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 Mishna (Megillah 21a) says that someone who reads 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 Yaakov Ben Asher (14th cen., Germany-Spain) quotes a responsum of Rav Sar Shalom Gaon (9th c., 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 c., 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, “all the people stood [to express their loyalty] to the covenant” (2 Kings 23:3).

Based on these two views, Rav Yosef Karo (16th c., Israel) rules that you may sit during the Torah reading, while Rav Moshe Isserles (Rema; 16th c., 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 c., 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 c., 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 read from the Torah She’eiris Yosef, comments on Mordechai, Shabbos, ch. 19, p. 552 in Mossad HaRav Kook edition). Rav Yoel Sirkes (17th c., 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 c., Italy) adds that certainly you have to stand during the preliminary blessing, specifically the “Barechu.” Significantly, Rav David Segal (17th c., Poland) and Rav Avraham Gombiner (17th c., 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 kedusha and the Talmud Yerushalmi says that we must stand for any matter of kedusha. 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 kedusha, but really the entire Torah reading, starting with Barechu, is a matter of kedusha. Since the study of Torah is exempted from the regular rule of standing for a matter of kedusha, 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 c., Israel) writes that the common practice among Sephardim is to sit during the entire Torah reading (Mekor Chaim 123:18). Rav Yaakov Chaim Sofer (20th c., Iraq-Israel) writes likewise that even the pious sit during the Torah reading (Kaf Ha-Chaim 146:20). There seem to be two reasons 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 of his other customs. The Arizal also did not always stand for Kaddish, even though it is a matter of kedusha. These two practices seem to be connected.

Rav Gedaliah Felder (20th c., 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 c., 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 c., Israel) makes the same point about countering Karaites (Aseh Lecha Rav, vol. 1, no. 38). Rav Shlomo Zalman Braun (20th c., 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).

Rabbi Gil Student is the editor of TorahMusings.com. His latest book is Articles of Faith: Traditional Jewish Belief in the Internet Era, available online and at your local Jewish bookstore.