On the Writing of a Torah Scroll:
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Question
1. I understand that until recently all parchment work was called 'machine work', and today there is also 'hand work'. Is this preferable according to Halacha or just a 'new stringency'? 2. A person has a mitzvah to write a Torah scroll for himself. Does the scribe need to dedicate the writing specifically for his client (the one who purchases the Torah scroll)? 3. Can the scribe dedicate the writing for a specific person who doesn't even know that the Torah scroll is being written in his name and for him? Is it considered that the one for whom it was written has fulfilled the mitzvah of writing a Torah scroll? 4. When the writer dedicates the Torah scroll for the elevation of the soul of a person (or more), does it diminish his own mitzvah of writing the Torah scroll?
Answer
Hello
1. Hand work is more preferable.
2. To fulfill the mitzvah of writing a Torah scroll in the most enhanced way, one should appoint the scribe before the writing begins, or at least before the proofreading, and not purchase a ready-made Torah scroll. Even if the scroll is of the highest quality and can be read from immediately.
3. One can be an agent for a mitzvah, even if the person is unaware. It is considered a merit for him without his knowledge.
4. This does not diminish the mitzvah of the writer.
Source
Azmera Leshimcha 137
2. See Menachot 30a and Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah, siman 270, where there are opinions that the mitzvah is not fulfilled when purchasing a ready-made Torah scroll (see Rashi Menachot there and Rama Yoreh De'ah there, and the later authorities dispute his opinion there), and even according to opinions that the mitzvah is fulfilled, it is not as enhanced a mitzvah as when one hires a scribe to write for him.
1- 4. According to the instructions of the Gaon, Rabbi Avraham Fried, shlita