What is Sefer?ספר
A sefer is a Jewish religious book — a work of Torah, Talmud, halacha, or related sacred literature, as distinct from an ordinary secular book.
Also written: Sepher, Sefar
In everyday Hebrew the word simply means 'book', but in Jewish usage it is reserved for works of sacred content. A novel is a book; a volume of Talmud is a sefer. The distinction matters practically, because seforim are treated with a degree of care that ordinary books are not — they are not placed face down, not left on the floor, and worn-out copies are buried rather than discarded.
The plural is seforim. When someone refers to 'a sefer' they usually mean a single volume; a multi-volume work such as a Talmud is described as a set. On a marketplace listing, condition language for seforim tends to focus on the binding, the spine, and whether any volumes are missing from a set, since incomplete sets are far more common than incomplete single books.
Related terms
- Seforim — Seforim are Jewish religious books — the plural of sefer — covering Torah, Talmud, halacha, mussar, chassidus, and the full range of sacred Jewish literature.
- Sifrei Kodesh — Sifrei kodesh means 'holy books' — the formal term for the body of sacred Jewish literature, used when distinguishing religious works from secular ones.
- Shas — Shas is the complete Talmud — an acronym for Shisha Sidrei Mishnah, the six orders of the Mishnah — usually sold as a multi-volume bound set.