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The Secret Language of the Torah
My paternal grandfather was a Torah scribe. He spent his days carefully drawing the Hebrew letters that made up the Torah, the most sacred Jewish text. Writing on thin parchment paper made from the skin of a kosher animal, he began by carefully marking thin pencil lines that served as a guide. He then dipped a feather quill into an inkwell and scrawled each Hebrew letter abiding by the calligraphic guidelines of Ktav Ashurit (Ashurite Script).
Each Torah contained exactly 304,805 letters scribed on about 80 sheets of parchment. Only black ink made from gall-nut juice and gum was acceptable. The height and width of each letter had to be perfect. Small mistakes could be scraped away and redrawn unless a mistake was made writing the name of God in which case he’d have to start over since God’s name could not be erased. If one letter was missing or appeared smudged then the Torah was considered invalid or not kosher.
The scribing of a Torah took up to one year. Once scribed, each sheet of parchment was sewn together to form a continuous scroll. The Torah was then sewn onto wooden rollers called Eitzei Chayim (trees of life). The Torah was dressed and shipped to a designated synagogue where it was blessed and dedicated in a sacred ceremony.
As you can imagine, my grandfather was a pious man. Scribes were supposed to be devoted and pure. He…
