The Torah Scroll contains the five books of Rabbeinu Moshe. It is hand written on parchment (Animal Skin or Papyrus leaf paper). It is the holiest of all of God’s words in Tanach, A Sefer Torah is kept in the Beit knesset / Shul / Synagogue, and portions are read from it publicly on Shabbat, Yom Tov (Holidays), Azom (Fast Days), Mondays and Thursdays during Tefillah and in the presence of a Minyan (quorum of ten Jewish males starting at the age of thirteen and up). The Torah is divided into Parshiot (Torah portions, Parsha-singular, Sidra proper) Which is generally three to five Perakim (Chapters) in length.

There is five books in the Torah:

1- Bereshit (Parshiot 12)
2- Shemot (Parshiot 11)
3- Vayikra (Parshiot 10)
4- Bamidbar (Parshiot 10)
5- Devarim (Parshiot 11)

The Parshiot are read from Sefer Torah in order each Shabbat throughout the year, in a yearly cycle which begins and ends on Simchat Torah-Thee Holidays that follows Sukkot. Every Shul in the world will be reading the same parsha on any given Shabbat. Various men in the synagogues are called forward and read from the Hebrew Torah. This is called getting an “Aliyah” [literally going up,ascend] Typically the man going forward recites a Bracha (Blessing)-before and after the Torah reading, But there are usually seven Aliyot per service, plus the Maftir. Who reads the final Torah passage and the Haftarah (Prophets) on Holidays and Fast Days, Special Passages outside the cycle of reading are read.

The Kosher Parchment is called: Klaf- and must be prepared specifically for that purpose. A Torah cannot be used for Tefillin and visa versa. The Parchment must derive from a Kosher animal, usually a goat- bull-cow or deer says the Rabbis. The Klaf is meticulously prepared by the Sofer who first soaks the skins in lime water for nine days to remove hairs , and then stretched over the wooded frame to remove more hair, and smooths the surface of the skin in preparation for writing on it with the use of a sanding machine. When the skin is dry, the sofer cuts it into a rectangle. The Sofer must prepare many such skins because a sefer Torah usually contains 248 Columns, and one rectangle of parchment yields space for three or four columns. Thus a Sefer Torah may require approximately 80 or more skins in all-For one Torah Scroll. Finally when the parchment sheets are ready, the sofer applies a straight line across the parchment and two vertical lines defining the boundaries for each column. He also leaves a blank space between the area designed for writing and the margin-according to the tradition, It has to be five fingers wide. Thus a sefer will have at least three to four columns on each piece of parchment called: Amudim (Amud-a column). In general there should be know less than 3 amudim on one Yeriah (sheet or folio) and not more than 8. There must be a margin of three inches on the top and four inches at the bottom and two inches between columns. The sofer makes several quills for writing a Sefer Torah. The feathers must come from a Kosher bird and the Goose or Turkey are the birds of choice. The sofer carefully and patiently carves a point in the end of the feather and uses many quilss in the course of writing one Sefer Torah. A special quill is used only for God’s four letter holy name- Yod-Hay-Vav-Hay. The sofer also prepares ink for writing the Sefer Torah by combining this interesting combination to get this special ink, You would never believe it.

1. Powered Gall nuts
2. Cooper Sulfate
3. Crystals
4. Gum Arabic
5. Water

Preparing only a small amount at a time so that the ink will always be fresh. Fresh ink is a deep black, and only this is acceptable for writing a Sefer Torah. The Scroll must have no errors, When the writing is complete, the sofer sews the individual pieces of parchment together using a thread called: Giddin which is made from

1. Leg Sinews-viens

Of a Kosher animal,most commonly a cow-sheep-ox.

The sofer makes one stitch every six lines of text, sewing the backs on the parchment sheets, so that the stitches are not visible from the front. The the scroll is sewn onto the wooden rollers called: Atzei Chayim-Trees of Life (Plural of Etz Chayim). The Torah is then dressed and ready to be dedicated in a Jewish community in a special celebration called a {“ Siyyum Torah”- The giving of Torah}

The eye of a detailed Sefer Torah

A. A Sefer Torah must be written by a Sofer (Trained Scribe)
B. All materials used for the Sefer Torah must be Kosher.
C.There are over 4000 laws. A Sofer must know before he starts writing the Sefer Torah.
D. There 304,805 letters in Torah.
E. If only one letter is missing the whole Torah is Pasul (Not Kosher)
F. One letter from 304,805 is-0.000328%!!! (No Room for Errors)
G. If there is an extra letter it is also pasul, Substituting on letter with another is also pasul.
H. 99% Kosher =100% pasul (Not Kosher)
I. There are 248- Ammudim (pages) in Torah.
J. Each page has 42 lines.
K. Even the spacing between words and paragraphs must be exact.
L. No letter may touch another one.
M. Even in the letter itself-It may not touch itself only where it should. N. N. There are 22 letters and 5 final letters.
O. The most common letter in Torah is a Yud-31,530 occurrences
P. The least common letter in Torah is Tet-1,802 occurrences Q. The most common final letter in Torah is final Mem (Sofit) 10,623 occurrences
R. The least common letter in Torah is final Feh (Sofit) 834 occurrences