I AM A MEMBER OF A “MIXED” MINYAN; Sefardim, Ashkenazim, and Mizrachim. We all get along; we are more the same that different.
Nearly 20 years ago the minyan was 90% Ashkenaz; the home owner who hosts the minyan is Ashkenaz.
Over the years the population shifted to Sefardi/Mizrachi, and this is obvious when the aron kodesh (the ark) is opened.
Of the five or six sefri Torah (Torah scrolls), all but one is in a box.
Whose minhag (tradition) puts a sefer Torah in a box?
Not Ashkenazim
Not Sefardim*
Mizrachim – Jews from Iran, Iraq, Syria.
- * “Sefardim” are, strictly speaking, Jews from Spain (Sefarad). In reality, Sefardim include Jews from Portugal, North Africa (Morocco to Libya), and their descendants who can be found almost everywhere.
There is nothing wrong with putting a sefer Torah (or sefer haftorah) in a box.
However, a footnote on Page 209 of the Sedur Avotanu (R. Meir Elizar Ahteyah)1 states that while Jews of the Mizrach (e.g., Iran, Iraq, Syria) put theirs in boxes, the Moroccan tradition is to cover the sifre Torah in a cloth mantel.
It turns out that, according to “The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa in Modern Times” (Columbia University Press) that “in all countries into which the Sefardic Jews arrived after the expulsion (from Spain), they kept their Torah scrolls in mantles, from Holland and England through Italy to Morocco to Greece and Turkey.”
Another article, “From Spain to the Balkans: Textile Torah Scroll Accessories in the Sephardi Communities of the Balkans” (Bar Ilan University)2 describes the evolution of the Sefardi Torah cover.
From whence the “box?”
Apparently the “box”originated in Babylon. According to The Jews of Iran: The History, Religion and Culture off a Community in the Islamic World3, there are “two main prototypes of a Torah case, each with its own subcategories. The first type emerged in Baghdad according to Babylonian tradition. The second type is distinctive to eastern and central Iran.
The wooden or metal Torah case is popular in Sefardi synagogues in Israel and, like the rabbinical black suit and hat, has made a headway into Sefardi congregations around the world, taking the place of the traditional Torah cover in many synagogues.
This scrivener prefers the Torah in the mantle.
- It is lighter and easier to lift.
It can more easily be opened to the traditional three columns.
It is easier to roll the scroll from column-to-column.
It also is much less expensive than a metal or wood case. An empty wood and metal Torah case can easily cost more than US$47,0004. Add to that the cost of the scroll, and remonim that can add another US$12,000.
Sources
1. סידור אבותינו רבי מאיר אלעזר עטיה ע’’פ חכמי מרוקו
2. http://tinyurl.com/y7vogdpf
3. http://tinyurl.com/y7rdnwtw
4. http://tinyurl.com/ydahqhks
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