Editing Torah scroll (section)

==Handling the scroll==
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Special prayers are recited when the Torah scroll is removed from the ark and the text is chanted, rather than spoken, in a special melodic manner (see [[Hebrew cantillation|Cantillation]] and [[Nigun]]). Whenever the scroll is opened to be read it is laid on a piece of cloth called the ''mappah''. When the Torah scroll is carried through the synagogue, the members of the congregation may touch the edge of their prayer shawl (''[[tallit]]'') to the Torah scroll and then kiss the shawl as a sign of respect.
As it is important to guard the sanctity of a Torah, dropping it, or allowing it to fall, is regarded as 
a desecration.