Standing before the Torah

b. Makkot 22b

Rava said: How foolish [are] the rest of the people who stand before a Torah scroll [that passes before them,] and [yet] they do not stand before a great man, [when a sage passes before them;] as in a Torah scroll, forty is written and the sages came [and] subtracted one, [establishing the number of lashes as thirty-nine. Apparently, the authority of the sages is so great that they are able to amend an explicit Torah verse.]

b. Kiddushin 33b

A dilemma was raised before them: What is [the halakhah as] to [whether one should] stand before a Torah scroll? R. Ḥilkiya and R. Simon and R. Eleazar say [that this dilemma can be resolved by] an a fortiori [inference: If] one stands before those who study [the Torah, is it] not all the more so [true that one should stand] before [the Torah itself]?

R. Elai and R. Jacob bar Zavdi were sitting [and studying Torah]. R. Simeon bar Abba passed before them and they stood before him. [R. Simeon bar Abba] said to them: [You are not obligated to do this, for two reasons.] One [reason is] that you are [ordained] scholars and I [am only] an associate [i.e., he had not been ordained]. And furthermore, does the Torah stand before those who study it? [Since you are engaged in Torah study at the present moment, you are not required to stand before a Torah scholar.]

[R. Simeon bar Abba] holds in accordance with [the opinion of] R. Eleazar, as R. Eleazar says: A Torah scholar may not stand before his teacher when he is studying Torah [because he is engaged in honoring the Torah itself. Even so,] Abaye cursed [anyone who acted in accordance with this ruling, as he would give the appearance of one who disrespected his teacher].