A Sefer Torah
A Sefer Torah - a Torah Scroll, is the Bible, hand written on
parchment [animal skin]. And it's the most holiest of all books, and
portions are read from it weekly in the Shuls [Synygouge] during the
prayers.
A few basic things you should know about a Sefer Torah;
- All ingredients used for the Sefer Torah must be Kosher.
- There are over 4000 laws a Sofer (scribe) must know before
he starts writting the Sefer Torah!
- There are 304,805 letters in a Sefer Torah.
- If one letter is missing the whole Torah is Pasul (not Kosher).
- One letter from that amount is - 0.000328%!!!
- Even if there is an extra letter it is also Pasul.
- Exchanging one letter with the other is also no good.
- 99% Kosher = 100% Pasul (not Kosher).
- There are (approx.) 245 pages in the Torah.
- Each page has 42 lines.
- Even the spacing between words & paragraphs must be exact.
About the letters;
- No letter may touch another one.
- Even in the letter itself - it may not touch itself only where it should.
- There are 22 letters and 5 final letters.
- The most common letter in the Torah is a
Yud = 31,530.
- The least common letter in the Torah is a
Tes = 1,802.
- The most common final letter in the Torah is
Final Mem =10,623.
- The least common final letter in the Torah is
Final Feh = 834.
The materials used for the Sefer Torah;
- The Torah must be hand written on Parchment [animal skin].
- The parchment - is made from a Kosher animal.
- The ink - all ingredients are Kosher or synthetic.
- The ink must be black (not dark blue or any other color).
- The string to sew the parchments together is made from the veins
of the animal (Kosher),
which is specially treated for this purpose.
- The quill [the pen] is from a Kosher bird - usually a turkey.
The Sofer - Scribe;
- He must be Bar Mitzvah (13 years old) [some say even married].
- Must be fluent and tested in all the laws of Safrus - laws of
writing the Torah.
- Must be a certified Sofer.
- Must write with his right hand or left if he is a lefty .
- Must have the proper intention, when writing the Torah and
especialy when writting Gods name.
|