435. "Open" Sections

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 7:16

All holy books may be only written on scored lines, even when they are written on paper. One may write three words without scoring lines but no more. A scroll that contains the entire Tanach (Torah, Prophets and Writings) does not possess the sanctity of a sefer Torah. Rather, it is like a Chumash because adding books to the scroll has the same effect on its sanctity as removing books.

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 8:1

There are two forms for a section that must be written “open.” One is for when one completes the preceding section in the middle of a line. If such a case, one leaves the rest of the line empty and starts the “open” section at the start of the next line. This is done when the empty space is big enough to hold nine letters. If the empty space is too small, or if the preceding section was finished at the end of the line, then one leaves one completely empty line and starts the “open” section at the beginning of the line after that.