CCAR RESPONSA
American Reform Responsa
73. Ritual for Disposal of Damaged Sefer Torah
(Vol. XXXIV, 1924, pp. 74-75)
QUESTION: I am very anxious to know the ritual in connection with the remains of a Sefer Torahwhich has been injured by fire. My impression is that they are to be buried, but I do not know the form. Since we have three such relics, I am quite anxious to dispose of them in the proper manner. Will you kindly let me know both the form and the ritual which are customary?
ANSWER: In regard to the mode of disposal of the burnt Sefer Torah fragments, tradition prescribes no set ritual. However, it offers a helpful guidance. The Talmud lays down the law that a worn-out Scroll may be placed in a jar and buried beside a scholar. This was to express the idea that the Sefer Torah, though torn, is still identified with the student: “Sefer Torah shebala, gonezin oto etsel talmid chacham, uvichli cheres, shene-emar, ‘Unetatem bichlei cheres lema-an ya-amdu yamim rabim”‘ (B. Megila 26b). The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De-a 282.10, and Orach Chayim 154.5) accepts this view (see also Sha-arei Teshuva to Orach Chayim, ad loc.). The reason for burying Scrolls is to avoid their further destruction by burning or otherwise being misused. Where there is fear that vandals may take them out of the graves and burn them, it is permitted to put them in earthen vessels and hide them in a secret place (Responsaof R. Solomon b. Simon Duran, 1400-1457, no. 62).
The rule of burying the old Scrolls which became spoiled or torn was in course of time extended to all Hebrew books which became torn or spoiled. This, indirectly, probably led to the well-known practice of having special places called Geniza, where such books were temporarily kept before being buried (see Eisenstein’s Otsar Dinim Uminhagim, p. 77). In almost all Jewish centers, there are Genizot in the synagogues–under the Bima, within the walls, or in the garrets. As the place grew overcrowded, the content was carried to the cemetery for burial. Among the Sefardim of Palestine it is customary to bury the accumulated Genizot with considerable ceremony. They use the occasion for prayers for relief from drought and other forms of distress (see Lunz, Jerusalem I, Wien, 1882, pp. 15-16). In Algiers, the burial of the Geniza usually takes place on Rosh Chodesh Iyar (Minhagei Algier,p. 132). In many Russian and Polish communities, too, torn Scrolls and worn out books are buried in the ground. A tent is then placed over the grave to show that it is a holy place. Of course, Psalms and prayers are recited at such occasions.
Guided by these practices, we think that in your case–when the Scrolls were injured at the occasion when the Temple burned down–it is fitting to place your burnt Sefer Torah in an earthen jar or a box, and to deposit it in the cornerstone of your new Temple. Psalm 74, referring to the burning of the sacred meeting places, will be fitting for the occasion; also selections from R. Meir of Rothenburg’s dirge on the “Burning of the Law” may be recited. A translation of this dirge is found in Nina Davis’s Songs of Exile, pp. 83-91. Your sermon might be built on the statement of R. Hanina b. Teradyon, one of the Ten Martyrs, who, when wrapped in a Sefer Torah and placed on the pyre, exclaimed: “Scrolls are burning, but the letters fly upward” (“Gevilim nisrafim ve-otiyot porechot”; B. Avoda Zara 18a). Should this ceremony be observed apart from that of laying the cornerstone, or at a special occasion at the cemetery, you might conclude it with reading well known passages (see Berachot 64a) and the reciting of Kaddish Derabanan.
Jacob Z. Lauterbach
See also:
S.B. Freehof, “Posul Torah in the Ark,” Contemporary Reform Responsa, pp. 114ff; “Preserving a Torah Fragment,” Reform Responsa for Our Time, pp. 80ff; “Torah in Museum Case or in Ark,” Contemporary Reform Responsa, pp. 110ff
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.