In today’s day and age, virtually every kosher product available to the consumer comes with a hechsher. By hechsher, I mean an official and recognised rabbinical body or agency that certifies the kashrus of a product, be it a food item or a religious article. Hechsherim play a vital role in providing consumer confidence, and something branded by a reputable kashrus agency will be considered more legitimate than a similar product that does not. The agency has rigid policies and protocols in place to ensure correct standards are met, and they are independent of the manufacturer so that there is no conflict of interest. As we have discussed on this forum previously, there is a distinct lack of official hechsherim on Sta”m products - Tefillin, Mezuzos and Sifrei Torah. Even the Vaad Mishmeres Sta”m, the oldest and most well- known rabbinic agency in the Sta”m world does not certify products. They test and ordain sofrim and magihim (examiners), offer a computer checking service (sp...
Pshat of Gemara end of Megila that the Sefer Tora was kept in a box - reminds the Sefardic custom of keeping the ST in a box. Seems that the Me'il of ashkenazic custom is a newer variation.
ReplyDeleteThe citation which R. Moshe brings is in Gemara Megillah 26b were it describes a Torah Scroll kept in a tik (box). In addition, there recently was discovered an ancient synagogue in Dura-Europos (Syria) which was destroyed by the invading Persians around the year 250 CE. The synagogue contains many murals among which there is one with a Sefer Torah in a Tik. However, this tik is different in configuration to that currently used by Jews of Middle-Eastern descent.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of the vestments of the Sefer Torah paralleling that of the Kohen Gadol is rather new, as it doesn't appear in our earlier Rabbinic literature. However, from time immemorial, they have also been dressed like a bride or royalty. This was the case in Spain, Italy, and Europe.
In addition, one of the oldest articles is the mitpahat (wimple). This is already attested in the Mishna, Kelim 28:4 where it discusses whether one can use of figures/illustrations in the wrapping of our Torah Scrolls.
Interestingly, although the common understanding of Mitpehot is bands or wrappers for Sifrei Torah, there are also those who understand Mitpehot to refer to actual cases.
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