Wyjścia 30:11 Halacha: Mishneh Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll, Mishneh Torah, Prayer and the Priestly Blessing, Abudarham & Sheiltot d'Rav Achai Gaon

As in all the scrolls I have seen, I noticed serious incorrectness in these regards, while authorities on the Massorah, who write treatises and compilations with the aim of pointing out the sections that are closed and those that are open, differ according to the variations in the scrolls on which they rely, I deemed it fit to write here a list of the sections which are closed and those which are open, as also the forms in which the Songs of the Pentateuch are written so that all the scrolls may be corrected from, and compared with them. The copy on which I relied is the well-known Egyptian codex which contains the twenty-four books of the Scriptures and which had been in Jerusalem for several years—used as the standard text for the examination of scrolls. Everyone relied upon it because it had been examined by Ben Asher who closely studied it for many years and examined it again whenever it was being copied. This codex was the text on which I relied in the scroll of the Law that I wrote according to the rules. (Here follow lists of open and closed sections which are in the Hebrew text on the right-hand pages 131b to 136b.)
THE BOOK OF GENESIS
The number of open sections is 43; of closed sections 48; total 91.
THE BOOK OF EXODUS
The number of open sections is 69; of closed sections, 95; total 16
THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS
The number of open sections is 52; of closed sections, 46; total 98.
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
The number of open sections is 92; of closed sections, 66; total 158.
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY
The number of open sections of this book is 34; of closed sections, 124, total 158. The number of open sections in the entire Pentateuch is 290; of the closed sections, 379; total 669.
The form of the Song Haazinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-43). Every line has a blank space in the middle, like that preceding a closed section. Hence, every line is divided into two parts. The song is written in 70 lines. The words at the beginning of the lines are as follows:
(See the Hebrew text on the right hand side page 136a)
All these are the words at the beginning of the lines. And the following are the words at the beginning of the latter half of the line which are in the middle of the column.(See the Hebrew text on the right hand pages 136a and 136b)
The Song of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-19) is written in thirty lines, the first line in the ordinary way; the other lines, one with a blank space in the middle, the next with blank spaces in two places, so that the line is divided into three parts and so a blank space corresponds to writing (above and below it) and vice versa as follows.
See the Hebrew text on the right-hand side 136a, 136b and 137a as it should be written in the scroll. The English pages should be blank.
Throughout the Torah, in the Songs as well as in the rest of the text, the scribe should aim to write all the letters of each word close together, taking care that no letter should be joined to another, and that no letter should be so far away from the next as to make the word seem two words. The interval between the letters in one word should be a hairbreadth. If the scribe wrote one letter so far apart from the other that it would appear to a child who is not familiar with the text like two words, the scroll is unfit for use till he makes the correction.

When the first day of the month of Adar falls on a Sabbath, the section concerning the Half Shekel (Exodus 30:11-16) is read; and the lesson from the Prophets is that relating to Jehoiadah the Priest (II Kings 11:17-12:17). When the first of Adar falls on a weekday, even on a Friday, the section concerning the Half-Shekel is read on the previous Sabbath. On the second Sabbath of the month, the section commencing "Remember" (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) is read. The lesson from the Prophets is that beginning, "I remember that which Amalek did to Israel" (I Samuel 15:1-34). What is meant by the second Sabbath? It is the Sabbath preceding the week in which the Feast of Lots occurs, even if that falls on Friday. On the third Sabbath, the section concerning the Red Heifer (Numbers 19:1-22) is read. The lesson from the Prophets is that containing the verse, "And I will sprinkle upon you" (Ezekiel 36:16-36). What is meant by the third Sabbath? That immediately preceding the fourth. On the fourth Sabbath, the section beginning, "This month" (Exodus 12:1-20) is read. The lesson from the Prophets is that beginning "In the first month, on the first day of the month (Ezekiel 45:18-46:15). The fourth Sabbath is that beginning the week in which the first of Nissan occurs, even if it falls on Friday.

Each of these four special sections is read in a second scroll, after the portion for the week has been read in the scroll first taken out. If the first of Adar falls on a Sabbath, and the portion for the week was that commencing, "And thou shalt command" (Exodus 27:20-30:10), six persons are called to the Law and read in the weekly portion up to (but not including) the section beginning, "Thou shalt also make a laver" (ibid. 30:17). The seventh person reads the section beginning, "When thou takest the sum" till that beginning, "Thou shalt also make a laver" (ibid 30:11-16). If the portion of the week for that Sabbath is that beginning, "When thou takest the sum" (ibid. 30:11), six persons are called to the Law and read this portion, till the next beginning, "And Moses assembled" (ibid. 35:1). The seventh person reads in the second scroll the section beginning, "When thou takest the sum" till "Thou shalt make also a laver" (ibid. 30:11-16).