NYP no. 5765.1 - Central Conference of American Rabbis

CCAR RESPONSA

5765.1

May Non-Jews Participate in the Writing of a Torah Scroll?

She’elah.

Our congregation has commissioned a sofer to write a new Torah scroll. Although he is Sefardi Orthodox he is being very flexible on the issue of who can help him “write” a letter in the Torah scroll by allowing women and children to participate. (The practice is to schedule “scribing” appointments where people fill in a letter that the sofer has already outlined. People make a donation to the project and fill in a letter while the sofer holds their hand, etc.) Assuming our sofer would allow it, the question is: is it appropriate to allow non-Jewish adults involved in raising Jewish children to participate in the mitzvah of writing a Torah scroll? Our initial inclination is to permit it for a number of reasons. A) Shelom Bayit: the individual is committed to raising a Jewish family and working to maintain Jewish survival. B) Ritual Consistency within a Diverse Congregation: given that we allow a non-Jewish parent to hold a Torah scroll or open the ark at a service or b’nai mitzvah, etc., it seems logical to allow/encourage this form of participation as well. C) Learning/Keruv (Nearness): by participating in this activity we are giving the individual an opportunity to learn about Judaism and to increase their love of Torah by sharing in this mitzvah. D) Shared Tradition of Scripture: assuming the individual’s religion of origin or active faith is Christianity, then the Five Books of Moses is holy to them as well. (Rabbi David Wirtschafter, Burlingame, CA)

Teshuvah.

Our tradition teaches that the very last of the Torah’s 613 commandments[1] is “the mitzvah incumbent upon every Jew to write a Torah scroll,”[2] derived by way of a midrash on Deuteronomy 31:19.[3] It is this mitzvah that these congregants seek to fulfill by taking part in the project our sho’el describes. And fundamental to this mitzvah is the fact that a Gentile does not take part in it. A Torah scroll written by a non-Jew is pasul, disqualified for the purpose of keri’at hatorah, the public reading of the Torah at worship services.[4] The non-Jew cannot act as a sofer precisely because he does not partake of the covenant of Israel; he is not a member of the Jewish community, a people defined by its obligations to the mitzvot.[5] Since it is likely that the congregation will use this particular Torah scroll for public reading, it would be inappropriate under Jewish tradition to allow non-Jews to participate in this project.

Various objections might be raised against this conclusion on halakhic grounds. One could argue, for example, that it is the sofer who does the actual “writing” when he holds the member’s hand; therefore, strictly speaking the Gentile family members would not be “writing” the scroll at all. Yet this is not persuasive, since the sofer, engaged by the congregation, is acting as the agent (shaliach) for each member who participates in the project. The general rule in the halakhah is that one’s agent acts with power of attorney, so that the agent’s acts in fulfilling the assignment are considered to be the actions of the one who engages him or her.[6] In this specific case, moreover, we learn that “when one employs a sofer to write a Torah scroll, it is as though one has written it by oneself.”[7] Since such is the case here, we conclude that the congregants fulfill in this manner the mitzvah to write a sefer torah.

It might also be objected that, if it is indeed “incumbent upon every Jew to write a Torah scroll,”[8] then no mitzvah is being performed here, because no one person is writing the entire sefer torah or commissioning a scribe to write it. If there is no mitzvah taking place, then arguably there is no reason to prevent Gentiles from taking part in the activity. The halakhic literature does discuss at length the question whether one may successfully fulfill this mitzvah by contracting with others to write a Torah scroll. Yet though opinions are divided, the fact remains that “it is the general custom (minhag ha`olam)” for individuals to write a Torah scroll in partnership (beshutafut) with others and to presume that each member of that group, as an individual, has fulfilled the mitzvah thereby.[9] We would note, as well, the statement of tradition that when one writes a single letter of a sefer torah “it is as though he has written the entire scroll.”[10]

Each member of the congregation, then, fulfills the mitzvah to write a Torah scroll by taking part in this project. Accordingly, it is inappropriate for Gentiles to participate in it, just as it is inappropriate for them to be called to the Torah and to perform other important ritual mitzvot on our behalf.[11] The sefer torah is the most visible and powerful symbol of Israel’s covenant with God. The writing of the scroll enables us to read it in public, an act by which we reenact the giving of the Torah at Sinai and rehearse our identity as a covenant people. A Gentile does not partake of Jewish identity. He or she bears no obligation under the mitzvot, the terms of the covenant, and therefore cannot perform this mitzvah for us. Our case, it is true, involves “non-Jewish adults involved in raising Jewish children.” We deeply appreciate the love and devotion with which the non-Jewish parents in our midst help see to it that their children receive a Jewish upbringing and education. Yet so long as they remain outside the covenant of Israel, they bear no responsibility to bring their children into that covenant. That responsibility, that obligation, is precisely what we Jews bear as Jews.[12] If the non-Jews in our midst wish to accept these responsibilities and obligations upon themselves, they may do so through the process of conversion, a path that is freely open to them. Many individuals who came to our congregations as non-Jewish spouses or partners have chosen to take this step, and they now participate fully and equally in the public life of our Jewish community. If others choose not to convert (or not yet to convert), we respect their choice, and we believe that they will recognize the obvious implications of that choice. We believe, that is, that they will respect our need to maintain the lines and definitions that preserve our distinctness as a Jewish community.

With these considerations in mind, we would respond to the arguments cited by our sho’el in favor of permitting non-Jews to take part in the sefer torah project.

1. Shelom Bayit. Although these individuals are “committed” to raising Jewish families, they are not, as we have seen, obligated to do so under the terms of the covenant. The obligation to respond to God’s call to Israel is what we term mitzvah, and this obligation, which the Gentile by definition does not share, is the key factor in our case. A non-Jew cannot perform on our behalf ritual mitzvot by which we constitute ourselves as a covenant community.
2. Ritual Consistency Within A Diverse Congregation. Our position, which we have expressed elsewhere,[13] is that non-Jews should not participate in the Torah service or lead the central rubrics of our communal liturgy. This view, again, is based upon the fact that non-Jews are not members of the Jewish people and therefore cannot lead or perform on our behalf those rituals that affirm our identity as a Jewish community. The same reasoning applies to the question before us.
3. Learning/Keruv. It is important to afford individuals the opportunity to learn about Jewish life and to draw them closer to it. As we note below, there are appropriate ways in which the congregation might design this project toward that end. Yet keruv, or “outreach,” has its proper limits, a reality that all congregations accept and understand. For example, the wording of our she’elah indicates that this congregation does impose some restrictions upon the participation of non-Jews in its ritual life. The reason for these limits, we would think, is the felt need to preserve the nature of the congregation as a Jewish religious community, one in which the performance of defining constitutive rituals is reserved for Jews. The writing of a sefer torah is just such a ritual act.
4. Shared Tradition of Scripture. Although the Five Books of Moses are holy to Christians, they mean something very different to them than they mean to us. For Christians, these books are not “Torah”; they are the “Old Testament,” the first part of a record of revelation in which the climax is the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Christian theology traditionally holds that the Hebrew Bible has been superseded by the “new covenant” established through Jesus, and it reads Jewish scripture in large part as a prophecy of his advent and ministry. This interpretation, obviously, contradicts the most fundamental tenets of our own faith. Thus, while we may “share” some scriptural traditions with Christians, they do not share our Jewish understanding of the covenant. For that reason, they should not participate in the creation of the scroll that embodies and symbolizes that understanding.
We emphasize that our objections to the participation of non-Jews in this project focus specifically upon the writing of the sefer torah. At the same time, non-Jews might take part in related activities that are not, strictly speaking, mitzvot.[14] Non-Jewish family members might craft ornaments and coverings for the Torah scroll, participate with the sofer in writing a certificate to be presented at the dedication of the sefer, and so forth. Thus, if the congregation so wishes, it can design its project in a way that would include all family members, thereby serving the goal of keruv, a vital task in our communal life.

Conclusion. The writing of a sefer torah is a mitzvah, a constitutive ritual of Jewish religious life, a powerful symbolic expression of Israel’s covenant with God. It is a duty that only Jews can fulfill; others cannot do it on our behalf. Non-Jews may take part in other activities surrounding the creation of a Torah scroll.

NOTES
1. 1. See Makot 23b-24a. The number 613 is derived from the verse (Deuteronomy 33:4): “Moses commanded us (the) Torah.” The numerical value of the letters of the word “Torah” equals 611; hence, we received 611 mitzvot from Moses’ intercession with God. We heard two other commandments (“I am Adonai your God” and “You shall have no other gods besides Me”; Exodus 20:2-3) directly from God. Sefer Hachinukh, which lists the mitzvot according to their appearance in the text of the Torah, counts this one as mitzvah no. 613.
  2. The wording is that of Rambam, Yad, Sefer Torah 7:1, repeated by R. Yosef Karo in Shulchan Arukh Yoreh De`ah 270:1.
  3. Sanhedrin 21b. In the verse, God tells Moses to “write down this poem”; the Rabbis interpret this as an instruction to each Israelite to write an entire sefer torah.
  4. Gitin 45b; Yad, Tefilin 1:13; Shulchan Arukh Yoreh De`ah 281:1. Although our printed texts use the phrases oved kokhavim (“idolator”), kuti (“Samaritan”), or kena`ani (“Canaanite”) in place of “Gentile,” the evidence of manuscripts and early commentators to the passage is that it properly reads goy, or “non-Jew.” That word was often removed from Talmud texts by copyists and printers under pressure from censorship, especially in Christian Europe. Moreover, as the midrash that supports this rule makes clear (see below), the principle objection to a Gentile scribe is precisely that he is a non-Jew and not that he worships other gods.
  5. See Gitin 45b. The specific midrash that supports the disqualification is a hekesh (comparison) drawn from two nearly adjacent verses: just as a non-Jew is not commanded to “bind them as a sign upon your hand” (Deuteronomy 11:18), he is also excluded from the community of those who “write these words…” (Deuteronomy 11:20).
  6. Shelucho shel adam; Berakhot 5:5; B. Kidushin 41b and parallels.
  7. Menachot 30a; Isserles, Shulchan Arukh Yoreh De`ah 270:1. See also Yad, Sefer Torah 7:1.
  8. Asher b. Yechiel, a preeminent halakhic authority of the 13th-14th century, argued that this mitzvah is no longer incumbent upon Jews, since we no longer use Torah scrolls for the purpose of study. Instead, “it is a positive commandment for every Jew…to write chumashim and texts of the Mishnah and Talmud and their commentaries, in order that he and his sons might study them” (the quotation is from the Tur, written by Asher’s son Ya`akov, Yoreh De`ah 270). Subsequent authorities disagree over the precise meaning of this statement. Some argue that R. Asher did not mean to exempt us from the requirement to write a sefer torah but simply to note that in our time it is also a mitzvah to write other sacred texts (R. Yosef Karo, Beit Yosef to Tur, Yoreh De`ah 270 and Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De`ah 270:2; Turey Zahav and Bi’ur HaGra ad loc.; R. Aryeh Lev b. Asher [18^th cent. Lithuania], Resp. Sha’agat Aryeh, no. 36). Others read R. Asher literally, concluding that there is no specific mitzvah in our day to write a sefer torah (Perishah to Tur, Yoreh De`ah 270; Siftey Kohen to Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De`ah 270, no. 5). We do not wish, at this point, to take a position on this machloket. We would merely observe that both sides of the dispute would undoubtedly agree that when a person writes a sefer torah he or she does fulfill a ritual duty (after all, we do have to produce Torah scrolls for the purpose of public reading), whether or not there exists a specific requirement that each and every Jew perform the act of writing.
  9. On all of this see Pitchey Teshuvah, Yoreh De`ah 270, no. 1.
  10. Menachot 30a; Yad, Sefer Torah 7:1; Isserles, Shulchan Arukh Yoreh De`ah 270:1. The verb that these sources use is magi’ah, which means “to correct”; it applies in our case because a Torah scroll that lacks even a single letter is pasul (unfit for public reading) until it is corrected. Hence, one who writes a single letter is correcting a defective scroll.
  11. See Teshuvot for the Nineties, no. 5754.5, pp. 55-75 ( ). These mitzvot are roughly equivalent to tefilat chovah, “obligatory prayer,” those sections of the service that most closely reflect the public, corporate (as opposed to personal and private) elements of Jewish worship. These include the Shema and its benedictions, the tefilah, the Torah service (aliyot and other honors), and the recitation of public benedictions (berakhot) at public gatherings.
  12. See our responsum no. 5762.2, “A ‘Hebrew Name’ For A Non-Jewish Parent,” section 2 (available at ).
  13. See above at note 11.
  14. Is the crafting of appurtenances to the Torah scroll not a mitzvah in itself? The issue may be clouded somewhat by the fact that the word mitzvah enjoys several layers of definition. Some mitzvot are ritual acts that are constitutive of Jewish identity and community; therefore, they can be fulfilled only by Jews. That is the case with the rituals of public worship (see note 11, above) and with the writing of a sefer torah. Other mitzvot are duties that are incumbent upon Jews but not necessarily restricted to them. Donations to tzedakah and to the synagogue fall into this category; see our discussion in responsum no. 5761.2, at notes 5-7 ( Although Jews, as members of the covenant, have an obligation to give to tzedakah, non-Jews are not prohibited from doing so.