Closing the Ark When the Torah is Taken Out

The usual custom in Reform congregations is to leave the Ark open after the Torah is taken out for reading. It remains open until after the Torah is returned. In our congregation a number of older men have insisted that this practice is incorrect, and say that the Ark must be closed after the Torah is taken out. (From Rabbi Robert Raab, McKeesport, Pennsylvania)

I have not found in the codes or the books of customs any specific statement as to whether the Ark should remain open or be closed during the reading of the Torah. Yet there must surely have been a custom in some old communities always to close the Ark after the Torah is taken out. Such a custom would be logical in the light of certain regulations dealing with honor due to the Sefer Torah. These regulations are found chiefly in Shulchan Aruch, Yore Deah 282, and also, in passing, in Yore Deah 242.

Most of these regulations require the congregation to stand at certain times during the Torah ceremonies. In 282 : 2 the rule is given that when the Torah is carried, all must stand (as we do in our congregations). Isserles adds that even if one does not see it carried, but hears the sound of it (the bells, et cetera), he must stand with the rest of the congregation.

When the Torah is laid down on the reading desk it is not necessary to stand; so says Isserles in 242 : 18. His reason is that the Torah is now in a different enclosure (Reshus) of its own. In other words, the high and fenced Bimah is, as it were, a separate room. This is not only a logical but a humane decision. It would be burdensome for the congregation to stand throughout the Torah reading.

Yet despite this sensible decision many people did stand, not because the Torah was out on the desk but because the Ark was open! This popular custom is referred to by David of Ostrow (“Taz,” ad loc, n. 13). In commenting upon the decision of Isserles that it is unnecessary to stand when the Torah is on the reading desk, he adds that it is also unnecessary to stand when the Torah is in the Ark, even though the Ark is open. Then he adds that “people, however, have the custom of standing as long as the Ark is open, but there is no requirement to do so.” Perhaps the people did so because there were always other Torahs in the Ark.

If in certain communities the people insisted upon standing, then if the Ark should stay open during the entire, long Torah reading, it would be burdensome to the congregation. For that reason it seems clear that in such communities the custom arose to close the Ark as soon as the Torah was removed so that the people would sit down during the Torah reading.

If the custom to stand as long as the Ark is open had become widespread, then the consequent custom of closing the Ark would also have become widespread, and surely would have found record in the literature. The fact that there is no such record, as far as I have seen, makes it evident that the custom mentioned by “Taz” (to stand as long as the Ark is open) never became widespread. In fact, I have found only two authorities who have given this custom the status of law. One is Meir Eisenstaedter, of Eisenstad, the other is Moses Sofer, of Pressburg. Meir Eisenstaedter (in his Ponim Meiros I, 74) cites the opinion of the “Taz” that it is not necessary to stand while the Ark is open. Then he adds: “I believe that we should be strict in this matter and require people to stand as long as the Torahs are visible.” Moses Sofer (Chatham Sofer, Choshen Mishpot 73, at the end of the responsum) says it even more strictly: “If the Ark is open, it is forbidden to sit down in the synagogue.”

These two scholars were leading rabbis in Hungary. On their authority the custom became law for the people to stand as long as the Ark was open. Therefore it is likely that it is a Hungarian custom to close the Ark as soon as the Torah is taken out.

In most of our Reform congregations we seem to follow the decision of Isserles. While the Torah is being taken out, the congregation rises; when the Torah is placed on the desk, the people sit down; and during the reading (even though the Ark is open) the congregation remains seated.