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48-463: Soferim consists of 21 chapters, containing 225 paragraphs ("halakhot") in all. The chapters may be summarized as follows: Soferim may be divided into three main divisions: chapters 1–5, 6–9, and 10–21, the last of which is subdivided into two sections, 10-15 and 16:2-21. The tractate derives its name from its first main division (chapters 1–5), which treats of writing scrolls of the Law , thus conforming to

96-508: A synagogue , the Torah ark , which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem , the direction Jews face when praying . The text of the Torah is also commonly printed and bound in book form for non-ritual functions, called a Chumash (plural Chumashim ; "five-part", for the five books of Moses), and

144-634: A Torah scroll contains 304,805 letters, all of which must be duplicated precisely by a trained scribe, or sofer , an effort which may take as long as approximately one and a half years. An error during transcription may render the Torah scroll pasul ("invalid"). According to the Talmud , all scrolls must be written on gevil parchment that is treated with salt, flour and m'afatsim (a residue of wasp enzyme and tree bark) in order to be valid. Scrolls not processed in this way are considered invalid. There are only two types of kosher parchment allowed for

192-441: A Torah scroll during his lifetime." It is considered a tremendous merit to write (or commission the writing of) a Torah scroll, and a significant honour to have a Torah scroll written in one's honour or memory. In modern times, it is usual for some scholars to become soferim and to be paid to complete a Torah scroll under contract on behalf of a community or by individuals to mark a special occasion or commemoration. Because of

240-423: A Torah scroll: gevil and klaf . The ink used is subject to specific rules. The ink has to adhere to a surface that is rolled and unrolled, so special inks were developed. Even so, ink would slowly flake off and if the ink from too many letters is lost, a Torah scroll is no longer used. After the preparation of the parchment sheet, the scribe must mark out the parchment using the sargel ("ruler") ensuring

288-577: A codex [may the Torah , the Prophets , and the Writings be combined]; in a scroll the Torah and the Prophets must be kept separate"; while the following section describes a scroll of the Law as being divided into verses (doubtless by means of blank spaces), or as having the initial portion of its verses pointed. Among the ancients the beginning ("resh pasuk") of a verse rather than the end ("sof pasuk")

336-434: A number of halakhot ; so that care must be taken not to assign the compilation of this longest portion to too recent a date. Both the form and the content of those passages in which authorities are not mentioned point to a Judean origin; they may have been derived from the lost portions of Yerushalmi and various midrashic works, which, indeed, they may be regarded as in part replacing. Only certain interpolations, as well as

384-428: A separate part, containing Masoretic rules for writing; the first four paragraphs of chapter 6 and some passages of chapter 9 are of early date. This portion was undoubtedly added by Masoretes of Tiberias ; and the main portion of the modern Masorah, which also contains the passages in question, likewise originated in the same school. The first two parts of Soferim are acknowledged to be Judean , and were intended for

432-571: Is done in a ceremony known as hachnosas sefer Torah , or "ushering in a Torah scroll"; this is accompanied by celebratory dancing, singing, and a festive meal. This practice has its source in the escorting of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem , led by King David . As described in the Books of Samuel , this event was marked by dancing and the playing of musical instruments ( 2 Samuel 6:14–15 ). Both

480-459: Is found in 5:1,2 (מעכב, variant reading מחטב). There were generally 72 lines to the column in a scroll of the Law (12:1). The passage 13:1 refers to the stichic writing of the Psalms ; Book of Job , and Proverbs ; and the remark "A good scribe will note" shows that the passage was written at a time when this detail was no longer generally observed. Soferim is the first work to distinguish between

528-441: Is not the result of careless copying or other negligence, but is due to the nature of the tractate's redaction; for it is a composite of at least three works, and the systematic order of the earlier part has evidently been disarranged by interpolations. In its present form the tractate is intended more for Torah readers and hazzanim than for scribes : it is in great part confined to ritual laws, although it must be borne in mind that

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576-485: Is often a major possession of a Jewish community. A chumash contains the Torah and other writings, usually organised for liturgical use, and sometimes accompanied by some of the main classic commentaries. While not in use, a Torah scroll ( Sefer Torah ) is housed in the Torah ark ( Aron Kodesh or Hekhal ), which in its turn is usually veiled by an embroidered parochet (curtain), as it should be according to Exodus 26:31–34 . The gold and silver ornaments belonging to

624-480: Is often accompanied by commentaries or translations. The researchers working on the En-Gedi Scroll have concluded that by the fourth century CE, there was no halakhic rule yet prescribing that scrolls used for liturgical purposes must contain the entire Pentateuch. As of 2018, no other statements regarding when this rule came into being could be made with any degree of certainty. It must be noted that, while

672-627: Is relatively late, even though these last passages are in the main also Judean in origin, as is shown by the use of the name "Nazarene." Many details of the text indicate detailed knowledge of the Jerusalem Talmud and the custom of the Land of Israel , and thus point to an origin there (rather than in Babylonia ): The hypothesis that Soferim is based on Palestinian sources agrees with the ancient tradition ( Nahmanides and others) that all

720-408: Is required for the reading of the Torah to be held in public during the course of the worship services. As the Torah is sung , following the often dense text is aided by a yad ("hand"), a metal or wooden hand-shaped pointer that protects the scrolls by avoiding unnecessary contact of the skin with the parchment. All Jewish prayers start with a blessing ( berakhah ), thanking God for revealing

768-428: Is still the first reference to colored parchment for synagogal scrolls; for nothing else could be implied by these words in the received reading. The skin of game was a favorite writing-material; so that while it was forbidden to use half leather and half parchment, half leather and half skin of game were allowable. It was forbidden, moreover, to cut the edges of books (5:14). A scribal term which does not occur elsewhere

816-463: Is supported by the statement of Rabbeinu Asher that Soferim was composed at a late date. At that period written prayer-books were doubtless in existence and were probably produced by the scribes, who combined the offices of communal chazzan and reader. It was natural, therefore, that in tractates intended for the scribes all the regulations should be collected which concerned books, the Masorah , and

864-682: The Spanish and Portuguese Jews (with the exception of the Hamburg tradition ), and the Judaeo-Spanish communities of the Ottoman Empire — also use tikim, though this is not always the case. The installation of a new Torah scroll into a synagogue, or into the sanctuary or study hall ( beth midrash ) of a religious school ( yeshiva ), rabbinical college, university campus, nursing home, military base, or other institution,

912-629: The 1st or early 2nd century CE. The charred scroll, found in situ in the synagogue's Torah niche, was discovered to contain a portion of Leviticus , making it the earliest copy of a Pentateuchal book ever found in a Holy Ark . The deciphered text fragment is identical to what was to become during the Middle Ages the standard text of the Hebrew Bible , the Masoretic Text , which it precedes by several centuries; it thus constitutes

960-500: The 613 commandments, one – the 82nd as enumerated by Rashi , and the final as it occurs in the text the Book of Deuteronomy ( Deuteronomy 31:19 ) – is that every Jewish male should write a Torah scroll in his lifetime. This is law number 613 of 613 in the list of Laws of the Torah as recorded by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin in his book "Biblical Literacy", 1st edition, New York: Morrow 1997, p. 592: "The commandment that each Jew should write

1008-521: The Hebrew text of the Tanakh , and the Torah in particular, is considered paramount, down to the last letter: translations or transcriptions are frowned upon for formal service use, and transcribing is done with painstaking care. Some errors are inevitable in the course of production. If the error involves a word other than the names of God the mistaken letter may be obliterated from the scroll by scraping

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1056-406: The Law A Torah scroll ( Hebrew : סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה , Sefer Torah , lit. "Book of Torah"; plural: סִפְרֵי תוֹרָה Sifrei Torah ) is a handwritten copy of the Torah , meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible ). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers . At other times, it is stored in the holiest spot within

1104-630: The Law to the Jews ( Matan Torah ), before Torah reading and all days during the first blessings of the morning prayer ( Shacharit ). According to halakha (Jewish law), a Torah scroll is a copy of the Hebrew text of the Torah handwritten on special types of parchment by using a quill or another permitted writing utensil, dipped in ink. Producing a Torah scroll fulfills one of the 613 commandments . Written entirely in Biblical Hebrew ,

1152-587: The Talmud. For example, many Rishonim and the Vilna Gaon rule that a berakha must be recited before the reading of the megilloth Song of Songs , Ruth , Lamentations , and Ecclesiastes ; this berakha is mentioned in Soferim, though not in the Talmud. Similarly, Rabbi S. S. Boyarski ruled that a berakha must be recited before reading the other books of Kethuvim ; this berakha, too (different in text from

1200-405: The Torah scroll is a cause for great celebration, and honoured guests of the individual who commissioned the Torah are invited to a celebration wherein each of the honored guests is given the opportunity to write one of the final letters. It is a great honour to be chosen for this. It is a religious duty or mitzvah for every Jewish male to either write or have written for him a Torah scroll. Of

1248-401: The aggadic passage at the end of the tractate (or, in several manuscripts, at its beginning), may have been added much later. The division of the last part into sections ("perakim") seems to have been intended to secure a uniform size for the several sections; for 16:1 belongs to the end of chapter 15, and 19:1 to the end of 18, their separation being due to external reasons. As the substance of

1296-438: The ancient custom of naming a work according to its initial contents. According to Zunz , "the little work is now badly disarranged, as is shown by the confusion of the two principal themes [i.e., the preparation of scrolls, and the rituals of Torah reading and prayers], and the position and character of the aggadah." Zunz likewise shows the relationship existing between this work and later aggadot . This lack of system, however,

1344-588: The conclusion of the portion of the work which precedes it. The third part of Soferim is likewise Judean in origin, as is shown by its sources; nor is this view contradicted by the phrases "our teachers in the West" (רבותינו שבמערב, 10:8) and "the people of the East and the people of the West" (בני מזרח ובני מערב at 10,end; 13:10), since either a Palestinian or a Babylonian might have used such expressions, although these passages may be interpolations. The second section of

1392-511: The donor's parents or other loved ones, and decorated with gold or silver. In the Mizrachi and Romaniote traditions , the Torah scroll is generally not robed in a mantle, but rather housed in an ornamental wooden case which protects the scroll, called a "tik", plural tikim . Some Sephardic communities — those communities associated with the Spanish diaspora, such as Moroccan Jews ,

1440-416: The earliest evidence of this authoritative text version. The scroll is badly charred and fragmented and required noninvasive scientific techniques to virtually unwrap and read. Torah reading from a Torah scroll or Sefer Torah is traditionally reserved for Monday and Thursday mornings, as well as for Shabbat , fast days, and Jewish holidays . The presence of a quorum of ten Jewish adults ( minyan )

1488-410: The guidelines are straight. Only the top guide is done and the letters suspended from it. Most modern Torah scrolls are written with forty-two (42) lines of text per column ( Yemenite Jews use fifty-one (51)). Very strict rules about the position and appearance of the Hebrew alphabet are observed. Any of several Hebrew scripts may be used, most of which are fairly ornate and exacting. The fidelity of

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1536-526: The last portion (16:2-21) was added latest of all. It contains passages from the Babylonian Talmud , mentioning the "teachers of the land of Israel" (no longer מערב, as in 21:1) in 17:4, and speaking of the Nazarenes (נוצרים = Christians) in 17:6, while a passage from Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer is cited on the authority of R. Eliezer b. Hyrcanus (19:12). These peculiarities indicate that its date

1584-425: The letter off the scroll with a sharp object. If the name of God is written in error, the entire page must be cut from the scroll and a new page added, and the page written anew from the beginning. The new page is sewn into the scroll to maintain continuity of the document. The old page is treated with appropriate respect, and is buried with respect rather than being otherwise destroyed or discarded. The completion of

1632-401: The liturgy. It is practically certain that few copies of the Talmud were made at that time, and those without special rules; consequently no allusions to them are found in Soferim. The fact that no sources are given for a number of the regulations in the first part points to an early date of composition. Similarly, in the third part (chapters 10–21), which is later, no sources are assigned for

1680-500: The one for the megilloth) is mentioned only in Soferim, and not in the Talmud. However, these rulings have not been accepted by all groups of Jews. "Tractate Soferim" (in Hebrew and English). [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Wilhelm Bacher ; Ludwig Blau (1901–1906). "Soferim" . In Singer, Isidore ; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Scrolls of

1728-495: The physically determined date for the scroll points to the 3rd or 4th centuries, its text has been palaeographically dated by Ada Yardeni to the first century CE or the early second at the latest, a discrepancy not uncommon in this field, which could push back in time the entire discussion. The En-Gedi Scroll is a Hebrew parchment radiocarbon-dated to the 3rd or 4th century CE (88.9% certainty for 210–390 CE), although paleographical considerations suggest that it may date back to

1776-516: The priests or kohanim and David himself "danced before the Ark" or "danced before the Lord". Special prayers are recited when the Torah scroll is removed from the ark and the text is chanted, rather than spoken, in a special melodic manner (see Cantillation and Nigun ). Whenever the scroll is opened to be read it is laid on a piece of cloth called the mappah . When the Torah scroll is carried through

1824-488: The rollers when the scroll is closed. Some scrolls have two crowns, one for each upper end. The metalwork is often made of beaten silver, sometimes gilded. The scroll-handles, breastplate and crown often have little bells attached to them. The housing has two rollers, each of which has two handles used for scrolling the text, four handles in all. Between the handles and the rollers are round plates or disks which are carved with images of holy places, engraved with dedications to

1872-424: The same person doubtless combined the functions of scribe and reader. This first part is the earliest component of the work, and is extant also as an independent " minor tractate ," entitled Massekhet Sefer Torah ; in this form it is a systematic work, but as incorporated in Soferim, although its division into chapters and paragraphs has been retained, its order has been disarranged by interpolations. A comparison of

1920-483: The scribes; the last three halakhot are a kind of appendix relating to the reading of certain words and passages. The third division is chiefly devoted to rules concerning the order of Torah reading , together with liturgical laws. It is not a uniform composition, although the first section (chapters 10–15) is concerned almost entirely with the sequence of Torah readings, while the remaining part (chapters 16–21) contains liturgical laws. The contents of 16:1 apparently form

1968-413: The scroll are collectively known as kele kodesh (sacred vessels). The scroll itself will often be girded with a strip of silk (see wimpel ) and "robed" with a piece of protective fine fabric, called the "Mantle of the Law". It is decorated with an ornamental priestly breastplate , scroll-handles ( ‘etz ḥayyim ), and the principal ornament—the "Crown of the Law", which is made to fit over the upper ends of

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2016-516: The small tractates are Palestinian in origin; and modern scholars, except for I.H. Weiss , also accept this view. There were scholars in Palestine even after the final redaction of Jerusalem Talmud, and the Bible was still the chief subject of study. The evidence of all these facts makes it very probable that this tractate was finally redacted about the middle of the 8th century, an assumption which

2064-495: The synagogue, the members of the congregation may touch the edge of their prayer shawl ( tallit ) to the Torah scroll and then kiss the shawl as a sign of respect. As it is important to guard the sanctity of a Torah, dropping it, or allowing it to fall, is regarded as a desecration. Nahmanides Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include

2112-582: The three grades of inspiration in the Bible: Torah, Neviim ("divrei kabbala"), and Ketuvim ("divrei kedushah"). Because Soferim belongs to the Minor Tractates , and is not part of the Babylonian Talmud nor the Jerusalem Talmud , later generations of Jews have not always accepted its rulings (in whole or in part) as authoritative. There are a few points of halakha which rabbis have decided straight from Soferim, since they are not mentioned in

2160-479: The tractate has been incorporated in later works on orthography, the Masorah , and the liturgy, only a few points peculiar to it need be mentioned here. In 1:13 occurs the maxim "He who cannot read is not allowed to write." Custodians seem to be mentioned in 2:12. The first notice in Jewish literature of the codex in contradistinction to the scroll occurs in 3:6, a passage which is to be translated as follows: "Only in

2208-403: The two texts shows in an instructive way how ancient Jewish works developed in the course of time. The minor tractate Sefarim , edited by Schönblum, is not earlier (as he assumes) but rather later than Masseket Sefer Torah , from which it is an extract. The name "Sefarim" (= "books") is merely the plural of "sefer," designating the Torah as "the book" par excellence. Chapters 6 to 9 constitute

2256-407: The work involved, these can cost tens of thousands of US dollars to produce to ritually proper standards. A printed version of the Torah is known colloquially as a Chumash (plural Chumashim ). Although strictly speaking it is known as Chamishah Chumshei Torah (Five "Fifths" of Torah). They are treated as respected texts, but not anywhere near the level of sacredness accorded a Torah scroll, which

2304-473: Was emphasized, since the former was important mnemonically. There were scribes, therefore, who marked the initial of the verse, although there is no trace of such points in the present Masorah and system of accentuation. The earliest passage referring to "dyed leather" (parchment) is 3:13, although it is possible, in view of 2:10, that originally בעורות צבאים (with deer leather) stood in place of בעורות צבועים (with dyed leather). Even if that be true, however, this

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