Symmetrically Designed Sifrei Torah: A Quantitative Analysis - Hakirah

Symmetrically Designed Sifrei Torah: A Quantitative Analysis : 211
that the back pages were not rolled but folded over as is done with a
megillah. If so, then when the actual reading page was finally located,
the bulk and height would have made it difficult to move to a
different page. As long as the required reading, even on Shabbos
morning, was limited to only several verses, this design would present
no problem. But with the introduction of the new expanded readings,
this would no longer be operationally practical. Particularly with the
introduction of the yearly Torah reading cycle, there were times when
3 or even more pages were to be read at one session. 64 How were
they to be easily read? We suggest that this innovation by Ezra
ultimately generated the need to have an etz chaim to roll the text in
both directions, and smaller more maneuverable pages that would
make the Torah more flexible. This switch resulted in the S”T almost
doubling in the number of pages, but making it smaller and allowing
it to be left rolled up to somewhere in the middle of the Torah. In
this case, even if it was necessary to roll the scroll to either its
beginning or end, the amount of rolling would be less than it was
under a one-roller system where the Sefer Torah was always left at its
beginning or end.
11. Middle Letter and Word
Table 6 gives the Gemara’s as well as the actual middle word,
letter and verse, and their discrepancies.
Table 6
Middle Letter, Word and Verse
Gemara’s vs. Actual
Property
According
to Gemara In our חומש Difference
Middle Word ויקרא י׃טז ויקרא ח׃טו 933 words
Middle Letter ויקרא יא׃מב ויקרא ח׃כט 4,822 letters
Middle Verse ויקרא יג׃לג ויקרא ח׃ח 160 verses
הלכות ס״ת ז׃יד מותר לכתוב התורה חומש חומש,‏ כל חומש בפני עצמו,‏ ואין בהן קדושת
ס"ת התם.‏
64 E.g. מטות and מסעי when read together have 244 verses, which would be
more than five 46-verse pages.