“When Moshe would go out to the Tent, the entire people would stand up and remain standing … until he arrived at the Tent” (Shemos 33:8).
The Medrash Tanchuma writes that we learn from here that one must arise in the presence of an elderly person, as well as for one who studies Torah, an av bais din and a king, and he must remain standing until said individual has passed by.
The Medrash Bamidbar Rabbah (15:17) relates that R’ Abba Cohen told R’ Yosi, the son of R’ Zevida, that when he would see a large gathering of people, he would take a circuitous route in order to avoid troubling them to rise up for him. R’ Yosi chided him saying that it was important that they stand for him so that it would lead to fear of Heaven.
R’ Chilkiyah, R’ Simon and R’ Elazar cite a fortiori that if one must stand before one who studies Torah all the more so one must stand up for the Torah.
The Ish L’Rei’eihu cites the Ran who questions this inference because we learn in Makkos (22b), “How foolish are those who stand before a Torah scroll that passes them, and yet they do not stand before a Torah sage,” as Rava comments that the authority of the sages is so great that although the Torah commands that a person should receive 40 lashes, the sages were authorized to change it to 39 to make it easier for the person to endure. The Ran explains that the intent of our sages is that just as we stand up for the Torah scroll, we should rise up for the Torah sages, for if not for them the Torah would remain removed from us and not understood. Thus a fortiori could be learned in the following way: If we honor the sages who explain the Torah, how much more so should we honor the Torah that is being expounded.
One other way to learn a fortiori is that the sages’ superior ability to clarify the Torah’s teachings comes from the very Torah that they learned. Thus, if you rise in respect for the Torah sages because of the superior spiritual level that they have achieved, then surely one should stand in respect for the Torah itself which is the source of their supremacy.
The Talmud Yerushalmi (Taanis) speaks of respecting a physician before he is needed, so that when the person requires the services of a doctor, he will find one. It can be compared to honoring Hashem, the healer of all flesh, before one requires healing for his affliction. One of the ways of honoring Hashem is by honoring the Torah sages who learn His Torah. This is as our sages expound on (Devarim 6:13) “Es Hashem Elokecha tira – you shall fear Hashem,” the word es is to include the Torah sages, i.e. one should have proper reverence for them.
In a similar vein, one should honor the disciples of Torah who toil and engross themselves in its study day and night, for it is that energy and force that shields over the nation and the land, especially at the time of war, G-d forbid, or other times of challenge and distress.
When there was an earthquake in Japan in 1923, and more than 100,000 people died, the Chofetz Chaim said it was because there was no Torah learned in Japan that could protect them, and this teaches us how to react to the nations who go to war with us – to do as Yaakov Avinu did when he was at war with Eisav.
The Torah says, “If you will follow My decrees and observe My commandments” (Vayikra 26:3) and the Medrash Rabbah relates that the sword and the sefer, i.e. the Torah, were given wrapped within each other. Hashem said to the Jewish Nation: If you will guard what is written in the Torah you will be saved from the sword, if not the sword will become weaponized. That is as the Talmud (Sanhedrin 94b) tells that Sancheriv was destroyed because Chizkiyahu inserted a sword at the entrance of the study hall and declared that anyone who did not engage in Torah study would be stabbed with the sword.
Our sages teach that the study of Torah is our salvation and our protection from the enemy.
The great tzaddik, R’ Eliyahu Lopian, author of Lev Eliyahu, was 88 years old in 1964 and had recently suffered a heart attack. A Knessiah Gedolah was scheduled to begin in Yerushalayim on the 12th of Av (July 22), and R’ Lopian was invited to lead the assemblage in the recitation of Tehillim at the opening session. The Knessiah Gedolah was a worldwide gathering of Torah sages organized by Agudath Israel to strengthen Torah and Torah life and this was the fifth one in this century. Although R’ Lopian fervently desired to participate in this historic gathering, his daughter – Rebbetzin Pinsky – was concerned about his frail condition and tried to discourage him.
R’ Lopian told his daughter: I am not looking for any position of honor to recite the Tehillim in front of the entire assemblage, or to be part of this momentous occasion. I merely want to have the merit to fulfill the mitzvah of standing in honor of the great Rav Moshe Feinstein who will be coming from America to participate in this gathering.
On Wednesday morning, the anticipation mounted in the hall, as each of the honorable rabbinic leaders of the generation entered and sat down on the dais. The president of Agudath Israel, R’ Yitzchak Meir Levine, rose and requested the honor of R’ Eliyahu Lopian to recite the Tehillim. In a choked voice, R’ Eliyahu cried as he recited the Tehillim (Chapter 80) verse by verse. When he finished, the session began. The head of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages) of America, HaRav Moshe Feinstein, was called to the podium to speak. All those present rose in unison, with great awe and respect, for the posek hador. R’ Eliyahu Lopian, too, slowly rose from his seat in honor of R’ Moshe, leaning heavily on the shoulder of his disciple. Afterwards, he whispered into the ear of his disciple, “Baruch Hashem I succeeded in being able to rise in honor of such a Torah sage. It was for this sole reason that I troubled myself, with the last of my strength, to come here.”
When the last speaker finished, all those in attendance rose to sing and dance. As the Torah sages began to leave the hall, R’ Eliyahu said, “I just want to see the face of R’ Moshe one more time.” He walked slowly towards R’ Moshe, and after gazing into his face and exchanging a few words, he recited the bracha (as codified in the Shulchan Aruch 224:6), “Blessed are You … who apportioned of His wisdom to those who fear Him.“
