Question: Our shul has commissioned a new sefer Torah. Can I fulfil the mitzva to write a sefer Torah by sponsoring one parsha?
Answer: Rambam (Sefer Hamitzvos Asei 18; Sefer Torah 7:1) writes that there is a mitzva mideoraisa to write a sefer Torah. The Rosh (Sefer Torah 1) writes that nowadays when people learn from sefarim rather than from sifrei Torah, the mitzva applies to chumashim, mishna and gemara. The Tur (YD 270:2) and Shulchan Aruch (YD 270:2) both pasken this way, but there is a machlokes as to whether this replaces the mitzva of writing a sefer Torah or not.
However, there is a machlokes
as to how to understand the Rosh. The Prisha (YD 270:8) and Shach (YD 270:5)
write that the mitzva no longer applies to writing sifrei Torah.
As we no longer learn from them, it would be inappropriate for everyone to
needlessly write one. Nonetheless, the Beis Yosef (YD 270:2) and the Taz (YD
270:4) write that writing other sefarim is one way to fulfil the mitzva,
but it has not replaced the classic manner of writing a sefer Torah. The
Vilna Gaon (YD 270:4) writes that this is the accepted view.
R’ Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe YD
1:163) writes that while one can fulfil the mitzva in either manner
according to the Rosh and Shulchan Aruch, the primary fulfilment is through
writing a sefer Torah. One can fulfil one’s obligation by joining in
with others to buy a sefer Torah.
R’ Ovadia Yosef (Yabia Omer YD
10:29) quotes various poskim who write that there is a machlokes
as to whether one can join in with others to fulfil this mitzva, quoting
various poskim on each side, though he concludes that one may.
In conclusion, one fulfils the
mitzva of writing a sefer Torah by sponsoring part of a communal sefer
Torah.
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