HaChnassat Sefer Torah

Now that we have a ספר תורה, we should probably ask the question: did we just do a מצווה?

The ספר החינוך counts the very last מצווה in the Torah as writing a ספר תורה.

The רא”ש introduces the novel notion that writing other ספרים that we use more readily is a מצווה. The בית יוסף understands that he meant in addition to writing the תורה whereas the ש”ך understood it as the מצווה is to write other ספרים.

The fundamental difference in these positions is whether the מצווה is to write a ספר תורה or to learn from a ספר תורה and we instruct you to write one so you have what to learn from.

That then leads to a fascinating application which is are women included in the מצווה? If the מצווה is to write, then no, because a ספר תורה written by a woman is פסול. But if it is because we need a means through which to learn then women are included.

If the purpose is to write the Torah, then obviously we just accomplished a מצווה but if the purpose was to learn Torah then our money could have been better spend expanding our library and shiurim.

However I would argue that there are two מצוות to write ספרי תורה. One, the מצווה counted by the חינוך to write a תורה. That is a person obligation where we can debate how can your money be best used. The second, is the מצווה for a king to write a Torah. There is also a communal obligation to have ספרי תורה. That obligation is what we accomplished today.

Last week we celebrated Eliana’s grandparents’ anniversary and her grandmother’s birthday. In order to surprise them, we invited them to come early under the pretense that their friend’s seyium is starting earlier than it actually was. The party was a success and they then went to their friend’s seyium. I later heard that this friend of their at age of 78 went to the last סיום הש”ס and was so inspired he decided he also wanted to join. However, he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to finish the 7.5 years it takes to complete the cycle. So at the age of 78 he decided to finish all of ש”ס in two years!!!

That is what we must do as well. We see, then, that as we fulfill the second obligation of having more ספרי תורה we must now, moving forward, ensure that we work on our personal obligation to have our own ספרי תורה. And, not, to write our own ספר תורה but to increase our learning and the time spent in studying גמרא, הלכה etc. That focus is especially important as we approach the new year, welcome a new Torah and continue our communal growth in לימוד תורה.