Dear Readers and Members, The forum has been down for over 6 months because the domain name (www.stamforum.com) lapsed and it is no longer available to re purchase. Although this forum is now defunct (it has morphed into several whatsapp groups), I have had many requests to put it back online because it contains so much information (over 1,800 posts and thousands of comments in the discussions, on a wide range of topics related to STa"M). I have therefore put the forum back online at blogger, so the address is www.stamforum.blogspot.com. The forum lasted for a decade...not a bad effort! It was pretty popular back in the days before whatsapp and managed to receive over a million hits in it's short life. It was one of the only organised forums in the STa"M world and definitely the largest in it's heyday. I would like to thank all those who cobtributed over the years, particularly the early members who helped build it up. Thanking you all, Eli
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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