This video shows a sofer writing a sefer Torah. This sofer has a good hand, writes at a nice pace, and can ask a decent price. But one can also tell how the sefer Torah industry has commercialised the process, allowing for better productivity.
Note the following:
1) The sofer is writing on a light table, which means he does not have to worry about planning the spacing and can just trace over the letters. This saves a lot of time. This also minimises mistakes and saves time of repairs.
2) The quill is a plastic kulmos with a repository, which means you need to dip it into the ink every few lines instead of every few letters. Also you do not need to sharpen it and make new quills. Both of these save time.
3) The klaf today is more refined and smooth, easier to write on. Not uneven and rough like the old days. I'm sure lots of "mei klaf" is added. This enhances writing speed and quality of writing.
4) Double sirtut. Again this enhances quality and neatness.
5) The tagin / …
Matters which size yeriah... the 48cm is 8mm lines and the 42cm is 7.5mm lines, the 36cm is about the same as a 15cm mezuzah line and the 30cm is about the same as a shel rosh line.
ReplyDeleteIs there any Yeriah size that has lines for 10mm? Or is that not common since it makes the Sefer a lot heavier?
DeleteThe larger yeriah is 50cm usually only used for sfardi sefer torahs. I dont think it would be 10mm though... and 10mm is a very large ksav, no?
ReplyDeleteYes it is a large ktav, I use 10 mm as the size i normally write, so I was wondering if there would be such a size.
DeleteThanks for the information!