Torah Day!

You're never going to believe what I did! I touched a Torah scroll! That's right, the first five books of the Bible, handwritten on calf skin with a quill and ink and over 90 years old! Now, to be fair, I touched it through my sleeve, for you're not supposed to touch something so holy with your grimy, greasy fingers... but it still counts!

Plus I met a really cool rabbi. He's been a rabbi for over 25 years, and he taught us a lot about Jewish culture and worship services. It's all very interesting. All of the things I learned that day in just 50 minutes is incredible, so if you want some details, you're going to have to ask me in person or email me. It would be a very looooong blog post if I explained it all here.

Anyway, here are some pictures!

Nelson and Katie were by Levitical Laws about Leprosy (left)! It's a very long scroll (right)!

The offset text in Exodus indicates Miriam's song in Chapter 15.

I held the part of the scrolls that contains the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32 (ref Golden Calf, Really?)... coincidence?

Five books, handwritten. Wow!

One interesting fact that I will take a minute to share with you is this: if one (just one) letter on this entire scroll, which wrapped itself all the way around a PTSem classroom, becomes illegible or defected, the scroll is not longer used. In Judaism, it is tradition to bury the scroll in a graveyard. They do not just throw it out, for it is a holy document.

I'll be checking this off my bucket list! What a wonderful experience!