to be read it is laid on a piece of cloth called the mappah. When the Torah scroll is carried through the synagogue, the members of the congregation may touch the edge of their prayer shawl (tallit) to the Torah scroll and then kiss the shawl as a sign of respect. As it is important to guard the sanctity of a Torah, dropping it, or allowing it to fall, is regarded as a desecration, though the belief that a person who does, or even witnesses it, this must fast for 40 days has little support from the Talmud. See also Five Megillot (the "Five Scrolls"), parts of the Hebrew Bible traditionally grouped together Hakhel, biblical commandment to assemble for a Torah reading Ktav Ashuri, the Aramaic alphabet adopted by Judaism List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts - list of ancient scrolls and codices Tikkun (book), used to prepare for the reading of Torah scroll in synagogue Torah scroll (Yemenite), the specific Yemenite (as opposed to Ashkenazi or Sephardic) tradition of writing the Torah scroll Universal Torah Registry, an initiative to prevent Torah scroll theft References External links Three complete kosher Torah scrolls for study online (Congregation Beth Emeth of Northern Virginia) Torah scroll for study online with Megillot and commentaries Computer-generated Torah scroll for study online with translation, transliteration and chanting (WordORT) Scroll of the Law article from the Jewish Encyclopedia Examples of ancient Torah Scrolls ≈800-year-old Torah (pictures) Examples of Torah Covers Torah Mantles Hebrew calligraphy Hebrew Bible words and phrases Hebrew words and phrases Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law Jewish prayer and ritual texts Jewish ritual objects Uses of leather in Judaism