Torah scroll

A fragment of a Torah scroll. The object is dated at around 1799.The function of a sofer is of extreme importance in Judaism. A Sofer (Heb. scribe) is not only authorised to copy Torah scrolls, but also to draw up a ketubah (a legal contract between engaged couples, concluded before marriage), a get (a divorce letter necessary to end the marriage), scrolls placed in phylacteries (tefilin), or the content of the parchment kept in the mezuzah. The sofer is obliged to clean his hands and to put on a prayer robe before starting to write. They are very often skilled in Hebrew calligraphy, which is why in the past they were also communal scribes acting as notaries of sorts; every community had to have its own sofer.

Experienced sofers became artists in their craftsmanship. For writing, the sofer uses a goose feather quill, specially prepared for copying the Torah text. The scribe is bound by numerous rules under strict rabbinical control, e.g. prior to writing a name or term for God, he must undergo a ritual bath in a mikveh. It is the accuracy in copying the Torah that matters most: any error makes the whole fragment useless and unfit for further use.

Donated by Paweł Kaźmierczak.

Natalia Różańska