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.

Findings from Qumran, Masada, and the Bar Kokhba refuge caves indicate that biblical scrolls were abundant and widely circulated in late Second Temple Judaea.

The researchers working on the En-Gedi Scroll have concluded that by the fourth century CE, there was no halakhic rule yet prescribing that scrolls used for liturgical purposes must contain the entire Pentateuch. As of 2018, no other statements regarding when this rule came into being could be made with any degree of certainty. While the physically determined date for the scroll points to the 3rd or 4th centuries, its text has been palaeographically dated by Ada Yardeni to the first century CE or the early second at the latest, a discrepancy not uncommon in this field, which could push back in time the entire discussion.

The En-Gedi Scroll is a Hebrew parchment radiocarbon-dated to the 3rd or 4th century CE (88.9% certainty for 210–390 CE), although paleographical considerations suggest that it may date back to the 1st or early 2nd century CE. The charred scroll, found in situ in the synagogue's Torah niche, was discovered to contain a portion of Leviticus, making it the earliest copy of a Pentateuchal book ever found in a Holy Ark. The deciphered text fragment is identical to what was to become during the Middle Ages the standard text of the Hebrew Bible, the Masoretic Text, which it precedes by several centuries; it thus constitutes the earliest evidence of this authoritative text version. The scroll is badly charred and fragmented and required noninvasive scientific techniques to virtually unwrap and read.

Torah reading from a Torah scroll or Sefer Torah is traditionally reserved for Monday and Thursday mornings, as well as for Shabbat, fast days, and Jewish holidays. The presence of a quorum of ten Jewish adults (minyan) is required for the reading of the Torah to be held in public during the course of the worship services. As the Torah is sung, following the often dense text is aided by a yad ("hand"), a metal or wooden hand-shaped pointer that protects the scrolls by avoiding unnecessary contact of the skin with the parchment.

All Jewish prayers start with a blessing (berakhah), thanking God for revealing the Law to the Jews (Matan Torah), before Torah reading and all days during the first blessings of the morning prayer (Shacharit).^{[dubious – discuss]}

According to halakha (Jewish law), a Torah scroll is a copy of the Hebrew text of the Torah handwritten on special types of parchment by using a quill or another permitted writing utensil, dipped in ink. Producing a Torah scroll fulfills one of the 613 commandments.