Mishneh Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll 7

Sugya Map

• Core Issue: The nature of the mitzvah to write a Sefer Torah (Deut. 31:19). Is it an instrumental mitzvah (to facilitate study) or an act of kinyan (acquisition of the Torah experience)?
• Nafka Minot:
  • Does one fulfill the mitzvah by purchasing a scroll, or is personal labor (or agency) essential?
  • Does a scroll inherited from ancestors suffice, or is the mitzvah ongoing?
  • Does the mitzvah apply to women?
  • Is the validity of a "partial" scroll (e.g., Chumashim) sufficient to satisfy the biblical mandate?
• Primary Sources: Sanhedrin 21b; Menachot 30a; Nedarim 37b; Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sefer Torah 7:1-14.

Text Snapshot

• "מצות עשה על כל איש ואיש מישראל לכתוב ספר תורה לעצמו" (7:1): The phrasing לעצמו (for himself) is the pivot. Rambam’s inclusion of "each and every Jewish man" is a deliberate halachic demarcation, explicitly excluding women from the obligation.
• "ואפילו הניחו לו אבותיו ספר תורה מצוה לכתוב משלו" (7:1): Note the nuance: the mitzvah is not merely to possess a Torah, but to create (or commission) one. The Leshon "מצוה לכתוב משלו" underscores the requirement for personal agency.

Readings

1. Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 613)

The Chinuch grounds the mitzvah in the need for accessibility: to ensure every person has a scroll for study so they do not need to rely on their neighbor’s copy. He adds a psychological chiddush: creating a new scroll keeps the Torah "fresh" and exciting for the owner, preventing the stagnation that comes with using an old, inherited object. This frames the mitzvah as a pedagogical and spiritual strategy rather than just a formal requirement.

2. Sha’agat Arieh (Responsum 35)

The Sha'agat Arieh offers a blistering critique of the Rambam’s exclusion of women. He argues that if the mitzvah is to facilitate Torah study, women are obligated to study the laws that pertain to them (Hilchot Talmud Torah 1:1). He dismisses the "time-bound" exemption, noting that many mitzvot are not time-bound yet remain specific to certain groups (e.g., Kohanim). His chiddush is that the mitzvah of Sefer Torah is an independent obligation of ownership/availability, not merely a subset of Talmud Torah.

Friction

The Kushya: If the mitzvah is meant to facilitate study, why does the Talmud (Sanhedrin 21b) state that even one who inherits a scroll must write his own? If possession is the goal, inheritance should suffice.

The Terutz: The Nimukei Yosef (on Menachot) provides the bridge: writing the scroll is an act of re-enactment. By writing it, the individual becomes a participant in the original Revelation at Sinai. The mitzvah is not just to "have a book" but to "receive the Torah." Thus, inheritance is passive, while the mitzvah demands an active, personal engagement.

A second terutz (from the Ohr Sameach) focuses on the tzibbur. The mitzvah is to contribute to the collective accessibility of Torah. If one relies solely on an inheritance, they are not adding to the "stock" of Torah available to the community. Thus, the mitzvah is both personal (k'niyan) and communal (tzedakah of knowledge).

Intertext

• Deuteronomy 17:18: The King’s "second scroll." The Sifre notes the king carries two: one for his throne (sovereignty) and one for his person (study). Rambam (7:2) mirrors this, distinguishing between the scroll that stays in the storage chamber and the one that accompanies him, emphasizing that royal authority must be checked against the Sanhedrin's master copy.
• Gittin 60a: The prohibition against writing the Torah in individual scrolls (parashiyot). This underpins the Rambam’s insistence that the "song" (Ha'azinu) in Deut. 31:19 is a synecdoche for the entire Torah. Writing a "chunk" is not writing the "Torah."

Psak/Practice

The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De'ah 270:1) follows the Rambam’s view that one must write (or commission) a scroll. In practice, the modern psak (via Pitchei Teshuvah) often leans on the concept of "buying letters" in a community scroll. While technically a limud zechut (a justification for the masses who cannot afford a full scroll), it acknowledges the communal nature of the mitzvah today. The meta-psak is clear: a Torah that sits in a closet is a failure of the mitzvah; a Torah that is studied is the fulfillment.

Takeaway

The mitzvah of writing a Sefer Torah is not a bibliophilic hobby; it is a ritual of becoming a recipient of Sinai, shifting one from a passive heir to an active author of their own engagement with the Divine.