YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions
Answer: The complicated rules of selling holy objects, with a sefer Torah being most stringent, appear primarily in the context of communal ownership. Regarding a sefer Torah owned by an individual, the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 153:10) cites two opinions whether he may sell it. While even the lenient opinion forbids doing so if it was given over to the community for their use, the Magen Avraham (ad loc. 22) says that when one explicitly does not want the rules of communal items to take hold or when that is the minhag, it is permitted to sell. One can rely on the lenient opinions in this matter (see Achiezer III:79), but they are not needed for your case for the following reason.
The two problems with selling a holy object do not apply here. One is using the object for something mundane or less holy (e.g., allowing a shul to be turned into something else), and obviously your trustees will make sure it is used as a sefer Torah. The other is using the proceeds for whatever purposes you want, and here you will not be getting any money. The Mishna Berura (153:68), basing himself on the Rama (ibid. 13) says that when one simply gives a sefer Torah as a present, with the sefer Torah continuing to be used as a sefer Torah, there are no limitations.
In truth, the trust you are describing (there are different types of trusts) would probably both halachically and legally be viewed as assigning the sefer Torah to charitable use (hekdesh). Just as someone can take a sefer Torah and donate it to a shul, so can you take one and donate it to a trust, whose trustees will decide who will benefit from it in the future. Doing so not only protects the sefer Torah from an uncertain future, about which you seem to be concerned if you leave it where it is, but also from any reservations you may have about your halachic and/or legal inheritors (after 120 years of good health).
Yet, there is another issue. The Torat Chayim (Sanhedrin 21b, cited by many Acharonim) says that the mitzva of writing a sefer Torah requires continued possession, and it is improper to sell or donate it (fully) because that uproots one’s mitzva. If the trust takes effect during your lifetime, one could argue that the transfer would thus be a problem (if you do not own another sefer Torah). Not all agree with the Torat Chayim. For one, the Seridei Aish (II:77) posits that the consensus accepts the Torat Chayim only in regard to selling a sefer Torah. He views donating it as a way of using the sefer Torah for its proper mitzva use. There is likely a very different reason why uprooting the mitzva is not an issue for you. That is that one does not fulfill the mitzva of writing a sefer Torah by possessing a sefer Torah he inherited (Sanhedrin 21b; Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 270:1). In other words, if you presently are not fulfilling the mitzva, there is nothing to lose in this regard. However, this point is not unanimous. Igrot Moshe (Orach Chayim I:52) claims that there are two mitzva elements: to write a sefer Torah and to possess one. If one inherits a sefer Torah he fulfills the element of possession, just not of writing, and thus giving away such a Torah robs one of the element of possessing.
In summation, the issues of selling a sefer Torah per se do not apply to the creation of a trust of the type you describe. While one could claim that the founder of the trust uproots his mitzva of owning a sefer Torah in the process, there are ample halachic reasons to counter that claim, and it should not prevent you from doing what you feel is right for the sefer Torah’s future.
Bemare Habazak - Rabbis Questions (654)
Various Rabbis
27 - The Fallout from Cancelled Checks
28 - Making a Trust for a Sefer Torah
29 - minyan
Load More
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
fast navigation
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 9 - "Seeing is Believing" (parag. 21-30)
These paragraphs elaborate on the theme that seeing and knowing is better than any attempt to prove logically, and begins explaining the difference between Israel and gentiles.
Ein Aya Various Universal Stages of the Geula Process
Rav Kook examines the various stages of redemption, explaining how (in addition to the obvious oft-mentioned stages of ingathering the exiles, reviving the Hebrew language, army, state etc.) the messianic dream of world prosperity, the State of Israel and world unity can and are realistically and logically gradually coming true.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 8- "Answering Questions on the Kuzari's Proof from Mass Revelation
How do we know that the "claim" of mass revelation to 2,000,000 witnesses at Mt. Sinai is really true? This important class answers all of the questions skeptics ask about this claim of the Kuzari.
Ein Aya Armies Still Necessary for Balance & the War Against Wars
Rav Kook explains why the world was originally divided into the various seemingly contradicting ideologies and cultures, in order to develop each one respectively. Swords or armies symbolize how each respective ideology defends themselves, as well as deters their opposing ideologies and cultures. On the other hand, the messianic era will be one of peace, and Rav Kook explains the transition to that stage, which mankind is already undergoing.
The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
