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I remember an interpretation of the purpose of the Torah scroll in the Ark (or maybe another scroll in the Temple), to check other scrolls against it.

Rabbis constantly claim the veracity and infallibility of our scrolls, however, I don't recall any known Halachic procedure or record of the practice of checking a scroll against one in the Temple.

Are there sources that mention such a procedure or practice?

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    This is like your tenth time asking this question judaism.stackexchange.com/q/108790/759
    – Double AA ♦
    Jan 2, 2022 at 1:15
  • @DoubleAA Probably third. You are so right, this is why I count on you to keep tabs on my questions. My point here is to as about the procedure (so I edited the title). This fundamental principle is not outlined in the Mishna, so I wandered.
    – Al Berko
    Jan 3, 2022 at 7:34

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Rambam states this in Hilchot Tefillin and Mezuzot 7:2 regarding the scrolls that a King writes:

"...This [King's] copy is corrected by comparison with a scroll kept in the temple court and under the authority of the Supreme Judicature..."

Likewise, in Hilchot Melachim and Milchamot 3:1:

"He checks his Sefer against the one in the Temple Courtyard, in accordance with the Court of Seventy-One."

For some general info on Sefer Ha'azarah, see here.

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  • Thank you. I understand that the lack of details of the procedure and applied Halochos suggests that this is general guidance.
    – Al Berko
    Jan 1, 2022 at 22:12
  • @AlBerko What are you looking for? A high resolution video of them doing it? This hasn't happened in thousands of years, so of course the details of exactly how it worked are sparse.
    – Heshy
    Jan 2, 2022 at 12:43
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    @Heshy Letter-tight accuracy of Torah scrolls (in our tradition) is a fundamental principle. I would suppose, that if our ancestors held this position, they would include detailed Halochos of checking a new Torah scroll. To remind you, there are no Halochos of Sefer Torah in the Mishnah at all! So I was wondering whether a tradition of checking against an authoritative source existed.
    – Al Berko
    Jan 3, 2022 at 7:26

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