136 Selected Reform Responsa
he should not be called up to the Torah . This would indicate the feeling, at least on the part of most of the scholars, that a nonrepentant sinner should not be called up to the Torah . This opinion is generally based on the Orah Hayyim statement that if a priest has committed certain crucial sins, such as marrying a divorced woman, wilfully defiling himself by contact with the dead, then if he is not repentant, he not permitted to bless the people. Two of the scholars, one anonymous and the other Jacob Emden , say that this is a bad analogy. A priest, if he repents, may bless the people because blessing the people is a mitzvah, a commandment imposed upon him(“Thus shall ye bless,” Numbers 6:23). Thus it is clear in the minds of these scholars that being called up to the Torah is not a commandment before which we may not put obstacles.
As for the analogy with the law in Yoreh Deah, that a man who is under ban may not be counted to the minyan, Jacob Emden says that the law clearly states that only the man who has been officially put under ban is debarred. As long as a sinner has not been put officially under ban, he may still be counted to the minyan. This sinner in London has not been put under ban officially. Therefore he may still be counted to the minyan.
Jacob Emden then adds that being called up to the Torah is less important than being counted to the minyan. Women and children, although they may not be counted to the minyan, may, nevertheless(according to the Talmud , Megilla 23a) be called up to the Torah . So it is conceivable that this wicked man in London could be excluded from the minyan and yet be called up to the Torah . But Jacob Emden says that since he was not put under ban, and since, anyhow, being called up to the Torah is not as strict a matter as being counted to a minyan, then it might be a kindness to let him be called to the Torah . This might help him towards righteousness. Besides, he adds, we“must not close the door in the face of the would-be repentant.” In fact, Ephraim Margolies in his handbook says that if it is not definitely proved that a man is a sinner, we ought to allow him to be called up.
Ephraim Margolies goes into specific details about who should not be called up. A man who is known to have taken bribes should not be called up to the passage dealing with justice and laws; and a man whose wife neglects the mikvah, etc., should not be called up to the passage which deals with these matters. On fast days, a man who is not fasting is not called up to the