How can I practice doing hagba?

Question

Do to its weight, lifting a sefer torah can be challenging without proper technique. Practicing on an actual sefer torah isn't an option for most people due to lack of access. (Most synagogues would be understandably reluctant to allow someone to practice on their seforim.)

Many people never do hagba because they don't want to have do it for the first time in front of an audience at shul.

With that in mind, are there any methods of practicing hagba at home? Are there any common household items that perhaps can be used to approximate the weight and balance of a sefer torah?

Answer 1

Ashkenazi - It's more about technique then strength. Lifting it right up is hard even for a strong person, but sliding it down and then picking it up is easy. The difficult part is to do the spin, step back to the bench and sit while keeping the scroll stretched, and that's more about control and dexterity then strength.

So you need to get fairly heavy and long objects, tie them up in a string, put them on a table, slide the down and lift them up, spin and sit on a chair behind you, while the string is stretched.

Sefaradi - More strength because it weights more, less control because it's one piece, it's already it vertical position and you don't get to sit with it. The main challenge is to keep the ark straight.

Any lifting a heavy object vertically by holding it near bottom would do the trick.

BTW. One may not take a Sefer out just for practice.

Answer 2

The average Ashkenazi Torah scroll weighs around 30 pounds, so I would take two 15 pound weights and raise them. If it is a Sephardi scroll forget about it, my father and a few other men are the only ones I know that have the strength to raise it. Hope this helped, just an idea.