Tag Archives: torah scrolls

Masechet Soferim, chapter 2, 12-15

May 23, 2011 – 00:54

יב) ובקלפים לא נתנו שיעור, אלא כל מה שהוא רוצה, מוסיף, ובלבד שלא יפחות משלשה דפין. There is no defined measurement for the klafim; whatever one wants, he may add, provided he does not go under three columns. יג) יריעה שבלת, לא יטול שנים ויחזיר שנים, אלא נוטל שלשה ומחזיר שלשה, ומה שהוא מחזיר, כמדת […]

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Masechet Soferim, chapter 2, 11

May 22, 2011 – 00:51

Okay! This bit is what got me started on this in the first place. יא) אבל בשיטין נתנו טעם, כמסעות ארבעים ושנים, וכרבבות של ישראל ששים, וכזקנים של ישראל שבעים ושנים, וכתוכחות של משנה תורה תשעים ושמנה, הכל לפי הכתב. כמסעות, שנאמר ויכתוב משה את מוצאיהם; כרבבות ישראל, שנאמר כתב לך את הדברים האלה כי […]

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eeny weeny torah scroll fun

May 20, 2011 – 16:56

Here’s a video featuring a very tiny totally kosher Torah scroll. The video’s more concerned with the accoutrements, a little aron kodesh and the usual silver ornaments for a Torah scroll, than with the scroll itself. They’re made by Bezalel School-trained artist Shuki Freiman, and they are breathtakingly beautiful, utterly and completely. Seeing them is […]

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Masechet Soferim, chapter 2; 8-10

May 20, 2011 – 00:02

ח) מניחין בסוף הדף כדי הקיפו, ואינו צריך לעשות כן בתחילתו, ולתורה מיכאן ומיכאן; לפיכך גוללין את הספר לתחילתו, ואת התורה לאמצעיתה. One leaves at the end of the [last] column enough to wrap around it. It is not necessary to do this at its beginning. For Torah, on both sides; accordingly, one rolls the […]

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from the Torah repair mines

May 19, 2011 – 21:58

Isn’t this sweet? It’s the little letter aleph in “Vayikra,” but it’s a particularly tiny version, where the height of the whole letter aleph is same as the width of the quill used for the other letters. The regular letters in this sefer, by the way, were 7mm high. Huge!

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Why you should have sushi for Shabbat this week

May 19, 2011 – 20:48

Here’s a quote from Eric Ray’s book Sofer: The Story of a Torah Scroll: …no “base metals” may be used in making or repairing these texts. Base metals are the metals used in everyday tools. That means that no iron, no steel, no brass, no copper, and no bronze can be used. Base metals are […]

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Masechet Soferim, chapter 2, 1-7

May 19, 2011 – 00:29

I was looking up the bit about the number of lines per column (thanks, MarGavriel), and I figured I might as well review (and translate, because that’s how I learn best) the whole chapter. Various people describe Masechet Soferim as a rulebook for writing the Torah. It really isn’t. It’s a minor talmudic tractate containing […]

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holes in klaf

May 17, 2011 – 16:18

See how the scribe here has adjusted his lines to fit around the hole in his klaf? Rabbi Dan describes this perfectly: “a loving reminder that we live in a very, very wealthy time when we can have perfect klafim in our synagogues, and admiring the sofer who adapted to the needs of the moment.”

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your student doesn’t finish her first sefer Torah every day

April 7, 2011 – 21:37

My beloved student Julie has been writing a Torah in San Francisco at the Contemporary Jewish Museum for the past year, and once she’d finished writing (yay) it came time to sew it together and have a bit of an Event. So I went out there to help with the sewing and to be part […]

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Disaster in the Torah repair mines

January 20, 2011 – 16:44

Tears in Torahs are scary, people. I know. You see a big tear, you want to STICK IT BACK TOGETHER REALLY HARD so it WON’T TEAR ANY MORE. Nobody could be calm about finding this in their Torah, for instance: But for the love of all things holy, don’t whip out the duck tape and […]

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