Robot Writes Complete Torah Scroll - Could It Be Kosher For Ritual Use?

The artist group Robotlab has found a way to to make a robot write a Torah scroll. The working robot and its Torah scroll will be on display at Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany beginning later this month.

Above and above right: The robot at work (© robotlab)

Biblical Archaeology Review reports:

The artist group Robotlab has recently developed a method for creating a “handwritten” Torah robotically! Their work will be displayed through January 11, 2015, at the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, in an exhibit titled “The Creation of the World.”

While a printed copy of the Torah (the Pentateuch) may be used in study, halakhah (Jewish religious law) dictates that only a handwritten Torah scroll may be used in synagogue readings and rituals. This means that all Torah scrolls used in synagogues are carefully and prayerfully written by human hand—letter by letter.

Outfitted with a pen nib and ink, the new robot has been programmed to mimic a human hand. Stroke by stroke, it writes like a scribe. Whereas it takes a human scribe close to a year or longer to write a Torah, the robot can complete one in three months because the robot does not have to rest—although it is no faster than the human hand it imitates.…

The particular scroll written by the robot was written on paper, not animal skin, and a pen was used to write it rather than a quill made from  bird feather, so this particular scroll would not be kosher for synagogue ritual use.

But what if the robot wrote on kosher animal hide and used a kosher quill – would the Torah scroll written by the robot then be kosher for ritual use?

A Sefardi rabbi-scribe (sofer) quoted by BAR appears to imply it would not be fit for ritual use, because a scribe must have the proper pure intent when writing each individual letter, and a computer can never have that.

But while BAR does not report it, the issue should not be the intent of the robot – it should be (and likely is) the intent of the person who operates it, who fills it with the tanned animal hide commonly referred to as partchment (clath, in Hebrew), adjusts its settings and turns it on and off.

In other words, according to the strict letter of the halakha (religious Jewish law), such a Torah scroll would likely be kosher for synagogue ritual use. But it is unlikely Orthodox and especially haredi rabbis would ever allow it to serve that purpose.

Comments

[yoni FFB]

What a waste of money!

[Nacho]

Hmmm...can it weave a sheitel?

[Jeff]

But does it blend?

[David]

I can't see how it could be kosher, it is basically the same as printing. No denomination, reform, progressive, conservative or orthodox would ever accept it.

And I guess writing a sefer Torah gives an honest job to at least one frumma guy.

[x vadd mishmeres stam]

If matzos for pesach and tzitzis can be made by peoeple who have no clue on the proper kavana then writing a sefer torah this way should not be a problem,other then the fact that conventional scribes will become obsolete.

[Rebitzman]

among the rules of being a softer include the knowledge that you are performing a mitzvah and full knowledge of the laws around being a sofer. The machine can hold data - but awareness and knowledge are on a seperate plane. So, no......the scroll would not be kosher.

Amazing - yes, but not kosher.

[Outcast Yid]

Did the robot immerse itself in a mikvah before writing the shem Hashem?

[JACK]

If a robot would halachikly be able to write a Torah,then i guess our own "jancsi" would be able to start a new career as a SOFER,
Jancsi,it is a very lucrative profession you should look into it

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Rabbi Yitzhak Abadi, formerly a senior poseq from Lakewood, had developed with an associate in Israel, a way to print a torah scroll by silkscreening on the parchment.
It seemed some accepted the technique. most frumster rejected it for same reasons of kavana etc... I wonder if BT Tractate Sofrim was concerned at all with kavana or if it is another kabbole device to make life more difficult and expensive to overybody.
here is the pitch for the silk printed scrolls.
http://www.kashrut.org/scrollproject/

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

The Luddites will never allow it.

When I commissioned a Sefer Torah for my shul, the sofer asked if I wanted the new Torah to be checked "by a computer" for an extra $250. It would be scanned by some software program for accuracy. I turned down that option, telling him that the whole point of hiring a sofer was to be sure the Torah was written accurately, and that that was his job.

[Jeff]

"The machine can hold data - but awareness and knowledge are on a seperate plane."

But as Shmarya pointed out, the programmer can have the knowledge and the kavanah. The robot can be seen as an extension.

Can a sofer use a tool in addition to the quill (e.g., something to extend his reach)? If so, this could be seen as being in the same category.

[Jeff]

>>Posted by: JACK | January 01, 2015 at 06:24 PM

Ooh, ooh, look at me! No one's paid attention to me in the past five minutes!

You really are one of the sorriest, most pitiful excuses for an attention whore we've had around here in quite some time.

[dh]

If it were dressed immodestly, no one would know.

[From the Word of G-d]

Thank you Yosef ben Matitya for mentioning Rabbi Yitzchak Abadi. His technique comes close, real close, to universal approval. Rabbi Elyashiv zt"l rejected it and he was "followed" by many others. With a little more deliveration by Rabbi Abadi, together with other "senior" rabbis, his siolk-screen process might gain acceptance. That would be a bracha for everyone. We'd have reasonably priced perfect sifrei Torah.
I'd really like to hear additional learned comments here.
Thank you Shmarya for touching on important and interesting developmenst.

[Metzizah b'pagan]

If a robot would halachikly be able to write a Torah,then i guess our own "jancsi" would be able to start a new career as a SOFER," >>>>>

Well, Jack when they invent a robot that flips burgers and says "want fries with that, you'll be OUT of a job.

[JamesMadison]

Once again Shmarya I gotta ask, why do you think that if it were allowed the rabbis would disallow it? What's their agenda? You have become paranoid to the point of seeing Rabbis under every rock...

[Yosef ben Matitya]

Tks, Word of G-d | January 01, 2015 at 07:06 PM
Do u know if masekhet sofrim requires kavanah and dipping in the miqve frequently.

[South bend]

Yeah, but a rabbi can flick a switch and turn on an oven, the bakers do all the work and voila........its pas yisroel. No Kavanah needed.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

South bend | January 01, 2015 at 07:19 PM

:-)

so with the cooks. not even turn on the ovens, he can just turn on the pilot light. it will be good for tomorrow as well, and the day after etc...

[dave]

ממזר שומן רב שמריה רוזנברג הפוסק ההדור

[Garnel Ironheart]

If a Jewish sofer trains a non-Jew and stands over him telling him what to write and the non-Jew writes it then is the scroll kosher?

[JACK]

Garnel Ironheart.
Definitely not kosher "OMED AL GABOV" will not help,because in needs to be written LISHMO,and a non jews KAVANAH is not considered LISHMO.
(and Shmaryah it's not racism :) )

[JACK]

Well, Jack when they invent a robot that flips burgers and says "want fries with that, you'll be OUT of a job.
Posted by: Metzizah b'pagan
===========================================
Well,flipping burgers is still a more honorable way of making a living than sitting 24/7 in your mothers basement and doing nothing but fishing for dirt on frum jews,and being forced to beg money from you readers

[James]

I don't think so. A large part of the process of writing a Torah is reading aloud every word you are copying. In addition, I do not see how a robot could recite the blessings, bathe in a mikvah, or again read aloud every word with full syncerity as a Sofer would. Most of the process of writing a Kosher Torah doesn't involve the physical writing. Though the image of a robot bathing in a mikvah does make me chuckle, I have to say I would not feel comfortable using that Torah in a Synagogue. My answer is no.

[Heblew]

If a robot can write a Torah scroll then could we also create a robot Rabbi to lead davening? How about a police robot to make sure no cameras are being placed in the mikveh by the robotic rabbis?

[ultraharedilight]

makes a good debate in the style of the Talmud. Try to keep it civil guys without insults foul language and shit like that please. ( :D )

[Rodin]

Now, if we can just invent a root that can READ the Torah, we will have completed the circle. No more need for the endless toil and drudgery of learning in Yeshivas. Just set up a room full of robots in Lakewood and flip the switch. Torah will be learned 24/7. As the Buddhists have their prayer wheels which when twirled is the same as chanting the prayers. We will have our own Torah robots. Now, some of the robots will be given extra memory chips, and they will read the Torah faster; they will be called the Gedolim the rest will be called Golemim.

[Barry]

The issue is not whether the sefer torah (or mezuza) is kosher but how will you be able to identify it from a sefer torah written by a sofer especially if it has been programmed to clone an existing sefer torah. It will provide an excellent opportunity for counterfeiters to defraud slumlords.

[jake]

Check out Rabbi Abadie the former Sfardi posek at Lakewood. I believe he splits his time between LAKEWOOD and Har NOF jerusalem.
I Believes that he has approved a printed method of writing a torah..

[surprised]

Don't know if that could be kosher, but it's pretty cool.

In Talmudic times, it would have raised a whole chapter of great discussions.

In the 21th Century Jewish world, it will probably raise a whole chapter of physical and verbal violence from Jews against Jews.

[R Nash]

Veeeeeery Interesting, as Arte Johnson used to say.

If the process is automated, it is surely not kosher. However, if the machine merely guided the movements to be perfectly consistent in drawing the letters, and the ink flow to be continuous and consistent pressure, and the human scribe operated the pen via a lever, such that the scribe dictated when each letter was begun and ended and the pen pressure (perhaps aided by a manual guide), it could well be a kosher method to produce beautiful sifrei Torah in a small fraction of the time. This would merely like using a very complex quill to write with or pen guide, which I do not think would pasul the Torah.

What a great idea. Contest: Predict which would be the first Haredi gadol to ban it and compare it to Nazi-ism.

[nachos ( the original one)]

Stupid question?
The rules regarding eating chicken with cheese are that we are putting fences around Torah. Obviously, chickens don't produce milk.
TGIF potato skins with bacon and cheese flavor are kosher with a circled u. Why is that kosher when chicken with cheese is not. If anything needs a fence around it, it is something with bacon flavor and cheese.
If a company pays enough money, then will ou declare something kosher that should clearly have a fence around it?

Jack, your basement comments are getting old. Do you realize that shmarya's mother is deceased? You are truly a subhuman prick.

[water]

"and a pen was used to write it rather than a quill made from bird feather, so this particular scroll would not be kosher for synagogue ritual use."

מעיקר הדין אין מניעה לכתיבה בקולמוס מברזל, יש בזה "ענין" לכתוב דווקא בנוצה או בקנה, התפילין והמזוזות שנכתבו בקולמוס של ברזל כשרות למהדרין, אם כי מקובל לשלם פחות על קולמוס מברזל, כיון שיש בזה ענין מסוים של הידור, ועל כן אם הסופר כותב לאוכלסיה שמהדרת במצוות בכל הדברים הרי עליו להודיע על כך לקונה

מקורות:
שו"ת שבט הלוי (ח"ב סי' קלו) משנת הסופר על קסת הסופר (סי' ג ס"ו, וביאור הסופר ד"ה ואפילו), וכן העלה בספר קיצור יריעות שלמה (להגר"ש מועלם) פרק ד סל"ב שהאיסור בעיקר הוא מחמת המנהג, אך אינו מעכב בכשרות הכתיבה, ובספר לשכת הסופר (למהרא"א ברודא, י"ל בוילנא שנת תרכט) כתב בכלל ד' ס"ד (ובהערה בצוהר הלשכה) שאם הסופר יכול לכתוב יותר יפה בקולמוס מברזל רשאי לעשות כן "ואין למחות ביד הסופרים", עי' עוד בקובץ אור תורה (הו"ל ישיבת כסא רחמים, קובץ כ סי' נ תשובת הרב הנאמ"ן) שהתיר לתייג בקולמוס מברזל אפילו לכתחילה, וניכר שם מדעתו שאף כתיבה עצמה מותרת לכתחילה.

[dh]

water, huh?

[dh]

original nachos, once when sitting around the table with one of the chabad rabbis, he got to talking about which bacon bits tasted the best. How would he know? I, having already been hollered at "You! You're a troublemaker!" have always been sorry I never asked. I thought it was fairly obvious. oink oink.

[NeverFrum]

I would argue that given the orthodox requirements of a sofer, robots are already writing all torahs.

[nachos]

Dh
I have to say that I am a little annoyed at you for making me agree with a lubavitcher chabadnik, but you are a bit of a trouble maker!!!

I guess for enough money a hecksher can be bought. No fences are necessary around chicken parmesan.

[dh]

Hey! Whaddya talkin bad on me? They taught me to take them 10 Commandment thingys seriously - then they lied. Oh, ur talkin about that other stuff. I'll be better. You'll see. I ain't never lied to a pig farmer! Pinky swear.