As most people know, Torah scrolls and other sacred writings are all written upon parchment. However, the parchment used for Jewish holy writings is very, very different from parchment used anywhere else.

The Torah states in Shemos 13:9, Lemaan tihiyeh Toras HaShem be-ficha, “So that the Torah of HaShem should be in your mouth.”

The Gemora in Shabbos 108a learns from this verse that the Torah must literally be mutar beficha, permitted to place in one’s mouth, meaning that the materials which comprise a Sefer Torah must come from those animals and sources that are Kosher. Therefore, the hide upon which a Sefer Torah is written must be from a kosher animal. The animal from which the hide is obtained doesn’t need to actually be shechted, which would make it literally possible to eat the hide, but the animal must only be of a kosher species. It is therefore possible to write upon the hides of deer, cattle, and kosher birds. Theoretically, one could even make kosher parchment from the skin of kosher fish! However, the Rishonim tell us not to use fish skin because “de-nafish zuhamei,” it “contaminates” continually. The meaning of this statement is a little unclear. According to some, it means that fish skin never stops smelling like…well… dead fish, and it is thus inappropriate to use them as parchment for holy writing. Others understand it to mean that the natural oils in the skin continually seep out even long after the skin is cured. These oils will eventually ruin anything written on the hide. Either way, we don’t use fish skin even though it is technically permitted.

Once the animal is flayed, the hides are soaked in water for two days to clean and soften the skin.

About to Place the Hide in Water

After that, the hides are immersed in a lime-water bath to remove the hair.

(See “More” for More Photos!)

Placing the Hide into the Lime Bath

Halachically, this is the most important step in the making of kosher parchment. The halacha is that the parchment used in writing a Sefer Torah must have been processed with the specific intent that it be used to fulfill the mitzva of Sefer Torah. Immersion in the lime-water is considered the official start of the process of working the hides. Therefore, the laborer must stop, verbally declare “Behold, I place this hide into lime for the sake of the holiness of a Sefer Torah. After about four days of soaking, the hair begins to fall out on its own. After about nine days in the lime-bath, the skins are removed, washed, and then sewn onto a frame upon which they are stretched and dried.

Hides on the Racks

At this point, I should mention that it is possible to split the hide of an animal into two layers: the epidermis (outer layer of the skin) and the dermis (inner layer of the skin), and make different qualities of parchment from each layer of skin.

The Layers of the Skin

In fact, the halacha is that it is preferable to write mezuzos on parchment made from the innermost layer of the skin, the dermis. Parchment made from this layer is called duchsustos. Furthermore, the outer layer of skin, the epidermis, was preferable for writing tefillin. This parchment is called klaf.

Modern Klaf is Thin, Translucent, and White. Gvil, However is Very Thick and Dark

For a Sefer Torah, however, the halacha is that it is preferable to use gvil, the whole, unsplit hide of the animal (which is really just a sheet of thick leather). Up until about 300 years ago, many Sephardi Torah Scrolls were written on the whole unsplit hide.

A Fragment from a 400-plus Year-Old Persian Sefer Torah on Gvil

In our days, klaf has supplanted the other parchments for all sofrus work (klaf may be used for Torahs and mezuzos even though gvil and duchsustos are preferable). The reasons for this change are complex and have much to do with some long-standing uncertainties as to the Gemora’s description of the various tissue layers that comprise the hide. Nevertheless, there is a movement in some circles to resurrect the use of gvil, unsplit hides, for writing Torah Scrolls.

A Modern-Day Sofer Writing on Gvil, Unsplit Hide

A Recent Megillah Written on Gvil, Unsplit Hide

Once upon the frame, the dermis and any still-clinging hair is scraped away from the back and front of the hide with a wide, curved blade until only the klaf remains.

A "Lunar," or Parchmenter's Knife Used for Scraping the Stretched Hides

A 1568 German Woodcut Showing a Parchmenter Scraping Hides. Note That, Although This Scene is 450 Years Old, Many of the Tools and Materials are the Same as Those Used Today

As the hide dries, it is stretched further. Once completely dry, the hide is sanded and evened out with a belt sander or fed through a sanding machine.

Feeding the Klaf Into a Machine That Sands and Finished the Surfaces

The hair side, which is generally not written upon, is smoothed to a slick, wax paper-like texture.

When all this is finished, the hides are then taken off the frame and cut into rectangular sheets called yerios. At this point, the sheets are almost ready for writing. The last step in their preparation is scoring the shirtut, guide lines, which will be the subject of the next post in this series.

4 Comments »

1. 

   Rabbi Bloomenstiel,

   I am constantly amazed at the wealth of knowledge you have, and think how fortunate we are for being on the receiving end of your intellectual generosity. With deep appreciation.

   Rabbi Yaakov Rich

   Comment by Rabbi Yaakov Rich — July 3, 2009 @ 5:03 am

2. 

   Rabbi Bloomenstiel

   Is the CTC Torah written on klaf, gvil or duchsustos? If not gvil, then why not, given the movement to resurrect its use?

   Good Shabbos

   Comment by Michael Geller — July 3, 2009 @ 9:24 am

3. 

   The CTC Torah is written on klaf as are all Ashkenaz sifrei Torah in our times. There a a lot of reasons, by these are the two that make sense to me:

   1) Gvil has not been used in a long, long time. The process of making gvil has fallen into disuse, while the process for making klaf has greatly improved. Arguably, our klaf is much higher quality and better suited for writing than the recently “resurrected” gvil being made now.

   2) At some time Ashkenazim began to put their Torahs onto rollers (the eitzim) and this has become the hard and fast custom. The new gvil is very thick and very heavy. It is so thick and heavy that a Sefer Torah written on it would be impossible to do a hagba with unless we switched back to putting the scroll in a box like the sefardim. This would be an unnecessary hassle. Considering the halacha is that Klaf is acceptable for sifrei torah, it is really is a matter of convenience to use it.

   By the way – I got your e-mail regarding megillos- I will call soon about it.

   Comment by Rabbi Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel, Sofer — July 6, 2009 @ 10:30 pm

4. 

   rabbi bloomenstiel,

   1-does the prep. need to include salt,barley flour,and gall nut water?
   2-if bird skin is used,does it need a lime-water bath?
   3-how does one seperate the skin layers?is this seperation needed in order to make kosher klaf?
   4-are there any other kosher ink recepies?

   (please respond quickly)

   Comment by mishael keller — June 15, 2010 @ 11:10 am

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