parsah of the week: rabbi avi billet

Fall fear factor: Dropping a Torah scroll

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There are few things in life that can elicit a collective gasp from everyone in a room. A real shocking twist in a novel is limited to the reader, while the same twist in a film might be expected by a percentage of the viewers. But there is one moment I can visualize that can deflate a Jewish crowd in a second: when a Sefer Torah falls to the ground.

Here are two examples I experienced.

One Simchat Torah, I was witness to overexcited dancers grabbing a 75-plus year old man who was holding a Torah. Down they all went. And down went the spirits of those hakafot. Some people tried to rev up the room once again, but they were unsuccessful.

The second example: One Shabbat, the Torah was not put back securely before Mussaf. During the recitation of Eitz Chaim, the Torah tipped over and fell inside the Holy Ark. Thankfully it was a deep box and the Torah did not fall to the floor. The quick-reacting gabbai saw it as it was happening, and caught the Torah before it could fall further. The energy was very clearly sucked out of the room as the congregants realized they had almost witnessed what is considered by many to be one of the worst possible desecrations of the Torah.

What is the proper response to incidents like these? What are we to do?

Many people are familiar with the custom, spelled out most clearly by Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried in his Kitzur Shulchan Arukh (28:12) that the person who dropped the Torah, and the witnesses, are to fast in response.

What is the source for this custom? Is it absolutely necessary for people to fast?

The best responses I have found to this question are the Divrei Chaim (Sanzer Rebbe), in Yoreh Deah 1:55, and Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef in Yabia Omer Orach Chaim 2:28. In essence, the custom has no basis in the Talmud or the words of the rabbis.

Some compare it to a similar law related to an individual dropping his own tefillin. Others argue it may stem from the duties to mourn over a Torah scroll that has been destroyed in a fire. But a Torah that falls and is otherwise undamaged does not require a fasting of those responsible and the witnesses to the event.

Rabbi Chaim Sanzer even distinguishes between an accidental drop and a purposeful drop, the latter being committed by a person who is just trying to “stir coals.” I would venture to bet that 99.9 percent of dropped Torahs are accidental.

While both seem satisfied with these approaches, they do stress that the custom has been established to fast and it is certainly a wake-up call to all the witnesses to commit to more Torah study and to be ever more careful about honoring the Torah.

No one will argue that any of these are bad things for those present to undertake.

It is certainly my hope that no Torahs drop over the coming holiday, chas v’shalom. And if something should happen, every community, with the guidance of its rav, will decide how to best deal with the situation. Sometimes fasting is appropriate. Sometimes it is not.

Like everything else in life, however, we must be able to distinguish between what my children call an “ow-ee” (some call it a “boo-boo”) and real destruction. A falling Torah is not comparable to a burned Torah, much like most people don’t remember the anniversary of the 1993 World Trade Center attack but remember vivid details of September 11, 2001, including, most obviously, the date.

While obviously sad, and a cause for introspection and renewed commitment, the accidental drop is not necessarily a life-shattering event that changes our lives forever.

This column originally appeared in 2008.

Contact Rabbi Avi Billet: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com