I asked a Chabad Rabbi about this tonight. He said because we are saying “v’zot haTorah” (this is the Torah), we raise our pinkies to point at the Torah. This is obviously not just a Sephardic minhag. A couple of years ago I was given a different explanation by my rabbi. He said that the pinky is the smallest finger and looks similar to a “yud”, a very small letter. We are comparing our finger to a yud and hoping that today we may have learned some Torah, even if it is just a very small amount. I imagine that there are probably many other explanations for this practice. I have seen many people hold up a corner of their tallis while holding up their pinkie and have also seen some who wrap one of the tzitzit around the pinkie before holding it up.
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