Duchsustus (, from Greek ''dyschistos'') is the name of a type of

parchment Parchment is a writing material made from specially prepared Tanning (leather), untanned skins of animals—primarily sheep, calves and goats. It has been used as a writing medium in West Asia and Europe for more than two millennia. By AD 400 ...

used for religious writings in

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

. It is originally a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word and one of three

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic names for animal skin. The other two are and . The meanings of these terms, however, are the subject of controversy in

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

. According to the Talmud, a should, ideally, be written on , but may also be on ; must be written on ; and may be written on , , or . is the animal's

dermis The dermis or corium is a layer of skin between the epidermis (skin), epidermis (with which it makes up the cutis (anatomy), cutis) and subcutaneous tissues, that primarily consists of dense irregular connective tissue and cushions the body from s ...

, is the

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and Subcutaneous tissue, hypodermis. The epidermal layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the ...

, and is both layers tanned and unseparated. This instruction is dated to

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai, also known as Jabal Musa (), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is one of several locations claimed to be the Mount Sinai (Bible), biblical Mount Sinai, the place where, according to the sacred scriptures of the thre ...

Maimonides' prescriptions

There are halachic rules for the use of each of the three types of tanned skin.Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon ("Maimonides")
"Tefillin, Mezuzah and Sefer Torah"
- Chapter One, translated by Eliyahu Touger, on Chabad.org. Accessed 9 March 2024. According to Maimonides,

Torah scroll A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...

s must be written on ''g'vil'' only on the side on which the hair had grown, and never on ''duchsustos'' (understood as the half-skin from the flesh side). Phylacteries, if written on ''k'laf'', must be written on the flesh side. A

mezuzah A ''mezuzah'' ( "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew language, Hebrew verses from the Torah, which Jews affix in a small case to the doorposts of their homes. These verses are the Biblical pa ...

, when written on ''duchsustos'', must be written on the hair side. It is unacceptable to write on the hair side of ''k'laf'' or on the flesh side of ''g'vil'' and ''duchsustos''.

References

Jewish law and rituals Talmud Writing media Leather in Judaism Greek words and phrases in Jewish law {{Judaism-stub