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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 aYud = 31,530.
  • The least common letter in the Torah is aTes = 1,802.
  • The most common final letter in the Torah isFinal Mem =10,623.
  • The least common final letter in the Torah isFinal 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.

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