427. Starting the Laws of Sefer Torah

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 6:13

One must be careful in the mitzvah of mezuzah since it is an obligation that applies constantly to every Jew. Whenever a person enters or exits his home, he will be presented with this sign of the unity of God’s Name, which will cause one to recall his love for God. One will awaken from his state of unawareness and his preoccupation with material things, and he will recognize that nothing lasts forever except for the knowledge of God. This will motivate a person to become more aware and to follow the paths of the upright. Whoever has tefillin on his head and arm, tzitzis on his garment, and a mezuzah on his doorway can rest assured that he will not sin because he has so many reminders. This refers to angels who will keep him from sinning as per Psalms 34:8, “The angel of God camps around those who fear Him and saves them.”

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 7:1

There is a positive commandment for every Jewish man to write a Torah scroll for himself, as per Deuteronomy 31:19, “write this song for yourselves,” meaning write down the Torah, which contains this song. This is because the sections of the Torah are not written piecemeal. Even if a person inherited a sefer Torah from his ancestors, there is a mitzvah for him to write one himself. If one writes a Torah scroll by hand, it is as if he received it on Mount Sinai. If he does not have the skill to write one himself, he should hire others to write one for him. Whoever checks even a single letter of a sefer Torah is credited as if he wrote the entire scroll.