רבי שמעון בן אלעזר אומר העומד על המת בשעת יציאת נשמה חייב לקרוע למה זה דומה לספר תורה שנשרף שחייב לקרוע
Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: One who stands over the deceased at the time of the soul’s departure is obligated to rend his clothes. To what may this be likened? To a Torah scroll that is burned, for which anyone present is obligated to rend his clothes.
רמב"ן
ולי נראה שהנפש בגוף כאזכרות בגוילין.
Ramban on Moed Katan 25a
It seems to me that the soul in the body is like the names of God on the parchment.
What are our traditions surrounding the physical Torah?
וַיְהִ֛י בִּנְסֹ֥עַ הָאָרֹ֖ן וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֑ה קוּמָ֣ה ׀ יְהוָ֗ה וְיָפֻ֙צוּ֙ אֹֽיְבֶ֔יךָ וְיָנֻ֥סוּ מְשַׂנְאֶ֖יךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ׃
When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: Advance, O LORD! May Your enemies be scattered, And may Your foes flee before You!
This text was used when the ark containing the tablets was being moved in the desert. We use it today when the ark is opened during the Torah service and for moving the casket (aron) after a body is prepared is prepared for burial.
Customs:
- we stand when a Torah is raised
- we kiss the Torah
- we do not touch it with bare hands unless necessary
- we fast/repent if it falls to the ground
- we bury a Sefer Torah in a casket in the ground
How do we approach a divinely inspired text?
PaRDeS, an acronym formed from the first letters of the four levels of Torah interpretation. Pardes means 'orchard' in Hebrew.
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P'shat: literal or explicit meaning. P'shat comes from the root which means simple. |
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Remez: alluded meaning (reading between the lines). Remez in modern Hebrew means hint. |
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D'rash: homiletical or interpretative meaning - an interpretation that is not explicit in the text. The word 'midrash' is from the same root. |
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Sod: mystical or esoteric meaning. Sod means secret. |
Rav Joseph Soloveitchik taught
In what exactly does the sanctity of the Torah scroll manifest itself, if not in the fact that it serves as a receptacle for the Word of God? And what has the greater ability to absorb God's Word -- simple parchment and black ink or a passionate heart in a warm Jewish body?...
Tosafot comment..."[The] act of pronouncing the words before writing them is a stricture for those who write a Torah scroll, mezuzah, or tefillin."
The halakhah that a scribe must enunciate a word before it is written down expresses the aforementioned idea, that the sanctity of the "external" Torah scroll flows from the personal, living Torah scroll which is hidden in the depths of the soul.
Rabbi Arthur Waskow teaches in the name of Rabbi Max Ticktin
I noticed ... that while everyone else in the community touched their tzitzit, the fringes of their prayer shawls, to the Torah scroll and kissed them, Max also touched his tzitzit to the person who was carrying the Torah. So I asked him why, and this is what he said:
Any person who carries a Torah is a Torah.