P'tuchah (open): the previous line has blank space after it, and the new passage starts at the beginning of the next line — like a new paragraph.
Question 2
What is a parshah stumah (closed passage)?
Stumah (closed): a small gap (at least 9 letters wide) within the line, then the new passage continues on the same line. Less separation than p'tuchah.
Question 3
Are the spacing patterns in a Torah scroll fixed or flexible?
Every passage has a fixed designation as either open or closed. These designations are a halachah l'Moshe miSinai — changing them invalidates the scroll.
Question 4
What is special about the layout of the Song of the Sea (Shirat HaYam)?
Shirat HaYam has a distinctive layout: the words are arranged in an alternating pattern resembling bricks in a wall — half-brick on full-brick.
Question 5
Do these spacing rules apply to mezuzot?
The spacing requirements apply to all three sacred handwritten texts: Torah scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot. The same standards of precision govern all three.