When Hurricane Rita hit in and caused major damage to the shul, we held High Holy Day Services at Jefferson Baptist Church next door, and brought this Scroll and Ark over there so we could still incorporate this critical element of prayer and communal Jewish life. This video shows our Torahs in action during Simchat Torah Our Simchat Torah celebration is a joyful, vibrant party where in as many people carry and dance with a Torah scroll as possible. Children at Beth Shalom are given candy during the seventh blessing.
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Writing a Torah Scroll To eliminate any chance of human error, the Talmud enumerates more than 20 factors mandatory for a Torah scroll to be considered "kosher. 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 special training and certification. All materials parchment, ink, quill must conform to strict specifications, 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 all times. The scribe must pronounce every word out loud before copying it from the correct text.
Every letter must have sufficient white space surrounding it. If one letter touched another in any spot, it invalidates the entire scroll. If a single letter was so marred that it cannot be read at all, or resembles 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 be sufficiently legible so that even an ordinary schoolchild could distinguish it from other, similar letters.
The scribe must put precise space between words, so that one word will not look like two words, or two words look like one word. The scribe must not alter the design of the sections, and must conform to 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. Success of the System Maintaining the accuracy of any document as ancient and as large as the Torah is very challenging even under the best of circumstances.
How many letters are there in the Torah? Torah Compared to Other Texts But how impressive is this compared to other similar documents, such as the Christian Bible? First of all, which would you expect to be more successful in preserving the accuracy of a text? The Christian Bible. For several reasons. Should you perhaps omit one letter or add one letter — it could result that you destroy the entire world Rebbe Meir remarked: "Needless to say, I do not err by omitting or adding letters Carefully guarding the words of the Torah has been a Jewish priority throughout the centuries.
Please donate at: aish. Share this article. Dvirah , May 13, PM Irrelevant. All the quoted sources in this comment are derivative - not Torah scrolls.
Great article! Display my name? Yes No. Credit for the recognition of the age and importance of this Torah scroll goes to Rabbi Amedeo Spagnoletto, recently appointed rabbi in Florence. Long after the Christians had adopted the codex form for Scripture and for other writings, as early as the 2nd century C. Eventually, the codex was adopted by the Jews as well, though not until the 8th or 9th century.
The famous Aleppo Codex dates to ca. Petersburg Leningrad Codex dates to C. But such codices were for study. For liturgical purposes, Jews continued to use the scroll form of the biblical book, a practice that continues until the present day.
In the meantime, though, this precious document will be on display in the Great Hall of the Library of Congress, right next to the Gutenberg Bible from March 27 to April Gary A. Please consider making payments or gifts on our secure online store. Please e-mail info asor. If you already receive ANE Today in your email, you do not need to enter your email address here. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. December No. March Vol. VI, No. Rendsburg A recent announcement by the Library of Congress regarding the purchase of a single Torah scroll sheet dating from approximately C.
Torah Scroll Sheet dated ca. The Ein Gedi Synagogue, with the Torah niche indicated by sign no. Photo courtesy of Gary A. The London sheet, now in the private collection of Stephan Loewenthiel, containing Exodus — Ashkar-Gilson no. Askhar-Gilson no. The older scroll is comprised of two sections of the book of Genesis: C. T-S NS 4. Used by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University.
The first extant portion is this one: C.
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