[Avodah] Kriyas HaTorah, Aseres Ha'dibros

[Professor L. Levine]

>From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis

Q. The Rambam (Teshuvos HaRambam 60) writes that one who is seated
should not stand up for the reading of the Aseres Ha'dibros (Ten
Commandments). However, the general custom today is that the entire
congregation does stand during this reading. Why is it that this ruling
of the Rambam is not followed?

A. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt"l pointed out that there are two
versions of cantillation for the Aseres Ha'dibros. The first is called
ta'am ha'tachton (lower cantillation) which punctuates the Aseres
Ha'dibros into sentences in the same manner as the rest of the Torah. The
second is called ta'am ha'elyon (higher cantillation), which punctuates
following the order of the commandments, reconstructing the manner in
which the Ten Commandments were received during matan Torah.

There are two reasons why someone would wish to stand for the Aseres
Ha'dibros. If one's intent is to show extra honor to this portion of
the Torah, this is inappropriate. The entire Torah was given to Moshe on
Har Sinai, and therefore all of Torah is equally precious. Standing for
the Aseres Ha'dibros might lead some to the erroneous conclusion that
only the Ten Commandments were received directly from Hashem. However,
there is a second reason why one would stand during the Aseres Ha'dibros
and that is to recreate the assembly at Har Sinai. We stand for the
Aseres Ha'dibros in the same fashion that all of Israel stood during
the original acceptance of the Torah.

Today, the general custom is to always read the portion of the Aseres
Ha'dibros with the ta'am ha'elyon. This indicates that this is not merely
a reading of the Torah, but a recreation of matan Torah. Therefore, it
is appropriate to stand. Rav Soloveitchik posits that the Rambam read
the Aseres Ha'dibros with the ta'am ha'tachton, equating it to every
other Torah reading, in which case, it would indeed be inappropriate
to stand. The custom of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, zt"l was to read the
Aseres Ha'dibros both on Shavuos and during the weekly portion with
ta'am ha'tachton, following the practice of the Rambam.

Some, however, have the custom to read the Aseres Ha'dibros on Shavuos
with ta'am ha'elyon, since this reading is a recreation of Sinai, but
when parshas Yisro and parshas Va'eschanan are read on a regular Shabbos,
the Aseres Ha'dibros are read with ta'am ha'tachton. In such a shul it
would be best to stand from the beginning of the aliyah so as not to
show more honor to one part of the Torah than another.