444. Attaching the Rollers

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 9:14

When sewing the sheets of parchment together, one does not sew the entire length of the sheet. Rather, a portion is left unsewn at the top and the bottom of the parchment. This allows a certain amount of “give” so that the parchment won’t rip when the Torah is rolled. Two wooden poles are attached, one at either end. The parchment left over at the beginning and the end of the scroll is sewn to these poles with sinew so that they can be used as rollers. There should be blank parchment between the rollers and the columns of text.

Tefillin, Mezuzah v’Sefer Torah 9:15

If a sefer Torah has a rip that is limited to within two lines, it may be sewn. If the rip goes to three lines, it may not be sewn. This is the case with an old sefer Torah, which one can’t tell if it has been treated with gallnut juice. If one can tell that the parchment was treated with gallnut juice, he may sew it even if the rip reaches three lines. If there’s a rip in between columns or in between words, it may be sewn. Rips may be sewn only with the same type of sinew that is used to sew the sheets together. When sewing, one must make sure that no letter is missing or has become distorted.