Netivat Sofrut: diary of a Soferet

Adventures of a female sofer learning to heal the world by doing Holy Work...writing a Sefer Torah

נחזיר את השכינה למקומה בצייון ובתבל כלה

"Let us restore the Divine In-Dwelling to Her Place in Zion & infuse Her spirit throughout the whole inhabited world."

So wherever we are, let us bring the Peace of G@d's Presence.

: Name: Soferet; Location: Vancouver/London, British Columbia/UK, Canada

SCRIBAL EVANGELIST As the only living certified Soferet (סופרת - female Jewish ritual scribe) & the first woman to practice sofrut (creation of sacred Hebrew texts) in over 200 years, I feel an obligation to blog about my experiences of The Work. I am also currently researching the foundation of a lost tradtion of women practicing this holy craft. For more on the services I provide, please see Soferet.com; Sofrut Nation. I am now available to engage with students, male or female, wishing to enter into the preliminary stage of learning sofrut. You are welcome to join me on this path. "Tzedeq, tzedeq tir'dof - Justice, justice you shall pursue." Devarim/Deuteronomy 16:20.

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Monday, August 15, 2005

A STITCH IN TIME...

בס"ד

10 Av

This morning I headed to Swampscott on the commuter rail.
I had been hired to check Torahs for the shul where we had our bedeken & ketubah signing last year. I got misty each time I walked between the bridal room & the lobby. Hard to believe it was almost a year ago.

It never ceases to amaze me why anyone would use packing tape to patch a small tear in a Sefer Torah. This one had a signature written on it along the edge as well. What for? It's so easy to make a Torah treyf (unfit), why take chances?

I noticed for the first time that the rabbi's office has a private passage to the bride's room - talk about rabbinic priviledge!
%+)

I crept into the rabbi's office to check my e-mail only to find the rabbi packing up as he was leaving his post. "Wow!" I said, "you have a really big office!"
"& you know why rabbis need really big offices?" he asked, "because they need a place to keep their really big shofars" he said, producing - what else? - a really big shofar.

He drove me back into Boston & we had a lovely dinner with R' Victor Reinstien & his wife Mieke.
It was so terrific to catch up & be back in a home :)