Sefer Torah

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Pronunciations

Sefer Torah (SEH-fehr TO-ruh) listen
Sefer Torah (SEY-fehr TOE-ruh) listen

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Definitions

Example Sentences

  • "My shul just purchased a new Sefer Torah for $5,000."

  • "Two of the oldest sifrey torah in the ark were brough over from Slovakia." (Glinert)

  • "An incident with a Sefer Torah falling at the Ponovezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak caused a great shock across the Torah world and led the roshei yeshiva to issue a detailed letter to the talmidim." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה séfer torá 'book of Torah' (plural סִפְרֵי תּוֹרָה sifrei tora) > Y ספֿר־תּורה seyfer toyre (plural ספֿרי־תּורה sifrey toyre)

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

      Regions

      • Australia / New Zealand
      • South Africa
      • Great Britain
      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
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      Alternative Spellings

      Seyfer Toyreh, Seyfer Toyre, Seyfer Toire, Seyfer Toirah, Seyfer Toira, Seyfer Toreh, Seyfer Tore, Seyfer Torah, Seyfer Tora, Seifer Toyreh, Seifer Toyre, Seifer Toyrah, Seifer Toyra, Seifer Toireh, Seifer Toire, Seifer Toirah, Seifer Toira, Seifer Toreh, Seifer Tore, Seifer Torah, Seifer Tora, Sefer Toyreh, Sefer Toyre, Sefer Toyrah, Sefer Toyra, Sefer Toireh, Sefer Toire, Sefer Toirah, Sefer Toira, Sefer Toreh, Sefer Tore, Sefer Tora, Seyfer Toireh, Seyfer Toyra, Seyfer Toyrah

Notes

  • plural: 'sifrei Torah' or 'sifrey Toyre'

    Can also be spelled with neither word capitalized or only the second word capitalized.

    In contrast to Torah, which can refer to the text in the abstract or the physical scroll, Sefer Torah always refers to the physical scroll itself.

    See also sefer and Torah.

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