Read the story then click on the links below it to do the exercises.
CREATING A SEFER TORAH
Have you ever wondered how a Torah is made? The creation of a Sefer Torah is a very interesting process.
Each Sefer Torah is written by hand by a person called a ‘sofer’. The sofer has a important job. It usually takes about a year to make a Sefer Torah and involves many steps.
Here is a story about a sofer named Rabbi Clapman. He is an American who lives in New York with his family. Rabbi Clapman wanted to be a sofer from the time he was five years old.
WHAT IS A SEFER TORAH MADE OF?
The sofer writes on a material called 'parchment'. Parchment is the skin of a cow that has been stretched until it is smooth and flat. Then it can be written on and rolled up into a scroll.
Once the parchment is ready the sofer makes the ink. He blends several ingredients with water. To be sure the ink is fresh, he makes only 2 teaspoons of it at a time.
A 'quill' is used to write the Hebrew letters on the parchment. A quill is actually a feather. Most quills are goose or turkey feathers. The sofer sharpens the point of the feather, dips it in the ink and writes on the parchment.
Once the parchment, ink and quill are ready the sofer is able to start writing the Torah.
WRITING THE TORAH
It is also important that Rabbi Clapman has prepared his spirit. Before he begins work each day he goes to the mikvah (the Jewish ritual bath) to purify himself. As he sits down to write he says a special prayer.
Sofers are extra careful when they are writing, because the finished Torah cannot have any mistakes in it.
Once the final letter is completed, the sofer checks his work carefully to make sure he has not made any mistakes.
Two people then check the Sefer Torah together. So Rabbi Clapman teams up with another learned Jewish person and they read the entire work aloud. They check the Sefer Torah 3 times. Only then is the parchment ready for the next step.
Now the sofer sews the pieces into a scroll.
For this work Rabbi Clapman uses a ’giddin'. The giddin is a special thread made from the leg of a kosher animal, usually an ox. The sofer threads it through a needle and sews the pieces of parchment together.
The final step in making a Sefer Torah is a very special one. When the sofer writes the first and last lines of the Torah he outlines the letters. This allows the people at the synagogue to colour in the letters themselves. The sofer and the entire community have worked together to create their new Sefer Torah.
Now the sofer is ready to send the Sefer Torah to its new community.
When a new Sefer Torah goes to a synagogue the whole community celebrates. Men, women and children dance with the Torah as it is carried around the synagogue. The atmosphere is like Simchat Torah, with singing, dancing and much rejoicing.
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| Last updated 2008/09/28 17:19:16 EST | Hits 1514 |
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