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A Torah scroll (Hebrew: סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah, lit. "Book of Torah"; plural: סִפְרֵי תוֹרָה Sifrei Torah) is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers. At other times, it is stored in the holiest spot within a synagogue, the Torah ark, which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem, the direction Jews face when praying.
The text of the Torah is also commonly printed and bound in book form for non-ritual functions, called a Chumash (plural Chumashim; "five-part", for the five books of Moses), and is often accompanied by commentaries or translations.