Sefer Torah (IV)
- The person who lifts the Torah should roll it together
until three pages of text are showing, and then, lifting the Torah, show that
text to the congregation. - The honor of lifting the Torah should not be offered
a person who is incapable of holding it for a certain amount of time before
the eyes of the congregation: a person who is old, or weak, or whose hands are
unsteady. Similarly, a person who is offered the honor but cannot do it
properly should not accept it. - Even though the mitzvah of covering the Torah scroll (glilah)
is also very important and meaningful, there are places were it is given
to young children (though they must be old enough to recognize the kedushah of
the Torah) in order to educate them to do mitzvos. Other congregations do not
give this mitzvah to children who are not yet bar mitzvah. - When the Sefer Torah is lifted, everyone in the
congregation should stand out of respect for the Torah. The congregation sits
down when the person who lifted the Torah sits down.