(no subject)

The sheets of Torahs are sewn together with a special thread made from tendons and glue, called gid. However, if there's really and truly no gid available, and you need to use your Torah and it's got a tear and there's no other Torah available either, you're allowed to sew the tear using thread.

Lishkat ha-Sofer says it's better to use flax thread than silk thread, because silk comes out of silkworms, and worms aren't kosher, and there's a principle that one should use products from kosher animals only. It's not a prohibition on silk - that's an important point - just a principle. So anyway, this is rather sweet and lovely.

The interesting bit is velvet. Most Torahs have their covers made from velvet. Velvet is made from many things, cotton, rayon...and silk. And the best sort of velvet, without question, is silk velvet - it's most stroky and delicious. So should we apply the principle and use cotton velvet for Torah covers even though it's less yummy, because one shouldn't use silk on Torahs? It would be a bit like wrapping the Torah in pigskin, after all.* Or should we say that the cover isn't integral, so we should prioritise the yumminess of the velvet?



*Boringly, I think most Torahs use cotton velvet - it's cheaper. But in theory...