| Torah
Seven weeks after the exodus from Egypt, Israel’s children witnessed the
event that to this day represents the foundation of Orthodox Judaism.
Moses/Moshe was, by God’s inter-vention, given the Torah.
Torah (the Pentateuch) consists of the five Books of Moses (Bereshit –
Genesis, Shemot -–Exodus, Vayikra – Leviticus, Bemidbar – Numeri, Devarim
– Deuteronomy), that are an important part of the Jewish Bible – Tanach.
These books are the Word of God in Judaism. Torah begins with the story
of the creation of the world and humans (Adam and Hava/Eve) and concludes
with the death of Moses. The central part of the Torah is the story of
the forty years long journey of our forefathers through the desert of
Sinai towards the Promised land. During this time, all the basic religious
and ethical principles of Judaism were formulated. The books of Exodus
(Shemot) and Genesis (Bereshit) bring numerous provisions, prohibitions
and laws. They were given to Moses on Mount Sinai approximately 3300 years
ago. The best known part of them are the Ten Commandments that represent
the core moral code of both Judaism and Christianity. These Commandments
are the gift of God that distinguished the Jews from their neighbours.
A very old tradition has it that Torah existed not only prior to Moses’
time, but also prior to the creation of the world. To Moses, it was revealed
in seventy languages so that everyone could understand it.
Sefer
Torah
Sefer Torah means “the Scroll of Torah” in Hebrew. “Scroll” is in this
context a more appropriate translation than “book”, as sefer in this context
means a kosher (ritually pure) scroll fit for usage in liturgy.
The scroll is made of kosher leather, usually bovine. It is attached to
wooden holds (etz chayim) at both ends. The Torah is handwritten: it cannot
be printed. Torah is the Word of God; therefore, touching the written
text is pro-hibited. To facilitate reading, a special stick, usually in
the form of a human hand, is used (and called “hand”, yad).
Sefer Torah is read from most frequently at Shabbat morning services.
It is customary to read through the entire Torah during the course of
one year; therefore, the text is divided into partitions called parasha
(pl. parashot). At the end of the liturgical year, the scroll is rewound
back to the beginning, an event that is celebrated as The Joy of Torah
(Simchat Torah) .
Making
Sefer Torah
The writing of a Sefer Torah is guided by meticulous rules that need be
observed in order to have a scroll that is kosher for ritual use. These
rules are given in the Talmud. Mai-monides, the philosopher, compiled
and systemised them in his work entitled Mishne Torah.
A
plume obtained from a feather of a kosher animal needs be used to write
the Torah scroll. The ink is made in a special procedure. No tools made
of ordinary metals are allowed, since these are used for making weapons;
only precious metals are allowed. The sizes of each part of the scroll,
each letter, each line and each margin are prescribed. The sofer (trained
ins-criber) must follow closely the special methods for writing individual
letters, lines, passages, and poetry, as the final product has to conform
with the Masoretic laws. Disregarding those can render the scroll invalid.
During his holy work, the sofer has to observe the rules of daily ritual
cleansing in the mikva (ritual bath). Each day, before touching the scroll
with the plume for the first time, he recites: “I write the name of God
in the honour of His Holy Name.” He can use either another correctly written
scroll, or a book called Tik-kun, i.e., a printed Torah, to copy from.
Despite all precautions and attentiveness, errors will occur; writing
a Torah scroll is a time-consuming task that sometimes takes a whole year.
Most frequent errors are omitting letters, words, or even lines. Minor
errors the writer can correct himself by scratching out with a sharp object
(e.g. a chip of glass). Graver errors take more time and complications
to correct.
The Talmud says that the sofer venerates God by writing a beautiful Torah
with an exquisite pen and ink, on a scroll well-made.
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