The words of the Torah are written on parchment. Pages of parchment are sewn together in a long strip and attached to wooden rollers. We do not use our hands to touch the inside of the Torah. We use a special pointer to point to the words. We use this pointer to keep the words of God safe and clean. The pointer is called a Yad.
When we finish reading the Torah, we protect it by dressing the Torah in special garments.