436. "Closed" Sections; Uncorrectable Errors

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 8:2

There are three forms for a section that must be written “closed.” One is for when the preceding section ends in the middle of a line. In such a case, one leaves the aforementioned amount of space (nine letters’ worth) and starts writing at least one word of the “closed” section at the end of the line. This means that there will be empty space in the middle of the line. If there is not enough room on the line to leave the necessary space and write at least one word at the end, then he leaves the rest of the line empty, plus empty space at the start of the next line, and begins the “closed” section in the middle of that line. If the preceding section finishes at the end of the line, he leaves the aforementioned amount of space at the start of the next line and begins the “closed” section in the middle of that line. Accordingly, an “open” section always starts at the beginning of the line and a “closed” section always begins in the middle of a line.

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 8:3

If a sefer Torah has errors with the malei and chaseir (“full” and “deficient”) forms of words, it can be corrected as described above (see halachos 7:12-13). However, if one made a mistake with the space between the sections so that he wrote an “open” passage as “closed” or vice versa, or if he left an empty space where a new section doesn’t start, or if one neglected to leave a space between sections, or if one wrote the wrong form for the songs, in any of these cases, a sefer Torah is invalid and it cannot be corrected. One must remove the entire column in which the error is written.