HOW TO SCORE

B"H


Friday, August 22nd

Met with my sofer at 9 a.m. for learning the fine art of sirtut (scoring klaf [parchment]) & the next installment of letters: Dalet, Reysh & Vav. I'd cut more quills & made many experimental "play" strokes as homework after my first lesson with him, on the broad, the flat & the shpitz (corner) of my new nibs. Now he wants me to cut some of them thinner - Megillah size.
We have to use klaf (parchment), gidin (sinew), quills & a sargel (awl made from bone, wood, or a rose thorn) from kosher animals because "the Torah is to be in our mouths". This is from the Laws of Tefilin. I was surprised to learn that the sirtut must be done upside down (!) in order to create the ridge required for proper writing. My sofer demonstrated a few times the yaw & the pitch of the sargel & then had me try it. We use this ridge to kinesthetically guide our writing strokes.
Homework was to review Qeset HaSofer about the laws of correcting the letters properly re overwriting, scratching out, which you must do in what order, etc. To study the laws of writing with the proper kavanah (intention), chapters 1 - 11. Also, to do sirtut with 1cm spacing & to make a series of horizontal stroke exercises he assigned.
He let me use his computer before I left, but canada.com was unreachable - grrr.
At home I unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate the Bezeqint automated helpline in Hebrew for an internet connexion.
Headed to Rova for net - canada.com STILL unreachable
I then walked to Internet Club in the Russian Compound & FINALLY did e-mail re Joel & Life & everything, answered extraneous messages.
Home for shabbes :)
Shabat Shalom!!