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Can someone who gets the honor of taking out the Sefer Torah also get an Aliyah? I ask because perhaps there is an idea that someone should only get one Kavod by Sefer Torah.

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    What is the source for your idea of only getting one Kavod? Nov 13, 2015 at 14:22
  • Just from my observations. At a bris, every different part, someone else gets a Kavod, same at a wedding, and same by getting an Aliyah. The same Yisrael doesn't get more than his Aliyah on Shabbos, so I figured that there may be this concept
    – Bochur613
    Nov 13, 2015 at 14:24
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    I have seen at a wedding one person doing all the Brachos. Nov 13, 2015 at 14:55
  • I have been in Shul's where the same person took out the Sefer Torah and received an Aliyah. I have also been in a Shul where the same person got an Aliyah and then did Hagbah. These Shul's have respected Rabbi's and I am sure that had there been an issue with such, it would not have been done like that. Nov 13, 2015 at 15:01
  • @GershonGold, I've been to a Minyan where the same person got several 'Aliyoth. This was because he was the only person competent to read, and the Minyan was very particular to have each 'Oleh read for himself.
    – Seth J
    Nov 13, 2015 at 15:07

2 Answers 2

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It's possible to run into a situation in which you have no choice but to double up. For an extreme example, suppose you have a minyan of exactly ten men, and it's a Shabbat on which you take out three Torah scrolls. Then, your Torah service honors include seven regular aliyot, maftir, opening the ark, two Torah-carriers, three hagbahas, and three gelilas, for a total of seventeen honors to distribute, meaning that seven of the men will need to get two honors.

(I don't know if I've ever run into a situation this extreme, but I've definitely experienced having to double-up while serving as gabbai at my college minyan.)

I don't have a source to prove that aliya and opening the ark, in particular, can both go to the same person, but it seems, intuitively, that if something has to get doubled-up, opening the ark, which is the honor least coincident with the rest of the Torah service, would be a reasonable choice.

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  • Excellent use of the Pidgeon-hole Principle. +1 Nov 15, 2015 at 2:16
  • @DanF I assumed the chazzanim would carry the sifrei Torah out and back, and that "chazzan" isn't one of the Torah-service honors we're worried about doubling up with others.
    – Isaac Moses
    Jan 23, 2018 at 14:08
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Yes. I've been in a good number of orthodox synagogues in which the same person took out the Torah scroll and received an aliya. These include Young Israel of St. Louis (Mo.), Agudas Israel of St. Louis (Mo.), Agudath Israel of Madison (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (Ont.).

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