Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah Siman 281

Siman 281

Presented here for study, not as a practical ruling. The Shulchan Aruch rules by Sephardi custom, the Rema's glosses by Ashkenazi custom, and the Kitzur follows Ashkenazi custom. For a practical question, ask your rabbi.

א סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה שֶׁכְּתָבוֹ אֶפִּיקוֹרוֹס, יִשָּׂרֵף. כְּתָבוֹ כּוּתִי, יִגָּנֵז. נִמְצָא בְּיַד אֶפִּיקוֹרוֹס, וְאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ מִי כְּתָבוֹ, יִגָּנֵז. נִמְצָא בְּיַד כּוּתִי, וְאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ מִי כְּתָבוֹ, יֵשׁ מִי שֶׁמַּכְשִׁיר וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים יִגָּנֵז. וְחַיָּבִין הַצִּבּוּר לִקְנוֹתוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ בִּכְדֵי דָּמָיו אוֹ יוֹתֵר מְעַט וּלְגָנְזוֹ, כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יְזַלְזֵל בּוֹ. וְאִם רָצָה לְהַעֲלוֹת בְּדָמָיו יוֹתֵר מִכְּדֵי דָּמָיו הַרְבֵּה, מַנִּיחִין אוֹתוֹ בְּיָדוֹ. וְאִם הֻחְזְקוּ שֶׁבָּזְזוּ כְּנַעֲנִים סִפְרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, תּוֹלִים שֶׁאוֹתָם סְפָרִים שֶׁלָּהֶם הָיוּ וְקוֹרִין בָּהֶם.

1 Who is fit for the writing of a Sefer Torah, and if the scribe says they did not write the names of God for their own sake. Contains 8 subsections. A sefer Torah written by an apikoros should be burnt. A non-Jew, it should be sealed away. Found in the hand of an apikoros and one doesn't know who wrote it, it should be sealed away. Found in the hand of a non-Jew and one doesn't know who wrote it, there are those who rule it fit and there are those who say it should be sealed away. And the community is obligated to purchase it from them at its price or a little more and to seal it away, so that they will not degrade it. And if they want to charge far over its price, we leave it with them. And if it's established that non-Jews disrespect Jewish books, we suspend our argument [on a possibility that] that those books are theirs and they read them.

ב גֵּר שֶׁחָזַר לְסוּרוּ מֵחֲמַת יִרְאָה, כָּשֵׁר לִכְתֹּב סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה.

2 A convert who returned to their original religion because of fear is fit to write a Sefer Torah.

ג סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה שֶׁכְּתָבוֹ מַסוּר, עֶבֶד, אִשָּׁה, קָטָן, כּוּתִי, יִשְׂרָאֵל מוּמָר, פְּסוּלִין.

3 A Sefer Torah that was written by a masor, a slave, a woman, a minor, a Samaritan, a heretical Jew: unfit.

ד סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה שֶׁכְּתָבוֹ מַמְזֵר, יֵשׁ פּוֹסְלִין. וְהוּא הַדִּין גֵּר תּוֹשָׁב (מָרְדְּכַי סה"ק).

4 A Sefer Torah that was written by a mamzer, there are those who rule unfit. (And this is the same for a ger toshav) (Mordechai, end of Halachot Ketanot)

ה סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה שֶׁאָמַר הַסוֹפֵר לְאַחַר שֶׁיָּצָא מִיָּדוֹ: לֹא כָּתַבְתִּי הָאַזְכָּרוֹת לִשְׁמָן, אֵינוֹ נֶאֱמָן לְפָסְלוֹ. אֲבָל נֶאֱמָן הוּא לְהַפְסִיד כָּל שְׂכָרוֹ. וְלָמָּה אֵינוֹ נֶאֱמָן לְפָסְלוֹ, שֶׁמָּא לֹא נִתְכַּוֵּן אֶלָּא לְהַפְסִיד עַל הַלּוֹקֵחַ אוֹ עַל זֶה שֶׁשְּׂכָרוֹ, וְדוֹמֶה שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַפְסִיד בַּאֲמִירָה זוֹ אֶלָּא שְׂכַר הָאַזְכָּרוֹת. לְפִיכָךְ אִם אָמַר: סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה זֶה עוֹרוֹת שֶׁלּוֹ אֵינָם מְעֻבָּדִים לִשְׁמָן, מִתּוֹךְ שֶׁנֶּאֱמָן לְהַפְסִיד שְׂכָרוֹ נֶאֱמָן לְפָסְלוֹ, שֶׁהַכֹּל יוֹדְעִים שֶׁאִם אֵין הָעוֹרוֹת מְעֻבָּדִין לִשְׁמָן אֵין לוֹ שָׂכָר כְּלָל. הַגָּה: מִיהוּ כִּשְׂכַר חֻמָּשׁ בְּעָלְמָא חַיָּב לְשַׁלֵּם לוֹ, דְּהָא מִכָּל מָקוֹם לֹא גָּרַע מֵחֻמָּשׁ (מָרְדְּכַי פ' הַנִּזָּקִין).

5 A Sefer Torah that the scribe said, after it left their hand, "I didn't write the names of God for their own sake": is not believed to render it unfit, but is believed to lose all their wage. And why are they not believed to render it unfit? Lest they were only intending to cause the buyer or the one who paid them a loss, etc., for they wouldn't lose by making the statement anything but the wage for the names of God. Therefore, if they said "This Sefer Torah, its hides are not worked for their sake" - since they're believed to lose their wage, they are believed to render it unfit, since everyone knows that if they are not worked for their sake, they have no wage at all. Rema: And since it is like the wage of a fifth in general, they are obligated to repay a fifth, since this in any case is not less than a fifth. (Mordechai, chapter haNizakin).

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