The sofer writes Torah scrolls, tefillin and mezuzot by hand, and the entire office is defined by the exactness the work demands, for a single wrong letter can render the whole invalid.
Every letter counts
The sofer copies the sacred texts by hand on parchment according to a large body of precise rules governing the script, the materials, the spacing and the form of every letter, and the standard of accuracy is absolute: a Torah scroll with even one letter wrong, missing or malformed is invalid and may not be used until corrected, so the work admits no error. The scribe writes with particular intention, and the copying of the divine name calls for special care and preparation.
A craft and a devotion
The office is entered by long training under an established scribe, learning the laws and the script, and it is a recognised skilled craft rather than a clerical order, though it carries real religious standing because of the sanctity of what is produced and the piety the work requires. The products of the sofer, the Torah scroll read in the synagogue, the parchments within the tefillin and the mezuzah, are among the most sacred objects of Jewish life, and their validity depends entirely on the fidelity of the scribe. The office thus places on one skilled and devout person the responsibility for the correctness of the very texts on which the observance of the community rests.