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Where am I? Recovering from an Unknown Column

Recovering from an Unknown Column is much more than just locating where you are supposed to be in the Tikkun or in the Torah Scroll.  It is recovering from a state of anxiety to a restored sense of well-being and peace.

From Halachah/Jewish Law, we received binding Torah Scroll layout requirements.  This includes the placement of 4 empty lines between each Sefer, and the specific location and type (Open, Closed) for each space.  Also mandated is the layout of the Song of Moses and the text within Ha’azinu.  Maimonides, the Rambam, describes these in his Mishneh Torah – Sefer Ahavah – Laws of Tefillin, Mezuzot, and Torah Scrolls.

Recently, post WWII, Rabbi Menachem Davidovich, zt”l, published a Tikkun that has become a standard used throughout the world for many, many Torah Scrolls – 245 Columns with 42 Lines per Column, introducing recommendations for pagination standards.  Many modern Tikkuns follow this layout.

These standards enable us to create Torah Scroll Navigation processes based on the layout of the text, since there are no Column Numbers or extraneous information within the Scroll – such as a running header on each page with the Column Contents.

To recover from an Unknown Column – students read the first few words on Line 1 of the current column and then look those words up alphabetically in the Torah Scroll Column Reference Guide.  A student then knows the Column # and the Contents (Sefer, Parashah, Aliyah) for where the are and can roll the Torah Scroll / turn the pages of the Tikkun to recover and locate the Column containing their Aliyah.