Torah Reading: Stand or Sit?

Do we have to stand when the Torah is read?

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There are different customs as to whether one should sit or stand when the Torah is read. In some congregations everyone stands, in some everyone sits, and in some there are those who do either.

Those who rule that one should stand for the Torah reading argue that the Torah reading is intended to parallel the giving of the Torah. Everyone was standing when the Torah was given, and as such, everyone should stand when the Torah is read in the synagogue. Another source for standing for the Torah reading is based on the verse, “And Ezra opened the book...and as he opened it, all the people stood up.” (Nechemia 8:5). Some also argue that the Torah reading is a " davar shebekedusha, " a more sanctified type of prayer, for which one is required to stand,

Those who rule that one should sit for the Torah reading argue that the Torah reading is considered to be a form of Torah study, and one generally sits when studying Torah. Nevertheless, it is a near universal custom, in Ashkenazi congregations at least, to stand when the Ten Commandments, the Song at the Sea, and other significant passages are read.

Although both views are legitimate one should not deviate from the custom of the congregation that one finds oneself in.

OC 141:1, 146:4;Mishna Berura 146:17-19; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 23:6; Aruch Hashulchan, OC 141:2, 146:2,8; Kaf Hachaim, OC 146:20