The First Line, First Verse of the CTC Sefer Torah

For a sofer, the prospect of beginning a new Sefer Torah is a little like being a tight-rope walker.  One stands at the edge of the platform, staring down a long narrow rope, peering past any natural apprehension to focus on one thing: balance.  Creating a new Sefer Torah is about just that.

There are, without exaggeration, thousands of halachos a sofer must know and satisy in order to create an object of such incredible kedusha.   Along with these halachic requirements, the sofer must also strike a balance between aesthetic, financial, and material considerations.

The burden upon the sofer is intimidating.  However, Tehillim offers a prescription:

השלך על־יי יהבך והוא יכלכלך

Cast your burden upon HaShem, and He shall sustain you…

Thus the Sefer Hasidim writes: ” Before one starts to write any sort of sefer, he should fast one day and pray to Ha-Kadosh Boruch Hu for success, that nothing adverse should happen in the course of his writing, and by doing so he will be successful and no harm will come to him.”

On June 24, 2009, after having spent a day in fasting and prayer, the time came to step out onto that tightrope and to start writing.   The kulmusim (quills) were cut, the kesses (inkwell) was refilled, and many in the Congregation Toras Chaim family were present as the first word of the Torah, Bereishis, was written.  (The Sheelos U-teshuvos Beer Yitzchok YD 19 states that it is a mitzva to gather for the beginning of  new Sefer Torah and to celebrate, as that the event constitutes the initiation of a mitzva).

It must be emphasized that the process of writing a Sefer Torah is not merely the lonely endeavor of the Sofer.   Everyone who contributes to the writing of the Sefer becomes a partner in the mitzva.

But what does it mean to become a “partner” in the mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah?   The Shulchan Aruch O.C. 32:31 rules that one must speak each word he writes aloud before writing it.   Rashi and Tosafos to Menachos 30a state that this is purely a practical halacha to ensure that the sofer not err.  However, many Acharonim rule like the Bach, who states that one should speak out each word “so that the holiness of the breath of his words will be drawn upon and imbued into the letters of his writing.”

According to the Bach, the holiness of a Sefer Torah is partially contributed to via the very breath of the sofer.  The human act of reading and speaking the words of the Torah as it is written connect and bind the sofer to the Sefer on a very deep level.

By becoming a partner in and contributing to the writing of a Sefer Torah, one not only gains a portion of the mitzva, but creates an everlasting bond between him/herself and the kedusha of that very Sefer.

Please take the time to bind yourself, your family, and your loved ones to this very special mitzva by sponsoring a day of writing.   A Yom Kesiva can also be dedicated in honor of joyful events, life cycle events, or to the memory of a loved one.  Please go to the buttons on the sidebar for more information.

– Rabbi Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel, Sofer

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