Ask the Rabbi: Giving a Tallit on a Sefer Torah to a Visitor | Rabbi Daniel Mann | Beit Midrash

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Question: In the makeshift shul we were using, the only available tallit was draped over a sefer Torah in the aron kodesh. Was it justified to remove it to give to a visitor who forgot to bring his tallit? Which purpose is more important?

Answer: There is no need to use a tallit to wrap a sefer Torah. Certainly, when it is in the aron kodesh, it is uncommon to drape anything on a sefer Torah other than its mantle; the aron provides the necessary honor and/or protection. It is more common that when it is being transported or placed down for a while, we like to cover it, which is probably a combination of protection and honor. When this is done, it is common to use a tallit, which presumably gives more honor to the sefer Torah by not only covering it, but doing it with a particularly honorable object. However, even if the sefer Torah was being kept out of the aron, any respectable covering would be fine. Therefore, the tallit’s purpose for covering the sefer Torah is not a significant factor.
On the other hand, there is not a serious halachic requirement to wear a tallit during davening. It is possible that it is important for one davening Shacharit to show he is fulfilling the mitzva of tzitzit, which is mentioned as part of the tefilla (compare to Berachot 14b, see Tosafot ad loc.), but this is fundamentally accomplished by his pair of tzitzit. Indeed, if wearing a tallit during Shacharit were particularly important, Ashkenazim would not have the minhag that single men do not wear them (see Living the Halachic Process III, F-7). Still, the minhag of those who wear a tallit has some significance, as does the human element of a visitor being embarrassed or feeling that he is missing something. Therefore, the "greater purpose" is likely to be for the visitor.
What still deserves attention is the matter of taking something away from a sefer Torah to be used for a person. If the tallit is designated for ongoing use for the sefer Torah, it becomes sanctified as a tashmish kedusha, which should not be used for matters of lower kedusha (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 154:6), irrespective of the mitzva importance of the new usage. A tashmish kedusha has higher kedusha than an object used for a mitzva (Megilla 26b).
However, an object does not become a tashmish kedusha by being used on a temporary basis (Mishna Berura 154:11), and even when it is more permanent, an understanding that it should not be set aside for the kedusha sometimes works (see Shulchan Aruch ibid. 8). So, one should check whether the nature of the designation of this tallit for the sefer Torah was intended to be ongoing before using it for other things.
Another question is of situational disgrace to the sefer Torah by taking the tallit directly from the sefer Torah to a person’s back. We find halachic precedent for this concern from the matter of taking a light from a Chanuka candle (other than the shamash) to use to light another (Shabbat 22b). Using the candle for something else can be bizuy (degradation of a) mitzva. While we fundamentally allow this, because it is for the purpose of the mitzva, there are various opinions about cases that are arguably less mitzva-tied (Shulchan Aruch and Rama, OC 674:1). The Rama makes a distinction that is instructive for us. After the candle has been lit long enough for the mitzva to be completed, it becomes permitted to use it. It is difficult to determine whether halachically, during use that does not sanctify it long term, bizuy to the sefer Torah applies, but we would have recommended the following "compromise," which seems balanced and safe for the letter and spirit of the law.
Remove the tallit when the sefer is in the aron, and, if possible, replace it with another nice cloth if the congregation wants it covered. After a few minutes, give the no-longer-in-use tallit to the visitor, and after davening, do not return the tallit immediately to the sefer Torah, thereby lessening the image of the visitor taking the "sefer Torah’s tallit." If, at some point, someone returns it, that is fine.