Torah Scroll Production

It was stated: Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel says: Even Torah scrolls they only permitted to be written in Greek [and not in other languages]. They investigated and found that the Torah may be correctly translated only into Greek. A villager invented Aramaic for them from the Greek. R. Jeremiah in the name of R. Ḥiyya bar Abba: Akylas the proselyte translated the Torah [into Greek] before R. Eliezer and R. Joshua; they praised him [and said to him], you are a superhuman beauty (Psalm 45:3).

R. Judah bar Pazy said that R. Joshua ben Levi asked: Why do we not say there is a rule valid for Torah scrolls which does not apply to tefillin and mezuzot, in that Torah scrolls may be written on two sheets [of parchment sewn together], but tefillin and mezuzot may only be written on single sheets? R. Isaac the son of R. Ḥiyya the scribe asked a stronger question: In that Torah scrolls may be written on two hides [i.e., from different animals sewn together], but tefillin and mezuzot may only be written on single hides? The colleagues said before R. Mana: Or should we say, one column of two different hides? Is that not stronger? He said to them: Because even scrolls are not written in this way [that is, one does not write text over a seam where sheets of parchment are sewn together]. One suspends [an accidentally skipped word from the guidelines] in scrolls; one suspends neither in tefillin nor in mezuzot. One does not suspend in scrolls that were written as tefillin and mezuzot; one suspends in tefillin and mezuzot written as scrolls. R. Zeira in the name of R. Immi: If he was writing ’ele’ ‘im,¹ if the paragraph was made in this way it is qualified [i.e., acceptable], otherwise disqualified. R. Zeira in the name of R. Immi bar Ḥinena: The script of scrolls is used as script of tefillin and mezuzot.