432. Other Traditions

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 7:10

There are other practices in writing a sefer Torah that are not mentioned in the Talmud but that have been transmitted from generation to generation. These include: the number of lines in each column must be no less than 48 and no more than 60; an empty space of approximately nine letters must be left in between sections, enough to write the word “asher” three times; the five lines above the Shira (the Song at the Sea) start with the words habaim, bayabashah, Hashem, meis and b'Mitzrayim; the five lines below the Shira start with the words vatikach, achareha, sus, vayeitzu and vayavou; the six lines above the song Haazinu start with the words: v'a'idah, acharei, haderech, b'acharis, l'hachiso, and k'hal; and the five lines below the song Haazinu start with the words vayavo, l'dabeir, asher, hazos and asher.

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 7:11

All the above things are just the optimum way to write a sefer Torah. If one deviated from these guidelines, the Torah would still be valid. However, if one wrote a word chasier (“deficient”) when it should have been written malei (“full”), or vice versa, then the Torah is invalid. The same is true of a kri/ksiv (when a word is written one way and read another). For example, in Deuteronomy 28:30, yishgalena is written and yishkavena is read; in Deuteronomy 28:27, uvafolim is written and uvatchorim is read. If one writes the word that is read (the kri) instead of the one that should be written (the ksiv), the Torah is invalid. Similarly, if one wrote a section “closed” when it should be “open” or vice versa, or if one wrote a section that isn’t a song in the style of a song, or if he wrote one of the songs in the form of a non-song, the sefer Torah is invalid. Such a scroll does not have the sanctity of a sefer Torah. Rather, it is considered like a Chumash.