Question: Our family are going away for Shabbos and
will have a Minyan. Can we take a sefer Torah with us even though we’ll only lein
from it twice?
Answer: The Shulchan Aruch
(OC 135:14; 584:3) writes that one must not take a sefer Torah to prison for prisoners to hear leining
even on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur unless it is for an important individual.
The Mishna Berura (135:47) explains that this would not be kavod for the
sefer Torah.
Nonetheless, the Mishna Berura writes that this halacha specifically
applies to an individual. One can take a sefer Torah to a prison or hospital if there is a minyan there. The Kaf Hachaim (OC 135:74) quotes the
Zohar who takes a strict stance on this halacha though writes that if a minyan
accompanies the sefer Torah, then it may be moved.
The Rema (OC
135:14) writes that one who transports a sefer Torah should prepare a place for it in advance,
though the Mishna Berura (135:49) and Kaf Hachaim (OC 135:83) write that it is
sufficient to prepare a suitable place that day. R’ Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos
Vehanhagos 1:694) stresses that ideally it should be kept in an aron
hakodesh rather than on a table. Likewise, R’ Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer OC 9:15:3)
writes that while R’ Yaakov Emden (Mor Uketzia 135) disapproved of taking a sefer
Torah into shiva houses, that was only because children run around.
If they are looked after respectfully in an aron hakodesh, however,
then it is permitted.
The Aruch
Hashulchan (OC 135:32) writes that the minhag is to ensure that the
sefer Torah is leined
from on at least three occasions. However, R’ Moshe Feinstein (quoted in Rivevos
Ephraim 5:219), R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (Halichos Shlomo Tefilla
12:38; Taaniyos 13:n11),
R’ Ovadia Yosef (ibid. 9:15:5)
and R’ Moshe Sternbuch question the mekor of this minhag.
In conclusion, one
may take a sefer Torah away for a private minyan so long
as it is stored in an aron hakodesh and treated respectfully.
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