OWNERSHIP & CARE TERMS — The Yad Faigel Collection
1. SPIRITUAL OWNERSHIP. The Sefer Torah you reserve is yours — you are its spiritual owner, with all the halachic implications that carries. You may donate it, or house it in the synagogue of your choice, where it is read, honored, and lived with as your community's own.
2. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. As its owner, you are responsible for your Torah: its honor, its proper housing in an Aron Kodesh, and its active use in the life of your community.
3. WORKING WITH AND THROUGH THE TRUST. To that extent, you agree to work with the Trust and through the Trust to ensure your scroll's continued life and kashrus:
a. INSURANCE — the scroll is to be kept insured against fire, theft, and damage, arranged with or verified through the Trust, so that its photographic record and valuation remain claim-ready.
b. REPAIRS — all repairs are coordinated with the Trust and carried out through the Trust's sofrim, who know the scroll. Evaluation of needed repairs is provided at no charge.
4. THE THREE-YEAR ROLLING. Once every three years, the scroll is rolled from end to end and photographs are taken of any worn, cracked, or faded places. These photographs are shared with the Trust so that small problems are caught and repaired before they render the scroll pasul.
5. CONTINUITY OF CARE & LEGAL TITLE. Legal title to the scroll is held by the Museum, as trustee, at all times; what you hold is its spiritual ownership and every right of use, housing, and placement. This is what allows the Trust to stand behind the scroll forever: if there is no continuity of care — the housing congregation closes or merges, the scroll falls out of use or proper care, or no successor is arranged — the Museum, as default owner, takes the scroll back into its care, so it is never abandoned and can be placed to serve another community.
6. RESERVATION FEE. The $250 reservation fee holds a specific available scroll for your community for one full year while placement details are completed, and is applied toward the scroll's preservation and placement. If the Trust cannot complete the placement, the fee is refunded in full or, at your choice, kept as a donation.
7. HALACHA. All arrangements are structured according to halacha, in consultation with the Museum's rabbinic guidance.