Questions tagged [sefer-torah]
A scroll of parchment on which is written the Five Books of Moses. Portions from it are read aloud in synagogue at least 4 times a week.
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Is there any reason for the ark that holds the Torah to be vertical?
In every synagogue I have have been in the aron kodesh (ark which houses the Torah) stands vertically, with the torah scrolls inside also placed vertically. I would like to know if there is any reason ...
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If all Sefer torahs are possibly passul, how do we say a Bracha on reading it?
There are a few discrepancies in the Torah regarding spelling of specific words. These differences make no difference in the meaning. However, because a Sefer Torah is passul even if one letter is ...
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Rambam's endorsement of the Aleppo Codex
The wiki article on the Aleppo Codex (here) suggests that the Rambam endorsed its text: "[Rambam] described it as a text trusted by all Jewish scholars". However, following some of the ...
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How was it allowed and who brought the Sefer Torah out of the Kodesh Hakodoshim
Per the gemara in Bava Batra 14a-b
The Sefer Torah written by Moshe was stored in the Kodesh Hakodoshim.
Rashi in Bava Batra 14b
ספר עזרה - ספר שכתב משה ובו קורין בעזרה פרשת המלך בהקהל וכהן גדול ביה&...
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What is the source for performing a levaya for a burnt sefer torah
Unfortunately due to a recent tragic mishap a sefer torah was burnt in a shul fire.
The community is conducting a levaya in similar incidents a levaya was also performed. I understand that sifrei ...
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Story about the Ben Ish Chai selling his precious sefer Torah in order to publish his seforim
Rav Daniel Glatstein in his Maggid HaRakiah (Inyanei Purim) quotes a story about the Ben Ish Chai desperately wanting to sell his seforim but had no money to publish them. The story goes that he had ...
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וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר: Same paragraph
In almost all cases in the Torah, when G-d's speech to Moshe is introduced with:
וידבר ה' אל משה לאמר
a new paragraph is begun in the written Torah text at this point.
I'm aware of one possible ...
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What is the origin of the division of the Torah into five books [duplicate]
As we start Sefer Vayikra, my chavruta and I have again looked for and been unable to find a satisfactory answer to the question:
“What is the origin of the division of the Torah into five books and ...
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May Jews listen to music during the day of a Sefer Torah burning
According to the Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 340:37 Jews are supposed to tear Kriah after seeing a Sefer Torah being intentionally burned. However, may they listen to music the day when they see it ...
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How would rabbinic law be derived from a Sefer Torah written in another language?
Much of rabbinic law derives from the hebrew Torah's unique spelling (eg plene vs deficient) and wording (eg "את" to include) etc.
Rashbam writes that he will explain the Torah literally as ...
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Source for removing tefillin straps from your hands for hagbah
I was told by many people that, if one is wearing tefillin, he should remove the straps of tefillin from his hand before lifting the Torah for hagbah so that they are not in the same place as the ...
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If a Sefer Torah is ripped, what should be done with it
According to Halacha, if there is a sefer Torah that is ripped, do you have to spend money to get it fixed, or throw it out in Geniza, or throw it out without Geniza?
Is there no requirement to fix it ...
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Where to keep a non-kosher Torah scroll?
This is a follow up question to How to find the date of my ancestors' Torah Scroll?
I am currently investigating where it could be kept in Israel while finding someone to renovate it.
One of my ...
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How to find the date of my ancestors' Torah Scroll?
This Sefer Torah has been in my family for many generations. From what I am told by my great-uncles, this manuscript could date back several centuries but the work of dating it has never been formally ...
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Was Judaism originally henotheistic? [duplicate]
I’ve been trying to learn more about Jewish history and better my relationship with Hashem and as I’ve been doing research on Jewish history I’ve come across the notion that the Torah and Judaism as a ...
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Use of a Torah scroll
May a Torah scroll be used for any purpose other than reading the Torah during a formal Jewish service? I am thinking in particular about practicing reading the Torah with an actual Torah scroll, but ...
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Questions about the flood [closed]
I've been reading Parshat Noach, and I've been wondering about some things that either strike me as odd or impossible. For example, how did G-d cover the entire world with water if we know there isn't ...
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When was Menachem Davidovitch's tikun published?
As has been discussed here in the past, the modern layout for a Sefer Torah comes from Mencahem Davidovitch, a 20th-century sofer. When did he first publish it and where? (ie, did he publish a book or ...
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סדורה breaks in the Torah
The Tur Yoreh Deah 275 describes three kinds of breaks in the Sefer Torah. The first two types are פתוחה and סתומה, the standard "open" and "closed" breaks. He and the Beis Yosef ...
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Designing a Robot that could write a Sefer Torah
I watched a video on YouTube titled "I sent robot forgeries to a handwriting expert." I was wondering if would it be technologically possible to design a robot that could write a Sefer Torah....
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How can I track down a Sefer Torah sold many years ago? [closed]
My grandmother hid a family owned Sefer Torah during the war before she was sent to the camps, and returned after the war to retrieve it from her old house in Hungary. She then took it to Budapest ...
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Source for not sleeping above a sefer Torah
Where can I find the source not to sleep above a sefer Torah, online, in hebrew? I was told it comes from R' Yehudah Hachasid.
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The Rediscovered Torah Scroll in the times of King Yoshiyahu [closed]
The following question was asked here a bunch of years ago, however it wasn't treated with any great sources or analysis, so here I am attempting to give the topic another shot. In Melachim 2, 22: and ...
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Is there a makor for the simcha of a siyum/hachnasas Sefer Torah?
I heard once that it says that the simcha of a siyum Sefer Torah is greater than that of a chasunah. Does anyone know if/where this is from?
Also, are there any other פתגמים (gemara, medrash, etc) ...
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What is the Jewish tradition of writing Torah scroll?
I am trying to learn more about the tradition of rewriting the Torah.
Torah Robot by Matthias Gommel was displayed at the Jewish Museum in Berlin which I visited in 2015. The robot walks across the ...
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Which Atzei Chayim does the Yad go on
When dressing the Torah for it's return to the Ark, does the Yad (chain) go around a particular Atz Chayim? If so, right or left when facing the Torah?
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How many cows are required to obtain the parchment of a typical Sefer Torah?
How many cows are required to obtain the parchment of a typical Sefer Torah?
I have tried estimating the question with some online sources:
Chabad states that a Sefer Torah has 62 and 84 sheets of ...
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Can a synagogue exist without a Torah Scroll?
I met in some literature the term "prayer house" by which is meant a place for tefilah, but without a Scroll. Theoretically, this option is possible when there is no Scroll, but a room for ...
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Online Torah Scroll [closed]
Is there an online virtual Sefer Torah (in 3D) that could be rolled and unrolled?
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Were scrolls ever written on both sides?
Every Hebrew scroll I've ever seen has been written on only one side. This makes sense both due to the physical properties of velum (the outer side is smooth and easy to write on; the inner side is ...
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May we illuminate scrolls?
Since the Middle Ages, it has become more common to find illuminated megillot Esther: kosher scrolls of Esther with pictures around the text. Here is one example: link. I have seen such a megillat ...
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Where was the Torah that Moshe wrote kept?
Did Moshe have a written copy of the Torah? If so, where was it kept when Moshe was alive? In the Mishkan (Tabernacle)? In the Kodesh haKodashim (Holy of Holies)?
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Do Sifrei Torah use kashida justification? [duplicate]
During aliyah, I noticed that the certain letters in the Sefer Torah what appeared to me to be kashida justification. From Wikipedia:
Kashida or Kasheeda (Persian: کشیده; "extended", "...
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The length of a line in Torah scroll
Looking at different fragments of ancient and contemporary scrolls, I wondered
What are the considerations of determining the length of a line in Torah scroll/Chumash?
Dead Sea Scrolls
the Damascus ...
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What is this Ktav?
My son sent me this picture of an old voweled text, probably around 10-12 centuries CE. What stands out, is that the letter He is connected and Chet is flat on the left side.
Is this a fragment of a ...
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First archaeological evidence of Crowns on Letters in a written scroll
What is the first archaeological evidence of Crowns on Letters in a written scroll of Torah?
I took a look at the oldest Torah scrolls and didn't see the crowns until the 12th century.
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The procedure of checking new scrolls against the Torah scroll in the Ark
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 ...
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Parshat Miketz in one bloc
I am looking for any significance about why parshat Miketz is written in one solid bloc, with no break at all, except the fact that the Parsha begins at the beginning of a line.
Unlike parshat ...
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Writing Torah Scroll: Writing a sefer [duplicate]
The Rambam explains "It is an affirmative precept binding upon every individual Israelite to write a scroll of the Law for his own use, as it is said, "Now therefore write ye this Song for ...
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Is a second kaddish recited on Yom Tob when there is only 1 Sefer Torah in the shul?
In a shul that has only 1 sefer Torah, is a second Kaddish recited on Yom Tob when finishing reading the second Torah portion for the day?
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What is a Masora?
What is a Masora and how does it relate to or differ from the Sefer Torah?
I've heard the Masora are notes in the margins of the biblical text, though I haven't been able to find any meaningful ...
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Can a paper crease be a sirtut?
When writing books of Tanakh, we need a sirtut, a horizontal line that helps align the text. Indeed, it is forbidden to write any three words of a verse in k'tav Ashurit without a sirtut. See, for ...
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If Torah's exactness is crucial, why doesn't the Mishnah contain Halachot of writting a Kosher Torah scroll?
In my research of Torah inerrancy, and following my other question "why-there's-no-deoraytah-prohibition-of-altering-torah-scroll", I notice that the Mishnah does not mention any Halachot of ...
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Origin and development of the tradition that Torah scrolls are exact to the letter from Moses
The claim that our Torah scrolls are copied exactly to the letter from Sinai or "for thousands of years" is very common and is used frequently by Rabbis and Kiruv organizations to prove ...
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Pseudo-Rashi on the third scroll in the Temple
Slightly related.
Pseudo-Rashi on Divrei Hayamim 1:8:29 writes:
"...This is what is explained at the end of Megillath Yerushalmi. Ezra found scrolls: the scroll of מְעוֹנִים (Me'onim), the ...
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The possible history of Sefer Za'atutei?
I noticed that one of the changes made by the sages that authored Targum Hashiv'im (the LXX) for King Talmai was:
"וַיִּשְׁלַח אֶת זַאֲטוּטֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶל זַאֲטוּטֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ...
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Seeking details on "teliyah", dangling missing words in a Sefer Torah
Can one add in missing words above the line in a Torah scroll? discusses an example of adding in a missing word in a Sefer Torah. The answer gave a reference Shulchan Aruch YD 276:1, but it is very ...
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Why does the Torah end before fulfilling the promise of entering the Promised land?
Most mundane facts are the most fascinating to question.
The Torah ends with Moses dying in the wilderness and the Israelites still camping on the other bank of the Jordan River. This plot sounds ...
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I need to conduct an interview with a sofer (scribe)
I am a Bible teacher at a Christian school and I am wanting to research and possibly write more about the process of scribes creating a sefer Torah scroll. I would really enjoy and be honored to ...
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How can I practice doing hagba?
Do to its weight, lifting a sefer torah can be challenging without proper technique. Practicing on an actual sefer torah isn't an option for most people due to lack of access. (Most synagogues would ...
