual are even greater than those associated with receiving an aliyah.

This idea is expressed beautifully in that passage from the Zohar, brich sh’may, which is recited when the Torah is removed from the Ark. One line in Aramaic proclaims, “I am the servant of the Holy One, blessed be He, before Whom and before Whose glorious Torah I bow at all times.” Some authorities actually prescribe this recitation during hagbah. This understanding in the context of kinyan, acquisition, offers a vivid expression of our aspirations to submit ourselves to God’s service.

Generally speaking, the response of a servant to a prospective master’s call is an inadequate kinyan. However, if summoned for the specific and articulated purpose of entering into service then it is a valid kinyan. Hence the protocol of “calling” people up (aliyah) to their Torah portion. This stepping up to a formal summons is also an indication of one’s willing submission to serve God. Hence they are called keru’im, those who are called. Perhaps this is the origin of the expression referring to religious devotion as a “calling.”

Learning this lesson from the acquisition of a Canaanite slave is a humbling experience, as perhaps it should be. Being called to lift and dress the Torah symbolically places us in the capacity of the lowest and most humble member of society. This places the emphasis not on any honor or prestige, but rather on our willingness to obsequiously submit to the will of God and to serving our Master.

Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene remembers Torah gartels and wimpels before clasps, buckles and Velcro.