Steady hands and keen eyes wanted: It's time to fufill one of the 613 mitzvot (Judaism's commandments) and write out a sefer Torah. Careful—there's no backspace when handwriting the 304,805 letters that make it up, all which have to be duplicated to precise standards.
You may think someone could bang that out in a sleepless weekend. Think again: The effort can take upwards of one and a half years and a single mistake renders it invalid (or pasul). Time to pull out some new parchment and start again.
The parchment used must be treated with salt, flour and m'afatsim (some leftovers of a wasp enzyme and tree bark). If it varies in any way, then it is also invalid. These sofers, or scribes, take their holy writings very seriously and screwing up isn't allowed.
Every Jewish male is expected to write a Sefer Torah in their lifetime as it is the 613th and final commandment in the Torah. Some become professional scribes and will complete a Sefer Torah under contract for a community or individual for a special occasion. However, since this takes a salary and a half to complete, it can cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars to get it done right.
No comments:
Post a Comment