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I have seen that Rabbi Yitzchak Abadi is careful that all present at his Shul must sit during Torah reading.

Why is that?

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    I assume that you mean R' Abadi says the congregants should sit, but that the person reading the Torah (and the Gabbai and Gabbai Sheni) must stand (Shulchan Aruch OC 141:1, Rama ad loc., M.B. 141:5). – Fred Mar 9 '15 at 18:31
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Because the Halacha is that you can sit (and such was the custom in the majority of synagogues in the period of the Rishonim), and everyone in a given place should follow the same custom. (Or Yitzchak 1:53)

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  • Everyone in a given synagogue should follow the same custom--wheres the mekor? – MosheRabbi Mar 9 '15 at 17:38
  • See the end of the Teshuva. BM 86b. Moshe ate bread his whole life, but when he went to heaven for 40 days, he followed the custom of the angels to not eat bread. – Double AA♦ Mar 9 '15 at 17:38
  • So that means that if I go to a Yeshiva where everyone stands I must do that as well? – MosheRabbi Mar 9 '15 at 17:51
  • @Moshe So it would seem, accd to R Abadi. – Double AA♦ Mar 9 '15 at 17:53
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    +1. Note that there are many views among recent poskim on the matter of whether it is praiseworthy (but not required), optional (essentially to the point of being neutral), or bad to stand in a congregation where people generally sit for the reading. The issues involved are generally yuhara and minhag hamakom (and whether they apply) vs. showing reverence for the Torah by standing (reminiscent of Har Sinai). Factors that could affect this, according to at least some poskim, include whether the rav of the synagogue stands and the percentage of the congregation that does stand. – Fred Mar 9 '15 at 18:43
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The opinion of the Vilna Gaon (Biur HaGr"a קמו-ט) (and pre-Maharam M'rottenberg who was first to be mechadesh this idea- as I heard from Rav Herschel Shachter that even in the shul of the Maharam nobody stood for Krias Hatorah, as this was the predominent minhag) was to sit during Krias Hatorah.

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