Q&A: Writing a Torah Scroll by an Atheist
Writing a Torah Scroll by an Atheist
Question
I saw an article saying that Bibi wrote a letter in a Torah scroll in memory of one of our soldiers who was killed, as is customary in our circles.
According to various reports, Bibi is an atheist.
That led me to ask: in your opinion, is such a Torah scroll, in which letters were written by an atheist, valid?
Answer
In principle, one should distinguish between an atheist because that is his worldview and someone who is an apostate out of spite or for convenience. But that only affects the degree of our condemnation of him. As for the holiness of the Divine Name, since the writer did not intend to sanctify it, then it is probably not holy. It would also seem that it is not valid for reading, at least if he wrote the Divine Name. I, of course, would not let him write. There is no value in it.