Q&A: Turning One’s Back to a Torah Scroll
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Turning One’s Back to a Torah Scroll
Question
There is a halakha that Maimonides wrote, that it is forbidden to turn one’s back to a Torah scroll while walking. But the Tur, for some reason, omitted this law. The question is: is it indeed forbidden to turn one’s back to a Torah scroll while walking? And what would the ruling be in a case where there are many Torah scrolls during the Simchat Torah processions?
Answer
Nowadays the practice is to be lenient about this on Simchat Torah. It is reasonable that this is a matter of proper respect, and if this is the accepted practice, there is no disrespect in it.