Bidspirit auction | Ancient Ashkenazi Sefer Torah, 16th-17th

Ancient Ashkenazi Sefer Torah, 16th-17th century – Special Mesorah and Different Letters - Extremely rare! Complete Sefer Torah, Ashkenaz writing, late 16th century – irregular letters and important Mesorah from the generation of the Luminary of the Generations, the Maharshal. This Sefer Torah was written in one of the Ashkenaz lands during the early 5300’s (mid-16th century CE), during the time period of the great luminaries of the generations, the Poskim of Ashkenaz – Maranan the Rema and the Maharshal, upon whose teachings the set Halachot were written. This Sefer was written by an expert, talented Sofer, who had the exact Mesorah for writing the irregular letters, as seen throughout the entire Sefer (see photos for examples). In one place there is a Mesorah which the Sofer used, using letters based on the rulings of the Maharshal – this Sefer Torah was written during the Maharshal’s lifetime, possibly even before the Maharshal’s rulings had been written and printed, and possibly by direct instructions the Sofer received from the Maharshal. Ashkenazic Jewry had a long-standing Mesorah for writing irregular letters in various places within the Sefer Torah. This Mesorah was used by all knowledgeable Sofrim during the time of the Spanish Expulsion and our Rabbis who were from the giants of the Achronim. Over the years, this Mesorah became flawed , and the number of Sofrim who knew it dwindled until it was completely forgotten. A small portion of this Mesorah was preserved in the writings of our masters, the giants of Chassidus and its early holy Sofrim, and can be seen in a few unique and rare Sifrei Torah and Tefillinf that have been preserved from the time period of the Ba’al Shem Tov’s disciples. The Rambam (Hilchos Tefillin and Mezuza, ch. 7, §8) warns and writes regarding the irregular letters and Tagim: “And he should be careful regarding the enlarged letters and the diminished letters, the dotted letters and the altered letters such as the curled Peh and the skewed letters as the Sofrim copied from generation to generation. And he should be careful with the Tagim and their count – there is a letter which has one Tag on it and a letter which has seven Tagim on it. And all the Tagim are shaped like a Zayin and are thin as a hair.” The custom of the irregular letters ended during the time of Maran the Chassam Sofer, based on his responsum and ruling, which was accepted across the Jewish diaspora – see his words in Responsa Chassam Sofer (vol. II, Yoreh De’ah, §265): “And our Sofrim do nothing, and it is good that they do so, for we have no one who knows what and how much, and all of those things which were passed down by word of mouth and were not mentioned in Shas have become confused in the length of the Galus and cannot be relied on; but in any case they should not invalidate (a Sefer written with them)”. A complete 16th century Sefer Torah such as this is extremely rare, and there are very few which were preserved in their entirety, especially in such high condition as this one. Some of the strange letters and Tagim in this Sefer Torah: The letter ל sometimes has an extra Tag coming off the left side of the head (like lightning). The letter ע sometimes has a curled Tag on its right side, and the ו on the left is enlarged and looks like a ז. The letter פ (both regular and ending) is sometimes written with the head of the inside ו written as a spiral. The letter ח in the verse “וחרה אף ה' בכם” us written with additions underneath, which was common in Ashkenazi Sifrei Torah of that time. Complete Sefer Torah, on parchment and swen on Atzi Chayim. Readable handwriting – black ink almost throughout. The Sefer Torah was not checked for Kashrus, however according to expert opinions of several professional Sofrim it can be easily proofread and made Kosher Lemehadrin. Overall condition: good-very good. גובה הקלף 69 ס”מ