Secret Codes Protect Ancient Torahs

An anonymous reader writes "A story on Wired News reports the problems Jewish synagogues have protecting their Torahs from theft. The Torah scrolls, containing the five books of Moses, are hand lettered over the course of a year, are often hundreds of years old, and can sell for $50,000 or more. But Judaic law "dictates that not one character can be added to the 304,805 letters of the Torah's text", which makes them untraceable and easily sold on the black market. Rabbinic authorities have recently approved two computer-based systems to make the scrolls traceable: one takes a digital fingerprint of a Torah, a second makes microperforations in the parchment that yield a unique identifier."

Comments

Non kosher torahs?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oy!

Oh Well

[joeybagadonuts]

So much for looking for a signed copy...

Bo-ring

[Anonymous Coward]

Oy, these Rebbes today, so unimaginitive. Whatever happened to REAL anti-theft devices for holy artifacts, like the one on the Ark of the Covenant that melted your face off?

Jokes only Hebrew speaking Jews will get...

[Avogadros Letter]

"Hey... at least now they'll have a Safer Torah!"

<bah-dum-ching! />

"... and if they got away with it, they'd be getting Loot of the Frum!"

<boo hissss />