Who May Serve as a Scribe

b. Gittin 45b

And that which is taught [in a baraita, which said that] it should be interred, is [the opinion] of this tanna, as [R. Hamnuna,] son of [Rava] of Pashronya, taught: A Torah scroll, phylacteries, or mezuzot that were written by a heretic or an informer, a gentile or a slave, a woman or a minor, or a Samaritan or a Jewish apostate, are unfit, as it is stated: And you shall bind them [as a sign on your hand . . .] and you shall write them [on the doorposts of your house] (Deuteronomy 6:8–9). [From this juxtaposition, one can derive the following:] Anyone who is [included] in [the mitzvah of] binding [the phylacteries, i.e., one who is both obligated and performs the mitzvah], is [included] in [the class of people who may] write [Torah scrolls, phylacteries, and mezuzot]; but anyone who is not [included] in [the mitzvah of] binding is not [included] in [the class of people who may] write [sacred texts. This baraita equates the halakhah of a Torah scroll written by a gentile to the halakhah of Torah scrolls written by these other types of people, which are interred.]

And [concerning] that which is taught [in a baraita, i.e., that] one may read [from] it, that [baraita is in accordance with the opinion of] this tanna, as it is taught [in a baraita]: One may purchase [Torah] scrolls from gentiles in any location, provided that they are written in accordance with their halakhot. And [there was] an incident involving a gentile in Tsaidan who would write [Torah] scrolls, and [R. Simeon ben Gamaliel] permitted [the Jews] to purchase [the Torah scrolls] from him.