MINIATURE TORAH SCROLL, MANUSCRIPT ON PARCHMENT [18th -19th century]

Scroll. (5 1/2 in. x app 51 ft., 5in; 114mm x app 15.6 meters). 264 columns, 42 lines, blind-ruled, written in black vellum in Ashkenaz STAM square script, sewn with gidin; on wooden rollers with ivory tips. With velvet mantle embroidered in gold thread with a Star of David.

The most sacred ritual artifact of the Jewish faith is the Torah Scroll.  Containing the text of the Pentateuch and written by hand on specially prepared parchment by a trained scribe according to traditions that date back thousands of years, Torah scrolls are most often used for public worship services in Jewish communities around the world.  The scrolls used in most synagogues are typically large and heavy, and while most of these scrolls are communally owned, there is nevertheless a long tradition of private ownership of scrolls as well.  In fact, Judaism considers both the ownership and the writing of Torah scrolls to be obligatory positive commandments.  Given the expense and great degree of complexity inherent in producing a Torah scroll that is fit for ritual use, most individual Jews are unable to fulfill those commandments.  For those few individuals with a consummate level of skill, or more likely, with the financial wherewithal to hire someone that skilled, the opportunity to possess a Torah Scroll became a reality.

Since no extraneous writing, decoration or illumination is permitted when writing a Torah scroll and in light of the strict rules regarding the manner of writing the letters, it is nearly impossible to date a Torah Scroll by means of codicological or paleographic techniques that can be used to date other manuscripts.  However, although there is no law regulating the number of pages or columns a Torah must have, many scrolls from this period are written in columns of 42 lines, as seen here.

Torah scrolls of such minute dimensions are extremely rare.  Naturally, the degree of proficiency required to produce such a small Torah Scroll was beyond the ken of all but the most skilled scribes.  A miniature scroll such as this would have been commissioned by a wealthy individual in order to fulfill the aforementioned commandment.  The small size and reduced weight of a miniature scroll meant that it was sufficiently portable that a devout Jew could always carry a Torah when traveling.  In addition miniature scrolls could be more easily stored in a private residence without requiring the construction of a large ark of the kind used to house the communal Torah scrolls found in most synagogues.