Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Please Rise!
Standing up for something is usually a way of showing we take it seriously. When a parent or an older person walks in the room, you might be sure to get up to show your respect. Or think about a standing ovation, when people stand while clapping to show how much they liked a performance.
We also stand at special points in the Torah reading. Whenever we finish a book of the Torah, everyone stands up and says חֲזַק חֲזַק וְנִתְחַזֵּק (hazak hazak venithazeik), as we wish ourselves strength to keep on learning!
But sometimes standing for the Torah reading is controversial. This week, we again read the עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת (Aseret Ha-Dibrot, Ten Commandments). (We read them last in Parashat Yitro, and also on Shavuot.) In many communities, people stand while these are being read. After all, the Torah says these words were said directly by God to Benei Yisrael, without going through Moshe at all. Pretty important, no?
But not everyone liked this practice. Look at these harsh words Rambam had to say about this custom:
...בְּכָל מָקוֹם, שֶׁמִּנְהָגָם לַעֲמֹד, צָרִיךְ לְמָנְעָם, בִּגְלַל מָה שֶׁמַּגִּיעַ בַּזֶּה מִן הַהֶפְסֵד בֶּאֱמוּנָה (וּמָה שֶׁמְּדַמִּים), שֶׁיֵּשׁ בַּתּוֹרָה מַדְרֵגוֹת וּמִקְצָתָהּ מְעֻלָּה מִמִּקְצָתָהּ, וְזֶה רַע עַד מְאֹד...
…If any place has the practice to stand (during the Aseret Ha-Dibrot), you should stop them, because this leads to the wrong belief that imagines that some parts of the Torah are higher and more important than others, and that is a very bad thing to think!...
Still, lots of people do stand, and many rabbis defend this practice as helping us to imagine that we are back at הַר סִינַי (Har Sinai, Mount Sinai), hearing directly from God! They argue that no one will think we are disrespecting other parts of the Torah; we are just so excited for this part.
So, what should you do?
1) Some rabbis say it is very good and important to stand, so get up! (R. Moshe Feinstein and R. Eliezer Waldenberg are in this camp.)
2) Some agree with Rambam and think communities should not stand just for this part of the Torah reading. (R. Ovadiah Yosef is in this camp.)
3) Others think that maybe we should only stand on Shavuot, when the reason we are reading the Aseret Ha-Dibrot is to reenact hearing these words from God. But when we read it the other two times, it is better to sit. (R. Yosef Dov Soloveitchik seems to have been in this camp.)
4) Some people always stand when the Torah is read! (This practice is mentioned in the name of the Maharam from Rothenberg.)
Everyone agrees that if you are in a place where the practice is to stand just for the Aseret Ha-Dibrot, you shouldn’t sit in protest, even if you think that practice is wrong. That just ends up making people think you disrespect the Aseret Ha-Dibrot!
Whether you sit or stand this Shabbat, we hope you can think about how amazing it would have been to hear these words directly from God and how all parts of the Torah are special.
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