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Conference taveng::bagels

Title:BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest
Notice:1.0 policy, 280.0 directory, 32.0 registration
Moderator:SMURF::FENSTER
Created:Mon Feb 03 1986
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1524
Total number of notes:18709

206.0. "Torah scroll variations" by HECTOR::RICHARDSON () Mon Oct 06 1986 13:55

    From the "you-learn-something-new-every-day" department, I discovered
    something that maybe everyone else already knew anyhow while performing
    one of my roles as a member of our schul's High Holiday committee,
    rolling the Torah scrolls to the correct portions for Rosh Hashanah
    services.  I always thought that all Torah scrolls were ABSOLUTELY
    identical, column-for-column and "page" (of parchment) for "page".
     In fact, I thought they were invalid (or not kosher) if they were
    NOT identical.  Well, that turned out to be wrong.  Our two Torahs
    are NOT identical.  One of them corresponds almost exactly to the
    way the columns of text are aligned in the sefer Torahs (printed
    book version, with vowel marks included and with an English
    translation), which is useful if you are trying to follow the reading.
     However, that Torah is a good deal heavier than the other scroll
    because its rollers are oak, so we seldom use it because we are
    afraid someone will drop it.  The other one is different.  Apparently
    the real story is that Torah scrolls produced by a particular school
    of scribes are all the same, but differ from one school to the next.
    Our lighter-weight scroll, the one we normally use except when you
    need to have both scrolls (we only have two Torahs), is from a school
    of scribes who attempt to start each column of text with a "vuv",
    unless there ins't a vuv handy for several words on either side
    of where the column break ought to occur.
    
    We were looking more closely at the scrolls than we usually would
    (since we had other things to set up before the holiday besides
    the Torah portions) since we had just been discussing the unfortuneate
    fact that both of our scrolls are getting worn enough that they
    ought to be sent out for repair, since some of the letters have
    been rubbed partially off (I don't think they have ever been repaired
    since we have owned them), making the scrolls officially not kosher,
    and how to raise money for this effort (likely to be a large sum,
    particularly since we are in the process of building a new synagogoue
    building).
    
    Am I the only person who was surprised to learn that Torah scrolls
    differ?  Well, to be honest, I already knew that the Torahs used
    by the Ethiopian Jews are different from what we use (I think they
    are even bound rather than scrolls, and are written in some
    Hebrew-derived alphabet; I doubt that I would be able to read one).
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206.1format, care, and feeding of Torahs?DECEAT::FEINBERGDon FeinbergMon Oct 06 1986 14:3583
>>< Note 206.0 by HECTOR::RICHARDSON >
>>                          -< Torah scroll variations >-
>>
>>    From the "you-learn-something-new-every-day" department, I discovered
>>    something that maybe everyone else already knew anyhow while performing
>>    one of my roles as a member of our schul's High Holiday committee,
>>    rolling the Torah scrolls to the correct portions for Rosh Hashanah
>>    services.  I always thought that all Torah scrolls were ABSOLUTELY
>>    identical, column-for-column and "page" (of parchment) for "page".
>>     In fact, I thought they were invalid (or not kosher) if they were
>>    NOT identical.  Well, that turned out to be wrong.  Our two Torahs
>>    are NOT identical.  One of them corresponds almost exactly to the
>>    way the columns of text are aligned in the sefer Torahs (printed
>>    book version, with vowel marks included and with an English
>>    translation), which is useful if you are trying to follow the reading.
 
The "sefer Torah" is the scroll, not the printed version.  The printed
version is called a "chumash".  The word "chumash" does not refer to
the Torah, specifically, but to a printed version....i. e., you can
have a chumash of the Torah, but also a chumash of the Nevi'im, etc.
(It's so usual to only have chumashim of the Torah around that many refer to
a "chumash Torah" just as "THE chumash".)

I think that _many_ people would be surprised by the differences!

I must share this story with the conference: The past five or so years,
I've been "laining" in shul, i. e., reading the Torah aloud. 
Well, there's a "textbook" for learning to do this kind of thing, 
called a Tikun L'koraim.  The Tikun is printed in two columns.  The 
left hand column is a photographic (i. e., photo-offset) of one column from
an actual Torah.  The right column is the "modern Hebrew" equivalent,
complete with vowel points, trope, pasuk markings, sedrah headings, etc.,
etc.  (The use is obvious, yes?).

Now, one spends a fair amount of time studying the Tikun.  And, I didn't 
realize how much dependency I had on the _position_ of words in the line and 
column until Rabbi switched Torahs on me one Shabbos (hah hah, he thinks!), and
I was in _real_ trouble! Nice to realize this when you're half a
column into an "aliyah"!  Well, I _used_ to have the same assumption....

>>    We were looking more closely at the scrolls than we usually would
>>    (since we had other things to set up before the holiday besides
>>    the Torah portions) since we had just been discussing the unfortuneate
>>    fact that both of our scrolls are getting worn enough that they
>>    ought to be sent out for repair, since some of the letters have
>>    been rubbed partially off (I don't think they have ever been repaired
>>    since we have owned them), making the scrolls officially not kosher,
>>    and how to raise money for this effort (likely to be a large sum,
>>    particularly since we are in the process of building a new synagogoue
>>    building).

Yes, the repairs are expensive. But, there's an obvious, halachic, 
and time-honored method.

There's a mitzvah for every Jew to "write for himself his own Torah". This is
frequently literally impractical.  (The mitzvah could be kept by purchase of
a Torah.)

Here's another way:  You hire a sofer to repair your Torah.
He repairs almost all of it, but leaves one section unrepaired -- typically
the worst section.  He might even replace that section, and write it anew.
What you and your congregation do, is to "sell" individual letters of the 
Torah repair. Everyone will want to have some letter, e. g., their 
children's or parent's initials, etc., which are important to them.  You 
sell a couple of hundred letters, if possible, at a few dollars 
apiece -- maybe $10. That way, each individual will buy a few, not just one. 
(You need a couple of thousand dollars, perhaps.)

The sofer physically comes to you with the almost-repaired Torah.  You know
ahead of time what letters are in the words to complete the repair of
the Torah.  You've sold the letters to individuals. You make a big occasion
when the sofer comes.  You have the sofer write the last few letters 
in "public". And, you get certificates from the sofer on which
he will calligraph the letter that the person purchased
or were honored with.  Charge an extra few dollars for the certificate.
Get your Rabbi to fill out and sign the certificates. The kids and parents 
love them, and will frame them. And people will have a permanent
record of having participated in a genuine "siyum laTorah".

You can raise enough money this way to do repairs, and maybe a little 
on the side....

/don feinberg    
206.2ISBG::ROSENBLUHMon Oct 06 1986 18:559
    re .-1
    Just a very minor nit.  I do not think I have ever heard anyone
    refer to a volume of neviim (= Prophets) alone or ketuvim (=
    Hagiographa) alone as a 'chumash'.  This 
    makes perfect sense to me, since 'chumash' comes from the the
    word for 'five', and  therefore is used to refer to the 5-books
    (= Pentateuch, = Torah, as referred to by  the 'T' in TaNaKh...) 

                 
206.3HECTOR::RICHARDSONTue Oct 07 1986 13:3923
    re .1
    That does sound like a good way to get the repairs made.  We actually
    had a scribe who was going to come up from New York last year around
    Hannukah time (he was also going to check people's mezuzah scrolls;
    I know at least one of mine is no good anymore because water got
    into it and it is stained; it is on the back door of the house and
    is in a pretty exposed location), but the man got sick and was in
    the hospital for a while, so it got postponed, and now everyone
    is so busy worrying about the progress of the new building (mostly,
    will it get framed in before it gets too cold?  Because otherwise
    it will not be ready next spring).  There are so many expensive
    things you can get the same group of people to worry about at the
    same time...  We were figuring $7-8K to completely fix both Torahs,
    which is a lot.
    
    When a scroll is repaired, does the scribe actually re-ink the letters
    that are worn, or does he unsew a piece and sew in a whole new
    section?  Also, what happens with the Torahs some congregations
    have that were rescued from Eastern Europe (or worse places) where
    one page has been left damaged (usually it seems to be partly burned)?
    Are those scrolls only used as a memorial now?  That is, is it
    allowable to read from one (assuming you aren't reading the damaged
    part)?  We don't have one anyways; I was just wondering.
206.4My uncle the SoferFULTON::GOLDJack E. Gold, MRO3Thu Oct 09 1986 15:2115
    My uncle is a Sofer. I can remember when I was a kid, each time
    he came to visit us he would go around to see if anyone needed Torahs
    repaired. He would bring them home, and spread them out on the dining
    room table. He would have his little bottle of black ink and a quill
    pen to correct any problems. I do not remember him ever having to
    replace an actual piece of parchment, but then I never really watched
    all that closely.

    I think he still does this from time to time, but not actively.
    He says the work is very hard, and I can believe it. You have to
    inspect each and every letter in the entire Torah. Boy, what a back
    ache you could get from that, especially if there are several Torahs
    to do at once.
    
    Jack
206.5"stained" parchment sheets?HECTOR::RICHARDSONWed Oct 15 1986 11:0031
    We were wondering about replacement of pages because some sheets
    of parchment in one of our scrolls are stained (if it were paper
    instead of parchment, I would say it looked like grease or wax stains,
    but I don't know if parchment stains the way paper does; the only
    thing I own that is written on parchment is my ketubah!).  Then
    again, thatmay just be the way the parchment is; it isn't completely
    uniform anyhow.  But there are at least three sheets that look like
    that, so I guess they would get replaced if they are technically
    not kosher because of it.
    
    We also have to put the Torah scroll registration marks into the
    scrolls.  We ordered the marking kit a couple of years ago, but
    no one has gotten around to using it, even though it comes with
    explicit directions; everyone on the committee is sort of afraid
    to fool with the scrolls and maybe harm them, even for a good cause.
    Maybe the scribe, when he comes, can put the registration marks
    in; then we can be sure that it gets done properly, and provide
    some measure of insurance for the Torahs.
    
    For those who don't know what this is, the registration kit provides
    a way of marking Torah scrolls so that if, G-d forbid, someone should
    steal one (which happens all the time; Torahs are very expensive),
    it can be identified uniquely.  I haven't examined the kit, but
    I think it has you put invisible ink markings on certain sheets
    of parchment, in some way so that it does not invalidate the scroll.
    I think that you can't see the markings (maybe they are fluroescent
    ink or something?).  Anyhow, this is done, obviously, for insurance
    purposes.
    
    
    PS - It is nice to be back in BAGELS!  I missed you all!
206.6...From the Land of the Torah...TAV02::JUANTue Oct 28 1986 12:2535
    Some time ago, before joining DEC, I was approached in the previous
    company that worked in the subject of imaging and image processing, 
    by a local israeli group that was interested in the automation of
    the process of checking Sifrey Torah.
    
    While trying to understand their requirements I learnt the following:
    
    1. Torahs DO differ. There are some 5 or so oficial standards regarding
       the number of letters per line and lines per page. 
    2. A Torah will not be kosher if any single letter is interrupted
       (even an almost invisible scratch) or two letters touch each
       other. The tradition of kissing the Sefer Torah or touching and
       kissing the Tallit is the most likely source for non-kosher Sifrey
       Torah.
    3. As a result of 2. a very stringent boundary condition on the
       resolution of a particular scanning device was required for the
       system to be able to detect annomalies that would put a question
       mark on a particular Sefer.
    4. The system had a special character recognition algorithm and
       would detect anything that would not fit the correct way a letter
       has to be drawn. It would the atract the attention of a Sofer
       to that particular spot and the human Sofer would then decide
       (posek) if the Sefer is kasher or not.
    5. Another particular problem was with stains. Being parchment the
       skin of a kosher animal, it may have some natural stains and,
       according to the way it was processed, it might develope those
       stains with time, stains that would lower the contrast of the
       page and make character recognition more difficult.
    
    At the time I joined DEC, my prospects had already developed a limited
    version of their systems, capable of checking the Kashrut of mezuzoth.
    
    Ain't it strange to have computer age technology to check ritual
    perfection of anything?
       
206.7GenizahTAV02::JUANTue Oct 28 1986 12:4922
    If a Sefer Torah (literally: the Book of the Teachings) becomes
    not Kosher, i.e.: if a single letter gets damaged, the book cannot
    be used for ritual purposes. Even more so if the scroll was
    intentionally defiled, as so many were during WWII.
    In the above case, a Sofer (scribe) can be asked to repair the Sefer
    or if it is beyond repair it has to be put aside, but since the
    sefer has the name of God, it cannot be thrown away.
    It is customary to either bury the sefer, with all the required
    ritual, as when burying a person, or just kept in a particular place,
    archive, shelter, known in Hebrew as Genizah (the place where things
    are hidden).
    One such a Genizah, the one from the Karaitic sinagogue of Cairo,
    Egypt, found at the begining of the century and partially catalogued
    by Rabbi Shechter - the later founder of the Conservative movement
    if I am not mistaken, yielded thousands of manuscrips, some going back 
    to the 11th century, a few original letters of the Rambam (perhaps the most
    famous and revered codifiers of jewish tradition) and, in later
    time copies, manuscripts apparently relating to the same Sect that
    wrote the Manuscripts of the Dead Sea, known as the Manuscrips of
    the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus. The documents of the Cairo
    Genizah are kept in the Oxford University and have not been
    fully catalogued yet.