The Torah Scroll
The Torah was originally dictated from God to Moses, letter for letter.From there, the Midrash (Devarim Rabba 9:4) tells us:
"Before his death, Moses wrote 13 Torah Scrolls. Twelve of these weredistributed to each of the 12 Tribes. The 13th was placed in the Ark ofthe Covenant (with the Tablets). If anyone would come and attempt to rewriteor falsify the Torah, the one in the Ark would 'testify' against him."(Likewise, if he had access to the scroll in the Ark and tried to falsify it, the distributed copies would 'testify' against him.)
How were the new scrolls verified?An authentic "proof text" was alwayskept in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, against which all other scrollswould be checked. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, theSages would periodically perform global checks to weed out any scribal errors.
* * *
"Before his death, Moses wrote 13 Torah Scrolls. Twelve of these weredistributed to each of the 12 Tribes. The 13th was placed in the Ark ofthe Covenant (with the Tablets). If anyone would come and attempt to rewriteor falsify the Torah, the one in the Ark would 'testify' against him."(Likewise, if he had access to the scroll in the Ark and tried to falsify it, the distributed copies would 'testify' against him.)
How were the new scrolls verified?An authentic "proof text" was alwayskept in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, against which all other scrollswould be checked. Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, theSages would periodically perform global checks to weed out any scribal errors.
* * *
WRITING A TORAH SCROLL
To eliminate any chance of human error, the Talmud enumerates morethan 20 factors mandatory for a Torah scroll to be considered "kosher."This is the Torah's built-in security system. Should any one of thesefactors be lacking, it does not possess the sanctity of a Torah scroll,and is not to be used for a public Torah reading.
The meticulous process of hand-copying a scroll takes about 2,000 hours(a full-time job for one year). Throughout the centuries, Jewish scribes have adhered to the following guidelines:
- A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is added.
- A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is deleted.
- The scribe must be a learned, pious Jew, who has undergone specialtraining and certification.
- All materials (parchment, ink, quill) must conform to strictspecifications, and be prepared specifically for the purpose of writing a Torah Scroll.
- The scribe may not write even one letter into a Torah Scroll by heart.Rather, he must have a second, kosher scroll opened before him at alltimes.
- The scribe must pronounce every word out loud before copying it from thecorrect text.
- Every letter must have sufficient white space surrounding it. If oneletter touched another in any spot, it invalidates the entire scroll.
- If a single letter was so marred that it cannot be read at all, orresembles another letter (whether the defect is in the writing, or is due to a hole,tear or smudge), this invalidates the entire scroll. Each letter must besufficiently legible so that even an ordinary schoolchild coulddistinguish it from other, similar letters.
- The scribe must put precise space between words, so that one word willnot look like two words, or two words look like one word.
- The scribe must not alter the design of the sections, and must conformto particular line-lengths and paragraph configurations.
- A Torah Scroll in which any mistake has been found, cannot be used,and must be fixed within 30 days, or buried.
* * *
The meticulous process of hand-copying a scroll takes about 2,000 hours(a full-time job for one year). Throughout the centuries, Jewish scribes have adhered to the following guidelines:
- A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is added.
- A Torah Scroll is disqualified if even a single letter is deleted.
- The scribe must be a learned, pious Jew, who has undergone specialtraining and certification.
- All materials (parchment, ink, quill) must conform to strictspecifications, and be prepared specifically for the purpose of writing a Torah Scroll.
- The scribe may not write even one letter into a Torah Scroll by heart.Rather, he must have a second, kosher scroll opened before him at alltimes.
- The scribe must pronounce every word out loud before copying it from thecorrect text.
- Every letter must have sufficient white space surrounding it. If oneletter touched another in any spot, it invalidates the entire scroll.
- If a single letter was so marred that it cannot be read at all, orresembles another letter (whether the defect is in the writing, or is due to a hole,tear or smudge), this invalidates the entire scroll. Each letter must besufficiently legible so that even an ordinary schoolchild coulddistinguish it from other, similar letters.
- The scribe must put precise space between words, so that one word willnot look like two words, or two words look like one word.
- The scribe must not alter the design of the sections, and must conformto particular line-lengths and paragraph configurations.
- A Torah Scroll in which any mistake has been found, cannot be used,and must be fixed within 30 days, or buried.
* * *
Additional Resources
Resources
See our Lens on Squidoo - includes video of Torah scroll dedication, mini documentary on making a scroll and more resources.
Sponsored Resources
