HAPPILY, several of our members care deeply about our Torah scrolls. During the past year, they have worked assiduously to keep some of the scrolls in good repair.
That being said, I’m not sure that all of the stakeholders are in agreement as to how many scrolls we actually need to be usable, at any one time — and thus whether we currently need to be spending time and money (scarce resources) on further repairs.
Below the jump, I explore these two related questions.…
IN THE PROCESS of research what is the highest and best use for kosher Torah scrolls that Mishkon is not immediately using (a subject for another day), I came across a way to finance the replacement of our synagogue’s outdated maḥzorim with the Conservative movement’s newer (2010) edition — namely Maḥzor Lev Shalem, edited by Rabbi Ed Feld.
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| In order for this Torah scroll to be usable again, this passage had to be patched in 4 places. (As usual, click/tap on an image to enlarge it.) |
Given that acquiring such prayer books has been high on our synagogue’s wish list for some years now, let me share what I just learned. It involves certain of the Torah scrolls in our possession, and ironically it relies upon their status as imperfect and otherwise unusable.…
IT’S WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED that regular maintenance and cleaning is needed to keep ספרי תורה sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) in usable condition, and to preserve their useful life at the lowest overall cost. However, the lore is not well known.
In this post, I give some basic how-to guidance as gleaned from several סופרים sof’rim (Torah scribes). I also offer some sample photos of anomalies from last year’s inventory of our scrolls.
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| In this scroll, which is said to be some 3 centuries old, the scribe patched the parchment even before inscribing it— and then worked around it. |
Recently, Morley Berenbach (the newest member of our committee) offered to serve as the custodian of our scrolls. If you are interested in assisting him in this effort, please let me know.