Why do people not want to touch thr Torah with there fingers?

Answer 1

Touching the covered Torah-scroll is permitted; but touching the parchment itself is not allowed (Talmud, Megillah 32a). For this reason, when reading from the Torah scroll, the readers use a special pointer; and when the Torah scrolls are carried around the synagogue for the congregation to see, worshipers touch the outside of the scroll with their prayer books.

Answer 2

Partly as a sign of reverence for the Torah and partly - in a more practical sense - to preserve it. Each synagogue has a Sefer Torah, printed on hide and written out by hand by a very highly trained scribe - making it, as you might imagine, an extremely expensive object to replace. By avoiding any contamination by the oil in human skin, some synagogues are still using Sefer Torahs that are more than 800 years old.

Jews DO touch the fully dressed Torah when it is paraded around the synagogue before reading. This is seen as a sign of respect.

Answer 3

Touching the covered scroll is permitted. Only touching the parchment itself is forbidden. The reason is as a sign of respect. Additionally, as a practical matter, there is the fear that the oils in a person's hand could lead to the ink bleeding on the parchment.

Answer 4

Your skin contains oils that damage the parchment and writing.

Answer 5

Our skin contains oils, and the lettering would be damaged.

Answer 6

Touching the Torah with your fingers is NOT allowed, because the oils from your skin can damage the parchment and writing.

Answer 7

Two reasons, one practical, one symbolic: First, parchment that is regularly touched slowly accumulates oils and dirt from the fingers. This shortens its life and makes the ink flake off. So, given that a Torah scroll takes about one year's work by a skilled scribe, it makes excellent sense to take care to preserve it. Second, Jewish tradition holds that the holy texts of the Hebrew Bible, when handwritten on parchment, make those who touch them ritually unclean. So, after touching such text and before having anything to do with Temple sacrifices (making them or eating the meat) a person would have to immerse in a mikvah (ritual bath) to become ritually pure. Since the sacrificial system has been defunct for almost 2000 years, this reason has no real force.

Answer 8

First, a practical reason: The scroll of the Torah is written by hand on animal-skin parchment. It takes about a year for a skilled scribe to make a copy. The oils from fingers can discolor the parchment and make the ink flake off. Therefore, not touching it helps prolong the life of a valuable artifact. A second, less practical reason: Jewish tradition holds, paradoxically, that sacred texts, in scroll form, transmit ritual impurity to all who touch them. If someone touches a Torah scroll, they must immerse in a ritual bath for the sake of purity before going to the (no longer existent) Temple to make a sacrifice.