Menachot 30 – Writing a Torah Scroll

If one writes a Torah scroll, he can conclude the last words, “before the eyes of all Israel,” even in the middle of the line, and some say, he must conclude it in the middle of the line. With his lines, he must go all the way to the bottom of the column, shortening the width of each successive line if needed.

Every Jewish man must write a Torah scroll during his lifetime. One who buys it fulfills the commandment, but not in the optimal way. If he bought the scroll and corrected even one letter, it is counted as if he wrote it.

Each piece of the parchment on which the scroll is written must contain between 3 and 8 columns. The margin at the bottom of each column must be a hand-breadth, and at the top – three finger-breadths. However, he must not reduce the size of the script to preserve the margins, but keep it uniform and beautiful, even if the margin becomes slightly narrower because of it.

Art: Marc Chagall - Rabbi with a Torah