Sefer Torah: Every Letter Counts

As early as the First Temple Period the kohanim, or priests, and Jewish kings such as David HaMelech “danced before the ark” or “danced before the Lord,” meaning they danced, celebrated and prayed before the Aron Kodesh (the holy ark where the Sefer Torah is kept). It is a tremendous merit to write or commission the writing of a Sefer Torah or have one written as a memorial.

The parchment, the sinews used to sew them together and the quill pen must all come from kosher animals, because metal is associated with warfare. All of the 304,805 letters must be handwritten by a trained sofer, which can take 18 months of fulltime work.

No Room for Mistakes

Because a single mistake renders the entire Sefer Torah invalid, much time and effort goes into checking it for accuracy. If a single letter is missing or incorrect, the word can be scraped away and rewritten, but the name of God can never be erased, meaning in some cases and entire page has to be discarded and a new page written and sewn in to replace it.

Today, few synagogues purchase a Sefer Torah directly from the sofer, buying through a dealer instead. Therefore just as much as a congregation would like to know about the sofer who wrote their Sefer Torah, they need to know about the dealer who located the sofer, made the arrangements, oversaw the writing process and delivered the finished product. And this is what sets Israel Judaica Source apart.

Real Expertise

Owner R’ Yissachar Steinharter worked as an expert sofer before getting involved in other types of Judaica items and has been working with other expert soferim for years. With two decades of experience in the field he knows not only how to identify quality work, but to ensure a given level of quality remains consistent throughout the process under his direct supervision.

Israel Judaica Source offers a selection of Sifrei Torah at every price level – from a Sefer Torah that is complete and kosher beyond a doubt with our standard high quality if writing, to a more expensive Sefer Torah with exquisite writing that is a joy to read. Please feel free to contact us for further details on our selection of Sifrei Torah.