Musar for Makkot 44:2
<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> מ"ט אי כתיב ארבעים במספר הוה אמינא ארבעים במניינא השתא דכתיב במספר ארבעים מנין שהוא סוכם את הארבעים אמר רבא כמה טפשאי שאר אינשי דקיימי מקמי ספר תורה ולא קיימי מקמי גברא רבה דאילו בס"ת כתיב ארבעים ואתו רבנן בצרו חדא:
GEMARA: What is the reason [that a sinner only recieves thirty-nine lashes]? If the Torah would have written "forty in number" I would have said that it means exactly forty. Now, however, that it says "in the number of forty" I would say the number which counts to forty [i.e. thirty-nine]. Rava said, How foolish are people that they stand up for a Sefer Torah, but do not stand up for a Torah scholar [lit: great man]. For in the Torah it is said "forty", and the Rabbis came and subtracted one.
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
We can explain two apparently contradictory statements of our sages by keeping this point in mind. The Talmud in Kidushin 33 states that if one needs to rise from one's seat when a Torah scholar enters the hall of learning, how much more so must one rise from one's seat when the Torah scroll itself approaches! On the other hand, we find the Talmud in Makkot 22 saying: "How foolish the people who rise from their seats when the Torah scroll is brought in, but fail to rise when the Torah scholars approach! Tosaphot say that the reference is to ignorant people who are unable to arrive at the logical conclusion mentioned in Kidushin. Had they been able to make such deductions, they would not have displayed their ignorance. It follows that those people were aware that one needs to rise when Torah scholars enter. The Ran explains at the end of the tractate of Kidushin that undoubtedly Torah is on a higher level of sanctity than Torah scholars, and one has to rise when a Torah scroll is brought in. The fools referred to in Makkot are simply too ignorant to appreciate that fact. Their knowledge of Torah is limited to what they hear from the mouth of Torah scholars.
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