Torah means “teaching” and refers to the five books of Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Genesis: The story of how the world was made; the story of Adam and Eve.
Exodus: story of Moses leaving his chosen people out of Egypt; giving the Ten Commandments through Moses to the people. Mount Sinai is the place where Moses receives the Ten Commandments.
Leviticus: Written as a guideline for the priests; known as the handbooks for priests.
Numbers (In the Wilderness): The stories of the 40 years spent wandering the desert and preparing them entrance to the holy land ‘Israel’.
Deuteronomy: The farewell of Moses and he addresses to a new generation in which he tells them to faithfully obey God’s blessings in the Promised Land.
U A Torah scroll is made from sheets of parchment, which is made from the skin of a kosher animal.
U It is written by hand in Hebrew by a professional scribe, called a sofer. The sofer’s job to ensure that the text is transmitted correctly. Hebrew is read from right to left.
U The sofer takes at least one year to write out the Torah.
U He is not allowed to from memory. He must copy from a book of the Torah, and jeep checking for mistakes. Letters must not be smudged or touch another letter.
U If the sofer makes a mistake, he scrapes off the letters using a glass tool.
U The most sacred word that he writes is the Hebrew name for God. He cannot correct this- he must start the whole sheet of parchment again. The sheet with the error on is buried in a Jewish cemetery.
U When all the sheets of parchment are finished, they are sewn together and wound around wooden rollers.
U The Torah is regarded as holy, and is decorated as beautifully as possible.
U It has a velvet cover called a mantle.
U A silver breastplate is hung on the front of it, like the one worn by High Priests in Biblical times. This is decorated with Jewish symbols.
U Bells are attached so people can hear it being carried around the synagogue.
U There is also a silver pointer called a yad.
U A yad (meaning hand) is used by Jews to keep their place when reading from the Torah scroll.
U This is to show respect for the scroll and to prevent the parchment being spoiled by oil from their fingers.
U When the Torah is not being used, it is kept in a special cupboard at the front of the synagogue, called and Ark.
U This reminds Jews of the Ark of the Covenant in which Moses and his people carried the Ten Commandments.
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