Parshat Vayelech - Just Another Song?

(1) It is an affirmative precept binding upon every individual Israelite to write a scroll of the Law for his own use, as it is said, "Now therefore write ye this Song for you" (Deuteronomy 31:19). As the Torah is not written in separate sections, this text means, "Write for yourselves the Torah in which this Song is contained." Even if one's ancestors have left a person a scroll, it is a religious duty to write a scroll at his own expense. If he wrote it with his own hand, it is accounted to him as if he had received it from Sinai. If one does not know how to write a scroll, he should get others to write it for him. He who corrects a scroll, even a single letter of it, is regarded as if he had written it completely.

(2) A king has the duty of writing for himself another scroll of the Law, in his capacity as sovereign, in addition to the scroll which he owns in his private capacity, as it is said, "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law, etc." (Deuteronomy 17:18). This copy is corrected by comparison with a scroll kept in the temple court, and under the authority of the Supreme Judicature. The scroll which the king had possessed when he was a private individual, he places in his archives. The one that he wrote or had written for him when he became king, should always be with him. If he goes to war, the scroll is to be with him. When he enters his home, it is to be with him. When he hears a cause (tries a case) it is to be with him. When he sits down to a meal, it is to be placed before him, as it is said, "And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life" (Deuteronomy 17:19).

(3) If he possessed no scroll before he came to the throne, he has to write, after his accession, two scrolls of the law, one of which he places in his archives, while the other is to be always with him. It must never be away from him, except at night, or when he goes to the bath or the lavatory or lies down on his couch to sleep.

(4) A scroll of the Law that has been written without having been ruled, or that has been written partly on parchment made of whole hide and partly on that made of the inner half of split hide is unfit for use. It must be entirely written either on the former or on the latter. How is a scroll of the law to be written? The scribe is to use the correct script and it should also be exceedingly fine. Between one word and another, he is to leave the space of a small letter; between one letter and another (in the same word) the space of a hair's breadth; between one line and the next the space of a line. The length of each line is to be thirty letters, wide enough to write the word Le-Mi-Sh-Pe-Ch-O-S-E-Che-M^*Ten consonant letters printed here in capital letters. See also below. three times. This is to be the width of each column. No line shall be shorter, so that the column shall not look like an epistle. Nor should any line be wider so that the reader's eyes should not have to wander across the sheet.

(5) He should not diminish the size of the characters in order to leave a space between one paragraph and another. When he comes (at the end of a line) to a word of five letters, he must not write two within the column and three outside the column; but he is to write three letters within the column and two outside the column. If there is not enough space left at the end of the line to write three letters, he is to leave it blank and begin at the commencement of the next line.

(6) If at the end of a line, he has a word of two letters to write, he may not place it between the columns (that is, outside the column) but he writes it at the beginning of the next line. If, before the line is filled up, he has a word of ten letters, more or less, to write and there is not enough space left on the line to write it all within the column, if he is able to write half the word within the column and half outside the column, he may do so. If he cannot do this, he leaves the space blank and writes the word at the beginning of the next line.

(7) Between each book and the next, he leaves a space of four lines, no more and no less, blank without any writing, and starts the next book at the beginning of the fifth line. When completing the Torah, he is to finish it in the middle of the line at the end of the column. If several lines of the column would be left, he shortens the lines, so as to begin at the beginning of the last line of the column and not complete it, and also so plans the lines that the final words Le-éné Chol Yisrael ("in the sight of all Israel") shall be in the middle of the line at the end of the column.

(8) He should pay careful attention to the letters that are written large or small, to the letters that are punctuated with dots above them, to the letters that are written differently to the others, such as the letter Pé and the letters that are curved, in the way the scribes have carried on the tradition. He is to pay attention to the tittles^*lines over each of the letters Shin, Ayin, Teth, Nuen, Zayin, Gimel, Tzadi. and the number of them in each case—one letter having above it a single tittle, another having seven tittles. All the tittles have the shape of the letter Zain and are to be thin as a hair.

(9) All these provisoes are only stated in order that the duty of writing a scroll shall be observed in the most perfect way. If, however the scribe made changes in the method here set forth, was not careful in regard to the tittles, writing however all the letters correctly, or if he wrote the lines close together or far apart, extended the lines or shortened them—since he did not join any letter to another, omit aught or add aught, mar the form of any letter, nor make any variation in regard to which paragraphs should be open and which closed, the scroll is fit for use.

(10) There are other rules mentioned in the Talmud which the scribes observe as a tradition handed down from one to another. They are as follows: The number of lines in each column shall not be less than forty-eight and not more than sixty; the blank spaces between one section and another shall be such that nine letters, e.g., A She R, A She R, A She R, can be written in it. The five lines preceding the Song at the Red Sea (Exodus 14:28, 29, 30, 30, 31) shall begin respectively with the words Habaim, Bayabashah, Hashem, Mes, Bemitzraim. The five lines after it shall begin respectively with the words Vatikach, Achareha, Sus, Vayetzëü, Vayavöü (Exodus 15:20, 20, 21, 22, 23). The six lines before the Song of Moses beginning Haazinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) shall respectively commence with the words Veaeedah, Acharé, Haderech, Beacharith, Lehacheeso, Kehal (Deuteronomy 31:28, 29, 29, 29, 29, 30); and the five lines after the Song of Moses shall begin with the words Vayabo, Ledabber, Asher, Hazoth, Asher (Deuteronomy 32:44, 45, 46, 46, 47). All these points of observance are to enable us to fulfill the duty in the best way. Variations in these particulars do not render the scroll unfit for use.

(11) But if the scribe wrote defective a word that should be plene or vice versa; or a word traditionally pronounced differently to the way it is written, according to the traditional pronunciation, for example, if he wrote Yishkevenoh instead of Yishgelenoh, or Oovatechorim instead of Oova-apolim, etc.; or if he wrote an "open" section as if it were a closed section or vice versa; or if he wrote one of the Songs like the ordinary prose text, or an ordinary section in the form of one of the Songs, the scroll is unfit for use as a scroll of the Law. It has not the sacredness of a scroll of the Law, but is like any one of the books of the Pentateuch out of which children are taught.

(12) A scroll of the Law, which has not been examined for correctness may not be kept longer than thirty days. It must either be corrected or segregated.^*put away and not be used. A scroll of the Law which has three errors in each column should be corrected. If there are four, it must be put away. If the greater portion has been found to be correct, and the remainder has four errors in each column, but there is even one column in this erroneous portion with less than four errors, corrections could be made.

(13) This rule only applies to cases where the scribe wrote defective words that should be written plene so that he would be under the necessity of inserting the letters that he forgot between the lines. But if he wrote plene words that are defective, even if every column contains several errors, he corrects them, as he only erases and does not have to insert letters between the lines.

(14) It is permitted to write the Pentateuch, each book in a separate scroll. These scrolls have not the sanctity of a scroll of the Law that is complete. One may not however write a scroll containing some sections. Such a scroll may not be written for a child's instruction. This is permitted, however, where there is the intention to complete the remainder of the book. If one wrote such a scroll with three words on each line, this is permitted.

(15) The Pentateuch, the Prophets and the Hagiography may be put together in one volume. In such a case, a space of four lines is left blank between each book of the Pentateuch and the next; a space of three lines between each of the major Prophets and the next; and a space of three lines between each of the twelve minor prophets and the next, so that he can, if he wishes, separate any book. The order of the prophetical books is as follows: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, the Twelve Minor Prophets. The order of the books of the Hagiography is: Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra, Chronicles.

(16) None of The Holy Scriptures may be written except on ruled lines, even if they are written on paper: Three words of Scripture may be written without ruling the line, but to write more is forbidden. A volume containing the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiography has not the sanctity of a scroll of the Law, but of a single book of the Pentateuch. The scroll which contains more than the entire Pentateuch is in the same class as that which contains less than the entire Pentateuch, on the principle that excess is similar to deficiency.