Siman 141

One who reads from the Torah must read specifically while standing. And in Megillah (21a) we derive this from that which is written: "And you, stand here with Me" – as it were, even the Holy One, Blessed be He, was standing when He was teaching the Torah to Moses our teacher. And in the Yerushalmi there it says: Just as it was given with awe and fear, so we must conduct ourselves with it with awe and fear, see there. For at the standing at Mount Sinai all of Israel were standing and Moses with them, as it is written: "I was standing between Hashem and you" (see Bach). And in the Yerushalmi there it is uncertain if this is because of the honor of the Torah or because of the honor of the congregation. And it says there that it seemingly appears that this is because of the honor of the congregation, for if not so, even one who reads between himself and himself we should obligate to stand. And it answers that even if it is because of the honor of the Torah – they only obligated him to stand in the congregation, and not between himself and himself. For if you require him to stand – he will become lazy and not study at all, see there. And there is one who says that even bediavad he has not fulfilled his obligation (Bach). And they disagreed with him, for certainly bediavad he has fulfilled his obligation (Magen Avraham subsection 1 and Peri Chadash and Eliyah Rabbah). And a proof for this is from the Yerushalmi, for it is certainly so that if the reason is because of the honor of the congregation – he does not need to return and read. And if so, the same law applies if the reason is because of the honor of the Torah, for if not so, the Yerushalmi should have made a distinction in this.

It is a simple matter that the one who ascends to the Torah must also stand, for the reader reads in his place. However, all the people do not need to stand, and so the Rishonim ruled. Nevertheless, there are those who are meticulous to stand. And certainly it is proper, for at the assembly of Mount Sinai we all stood. Furthermore: from the days of Moshe until Rabban Gamliel the Elder, they learned Torah while standing (Megillah ibid.). And this is what we learned in the Mishnah at the end of Sotah, that from the time Rabban Gamliel the Elder died—the honor of the Torah ceased. The Mordechai wrote that the Maharam conducted himself so, and also now the God-fearing do so, and it is the honor of the Torah. But between one man and the next there is no concern at all (Bach). And more will be explained regarding this in siman 146, section 8, see there.

And also to lean on any object is forbidden. For thus we say in Zevachim (19b) that standing by means of leaning is not considered standing. Therefore, both of them, the one who ascends and the reader, must truly stand. And if they are unable to look into the Torah due to the distance of their vision, they may bend their heads toward the Sefer Torah. But they shall not lean on any object, neither on the wall, nor on the table, nor on a pillar, unless they are stout individuals, in which case they are permitted to lean a bit. And how much is "a bit"? To the extent that if that object were removed, he would not fall (Magen Avraham, subsection 2). And even though in Choshen Mishpat at the beginning of siman 17 regarding witnesses it was explained that standing by means of leaning is called "standing"—it is different there, for the standing there is not indispensable. But here, even though after the fact one does not need to repeat as I have written, nevertheless, initially it is indispensable due to the honor of the Torah. And also, this is somewhat like lightheadedness during the reading of the Torah. (Eliyah Rabbah, subsection 2, and with this the difficulty of the Magen Avraham, subsection 2, is settled. And see Taz, subsection 1.)

Two may not read from the Torah, for two voices are not heard. Therefore, if the reader is the one called up himself—he alone shall read, and the shaliach tzibbur standing next to him shall remain completely silent. And so it was in ancient times. However, in our time, the one called up does not read, but only the shaliach tzibbur. The Rosh and the Tur wrote the reason they practiced thus: since not everyone is expert in the cantillation marks of the reading, and the congregation does not fulfill their obligation with his reading, yet in his own eyes he is as one who knows, and if they do not call him up to read they will come to dispute. Therefore, the custom without exception is that for everyone, the shaliach tzibbur reads, and if so, the shaliach tzibbur stands in place of the reader. And now, if the one called up also does not read, his blessing would be in vain; therefore they wrote that the one called up should also read with the shaliach tzibbur in a whisper. For that which was said that "two voices are not heard"—this is when both speak aloud. But if the second speaks in a whisper—we have no concern with it, and he should read in a whisper so as not to make it audible to his own ears. However, even if he makes it audible to his own ears—there is no concern in this, just as with the prayer which they instituted in a whisper. And nevertheless, if he makes it audible to his own ears—one does not prevent him from this, as I wrote in siman 101.

However, in any event, from the words of the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch it has been explained that the one who ascends is obligated to read after the reader in a whisper. And if not—it is like a blessing in vain. Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, in his great book, wrote that it could be said that even if he did not read at all, it is a case of "one who hears is like one who responds," and so it is explicitly proven from the Yerushalmi in Megillah, chapter three, which asks: Does this one read and this one bless? And it answers that the one who hears is like the one who reads. We have already brought this in siman 139, section 7, see there. Nevertheless, it is certainly better that the one who ascends should say it in a whisper. However, if he did not say it, such as if he is an am ha'aretz who is unable to do even this—they can rely on this Yerushalmi. (The Taz, subsection 3, brought this as a proof for a blind person. And we wrote there that for a blind person there is no proof, and also in the Yerushalmi it can be said that the one who ascended read in a whisper. And that which it says "one who hears is like one who reads," meaning: like one who reads before the congregation, for the congregation does not hear from the one who ascended. And from the language of the Rosh and the Tur it is explicitly implied that if the one who ascends remains completely silent—it is a blessing in vain. And so we practice.)

There are places where the custom is that every person who ascends for an aliyah reads according to the law of the Gemara. And in order not to shame one who does not know the cantillation marks – they place a prompter next to the person ascending, and the prompter says each and every word first, and afterwards the reader says it. This is the custom of the people of Romania (Beit Yosef). And there is support for this from Rashi in Shabbat (12b in the entry beginning "the heads") who wrote that he assists the seven called ones with the vocalization and cantillation marks in a whisper, see there. And this is not "two voices," for that is when both of them say it at the same time. But here, when the prompter speaks – the one ascending is silent, and afterwards the one ascending speaks and the prompter is silent. And so it is for each and every word (Beit Yosef). And from the language of Rashi it is clarified that since the prompter speaks in a whisper – we have no concern with it. Therefore, one must be careful even now, for I have seen simple places where there is not even one who knows how to read, and one looks into a Chumash and reads before the reader who reads from the Torah. And it is impossible that this one should be silent while that one speaks, and that they should do so for each and every word, for this is among the impossibilities and they will not comply. Therefore, at the very least, the one saying it from the Chumash should say it in a whisper to the one reading from the Torah.

In the Yerushalmi Megillah there, it says that just as the Torah was given through a mediator, that is to say, through Moshe Rabbeinu, so too at the time of the reading of the Torah it must be through a mediator. Therefore, in our practice where the sheliach tzibbur is the reader—behold, the sheliach tzibbur is the mediator. And in their times when the one who ascended for the aliyah would read—they required that the sheliach tzibbur stand next to him. And if the sheliach tzibbur himself wishes to ascend and read—another must stand next to him. And in our practice, we are meticulous that people stand on both sides of the one who ascends, specifically the reader on one side and the sagan on the other side, for so it was at the time of the giving of the Torah: the Holy One, Blessed be He, and Moshe, and Israel. And so wrote the Levush, see there.

The congregation is not permitted to answer "amen" until the blessing is finished from the mouth of the reader. And the reader is not permitted to read from the Torah until "amen" is finished from the mouth of the entire congregation. And even for those who lengthen the "amen," one must wait for them; as in the priestly blessing that we explained in siman 128, section 29, which is not similar to what we wrote in siman 124 that one does not need to wait for those who lengthen the "amen," for the reason that regarding the priestly blessing everyone is obligated to hear, see there. And here too regarding the reading of the Torah – everyone is obligated to hear. And by the letter of the law, two brothers may read one after the other, or the son after the father or vice versa. However, they have accustomed to prevent this because of ayin hara, and even if one is the seventh and the second is maftir – they also concern themselves with this. And specifically on Shabbat when the maftir reads in this same Torah scroll that everyone read from, but on Yom Tov and similarly on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh and Chanukah and the four parshiyot, where the maftir is in a different Torah scroll – they did not concern themselves with ayin hara. And all the more so regarding the last aliya and hagbahah, that there is no concern in this. And one who is not fastidious – may do as he wishes. (And on Chol HaMoed Pesach when there are two Torah scrolls – there is also no concern.)

One who ascends the bimah to be called to the Torah – shall go from his place by the path that is shortest for him. And when he descends – he shall go to the other side by the path that is longer for him, to demonstrate that parting from the Sefer Torah is difficult for him. Therefore, when the bimah stands in the center of the synagogue, those standing on the south side shall go to the south side in their ascent, and when they descend – they shall descend via the north. And for those standing on the north side, it is the opposite, obviously. And for those standing in the center of the synagogue, for whom both paths are equal – he shall go in his ascent to the right side, which is to the north side which is at his right, and in his descent to the left side, which is to the south side. For all turns that you turn – must be to the right side.

And so too, that which was explained at the end of siman 134, that they carry the Torah to the bimah toward the north side because that is the way to his right, and upon its return from the reading toward the south side—this is when the two paths are equal, as is the custom where the aron and the bimah stand exactly in the middle of the beit knesset. But when one path is distant and one is short, when they carry it to read it—they carry it via the short path, and upon its return via the long path, as with one who ascends to the Torah (Magen Avraham subsection 7).

One who ascends to the Sefer Torah should not descend from the bimah after his reading as long as another has not yet ascended, so as not to leave the Sefer Torah without an oleh. And there are those who wait until after the other oleh says "Barechu...". And among us, the simple custom is that he stands until after the one who follows him has read, and then he descends between one person and the next, for now he has time to reach his place before the oleh who follows the next one recites the blessing.

The reader must be very careful regarding the keri and ketiv to read according to the keri, for this is a law given to Moses at Sinai—that it should be written thus and read thus, even though one reads it by heart. For so we were commanded from the mouth of Moses from the mouth of the Almighty. Our teacher, the Beit Yosef, wrote in section 8 that it happened that one read as it is written, and in the Name the keri was not according to the ketiv. This occurred before the greats of the generation, the Ri Aboab, and the Ra Valansi, and his son the Rash Valansi, and they warned him to read according to the tradition we received from Sinai. He did not want to, and they cursed him and distanced him, and they removed him from the teivah, see there.