The study of why and how we handle Torah scrolls begins with two questions:
1. Why do we use a yad when reading Torah?
2. Why do we not touch Torah scrolls with our hands?
Background information for the text below:
The Mishnah is the oldest collection of rules, stories, and ideas of rabbis who lived 2,000 years ago. The Mishnah records legal disputes and legal decisions, teaching us about disagreements the rabbis had.
What is the Mishnah deciding in text 2 below?
Mishnah Yadayim 3:5 (a loose translation)
A sefer (scroll) which was erased, leaving only eighty-five letters in it, like the portion of (Num. 10:35-36), "It was when the Ark was raised...," makes a person's hands impure.
A megillah on which are written eighty-five letters, like the portion of (Num. 10:35-36), "It was when the Ark was raised...," makes a person's hands impure.
All Holy Scriptures make hands impure.
When you read text 3 below (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5), what additional information do you need to know to understand this? What is not clear?
Does the Mishnah present a reason for its decision?
Mishnah Yadayim 3:5 continued
The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes makes hands impure.
Rabbi Yehudah says: The Song of Songs makes hands impure, but there is a dispute regarding Ecclesiastes [as in, maybe it does not make hands impure].
Rabbi Yose says: Ecclesiastes does not make hands impure, and there is a dispute regarding The Song of Songs [as in, maybe it also does not make hands impure].
Rabbi Shimon ben Azzai said, "I have a received tradition from the mouths of seventy-two elders ... that The Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes make hands impure."
Rabbi Akiva said, "Heaven forbid! No one in Israel ever disputed that The Song of Songs makes hands impure, since nothing in the entire world is as worthy as the day on which The Song of Songs was given to Israel! For all the Scriptures are holy, but The Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies! And if they did dispute, there was only a dispute regarding Ecclesiastes."
Rabbi Yochanan ben Yehoshua, the son of Rabbi Akiva's father-in-law, said, "Like Ben Azzai said, they did dispute, and they concluded as he said."
Background information for the text below:
The Sadducees and the Pharisees are two groups of Jews who had many disagreements and arguments. They generally had different beliefs, and different approaches to the law. They lived before the rabbis, but the rabbis sometimes brought up their arguments.
Mishnah Yadayim 4:6 (a very loose translation)
The Sadducees say, "We denounce you, Pharisees! Because you say that Holy Scriptures make hands impure, but the books of Homer [as in, secular books] do not make hands impure!"
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai responded: "We have lots to disagree about, not just that! And don't you guys say that the bones of a donkey are pure, but the bones of Yochanan the High Priest are impure?"
The Sadducees said to him, "Of course! The more precious something is, the more impure it is, so that a person will not carve tools like spoons out of people's bones."
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai replied, "That's the same with Holy Scriptures! They're precious, so they make hands impure, and the books of Homer are not precious, so they don't make a person's hands impure."
Background Information for the text below
The Bavli is the Babylonian Talmud, and it also contains laws, ideas, and arguments from ancient rabbis. But it was written four hundred years after the Mishnah, in a different place, and by rabbis who lived in a different culture.
What is the main question the Bavli is asking?
Bavli Shabbat 14a
Why did the rabbis make Holy Scripture impure?
R. Mesharshiya said, "Because originally, food from sacrifices was stored near Torah scrolls, because the sacrifices were holy, and the scrolls were holy, so they can go together.
"But when they saw that the books were being damaged, the rabbis made them impure."
Quoting Library Specialists and Conservation Scientists:
"...It seems clear from the observation of many heavily used books that even routine handling does not cause chemical damage to paper. Certainly, conservators do not wear gloves when treating books or paper artifacts, except in those few instances where their own hands require protection. White cotton gloves provide no guarantee of protecting books and paper from perspiration and dirt, yet they increase the likelihood of people inflicting physical damage to collection material. Implementing a universally observed, hand-cleaning policy is a reasonable and effective alternative to glove-use, and it follows the standard protocol employed by book and paper conservators before handling the very same material."
Excerpted from "Misperceptions about White Gloves" by Dr. Cathleen A. Baker and Randy Silverman
published in the 12/2005 issue of International Preservation News
From the standpoint of understanding the material construction of Torahs, the use of gloves, pointers, and any other implement to safeguard the scroll is actually more likely to damage the scroll. Our "skin oils" don't hurt Torah scrolls, but dirt, makeup, lotions, and things like that cause harm. The safest way to handle a scroll - from the standpoint of the safety of the scroll - is to have washed, clean, and dry bare hands.
What we see in these rabbinic texts, however, is a definite reason to avoid touching scrolls: the impurity that is received on one's hands. Our traditions to not touch scrolls are not the result of the need to safeguard the scroll, but rather, to safeguard ourselves from the effects of contact with a scroll.