Words From Rabbi White

In last week’s edition of the Forward, a tech expert wrote that it would be possible now for a computer to write a sefer Torah. The computer could be programmed to write it perfectly. There would be no need for a sofer, a scribe, to toil for a year, putting in hundreds of hours.

Well, what do you think? Would this be a valuable time saving innovation?

Such a Torah would not even have to be proofread, as it would be programmed to write the Torah perfectly: in your choice of Ashkenaz or Sepharad script!

You might say:  why not?  You might give the example of machine matsot. When they first came out, in the 19^th century, there was a great controversy. There were rabbis who insisted that matsot had to be baked by hand. But now, it is accepted that machine matsot are kosher. Maybe not as tasty as hand baked matsot, but certainly acceptable.

However, there is a fundamental difference.  Eating a matsa on Passover night is a mitsva, but there is no innate sanctity in a matsa.  A sefer Torah, on the other hand, possesses innate holiness, qedusha.  The human involvement in its writing is essential.

A good proof of this can be found in this week’s parasha. There were three groups of Levites: Gershon, Merari, and Qehat. The Qehat group was entrusted with transporting the sacred objects of the mishkan. Due to the special sanctity of the objects for which they were responsible, they were not allowed even to use wagons. Everything had to be carried personally on their shoulders. ki `avodat ha-qodesh `aleihem ba-katef yisa'u.

Likewise, a sefer Torah can be kosher only if produced by the human hand, and by human devotion.

Shabbat shalom