According to the Midrash, before his death Moshe Rabbenu had written thirteen Torah Scrolls. One of them was given to each of the twelve tribes and one was placed in the Holy Arch together with the Tables of Decalogue, so that no one dare falsify the text of the scroll. From those times and on sofrim - professional scribers, observant Jews who have learnt the Laws of writing the Torah scroll, copy Sifrei Torah making them available for learning and ritual usage. Thus the sofer STAM makes the words of Almighty for the Jewish people. According to the Law, Sofer STAM must labor for the love of the Lord, not for wealth. A Sofer STAM seeks to become a human vessel for the Divine words. So he prays that the work he performs with his hands will be filled with the holiness he feels in his mind and his heart.

Writing Torah Scroll demands tremendous skills and thorough knowledge of the Sofer STAM. Additionally to the general knowledge of the laws of Judaism, Sofer STAM is required to know the most painstaking and minuscule regulations of how to write the letters on the parchment. This knowledge is covered by quite a number of books of the Laws of the scribe. Among the small tractates of the Talmud there is one devoted to the history of Sefer Torah and the Laws of its making. It is called Masechet Sofrim; it contains basic rules how to write the Torah scroll, requirements for the Sofer STAM and correlation's between written text and the parchment. Most of the Laws are conveyed in Mishnat Avraam and other books on the Laws of sofrut. Since the art of writing of Sefer Torah is the same as in case of Tefillin and Mezuzot, albeit the restrictions and technicalities are different, the wealth of Laws are named Tikkunei STA"M (The Laws of writing Tefillin, Torah and Mezuzot).