[Avodah] kesiva and tzovea

[Joe Slater]

R' Micha asked how writing with ink and parchment can be tzovea: doesn't
the ink peel off? In fact traditional ink (which includes the sorts used by
sofrim) has two effects. One is to present a color to the eye; the other is
to chemically burn the parchment, making the mark permanent. If you look at
a sefer where the ink has peeled off you will probably see a stain: this
isn't a mere residue of color, but an actual alteration to the underlying
parchment.  This effect is so powerful that old manuscripts may literally
have holes where the ink has burned through!

Here's is a sofer's page describing ink production:
http://melakhetshamayim.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/on-making-sofers-ink-part-i.html
Here is a page showing what ink can do to manuscripts over time:
http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/stagser/s1259/103/website/ink.html

All the best,
Joe Slater
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