Oldest Known Torah Scroll Discovered

Summary of Article: The oldest known complete Torah scroll has been discovered in Italy, at the University of Bologna library. It is believed to be from the 1100s. Click on link for picture.

Discussion with Kids:

• What is a Torah scroll? (The 5 books of Moshe) When do we use it? (Shabbat, holidays) Why is it important to Jews? 
• The oldest known Torah scroll was just discovered in Italy. Why is this very exciting? 
• There are some people known as catalogers or preservationists or experts in manuscripts. Their job is to look at ancient books and scrolls and determine how old they are, where they come from, where they have been. How do you think they do this? (Forensics).
• For instance, looking at a scroll, they may look at the type of ink used. They may see the ink comes from a plant only grown in Spain. Then they know that the Torah was probably written in Spain. What are other examples of clues they find on how to identify it? (Hidden hairs, the type of parchment, the ink, any stains on the scroll, the scroll's cover or adornments, etc.)