The Torah

The Torah:

-          Torah means ‘teaching’ and refers to the five main books of Moses- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy

-          A torah scroll is made from sheets of parchment, which is made from the skin of a kosher animal

-          It is written by hand in Hebrew by a professional scribe called a sofer. It is read right to left.

-          It takes one year at least to do this

-          He is not allowed to write from memory. He must copy from a book of the Torah, and keep checking for mistakes. Letters must not be smudged or touch another letter.

-          If the sofer makes a mistake, he scrapes of the letters using a glass tool

-          The most sacred word that he writes is the Hebrew name for God. He can’t correct this- he has to start again. The sheet with the mistake is buried in a Jewish cemetery

-          When finished, the sheets of parchment are sewn together and wound around wooden rollers.

-          The Torah is regarded as holy and is decorated as beautifully as possible