Foto: Karl-Heinz Stadtler
The Torah is a handwritten parchment scroll - sometimes also made of goatskin - containing the Hebrew text of the five books of Moses. A Torah scroll is read from in Jewish services, with the passage for that week being read each week.
A Torah scroll for use in religious services is always written by hand. It is part of the basic equipment of every synagogue.
The scroll is rolled up on two sticks; the ends are held together from time to time by the so-called pennant, made from a circumcision nappy. It is wrapped in an elaborately embroidered cloak and crowned with a crown.
The scroll on display here is not complete. It begins with the 2nd Book of Moses, chapter 9, verse 13, and the parchment is still 9 metres long.
It comes from an antiquarian bookshop in Wroclaw (Breslau), Poland. Wood, parchment, 95x15cm each side
It was donated to the Förderkreis by a Marburg museum that no longer exists. It was handed over by Dr Helge-Ulrike Hyams.
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