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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Saturday, March 12, 2005

THIS I NEVER EXPECTED

BS"D

So, it's late here & I'm really swamped with work, but I just *had* to share this with all of you.

What do you make of it? Do tell!

6 Comments:

Al said...: Hmmm,

Aisha Torah says "no" to the red thread too. It is a hot topic on the 'net:

http://tinyurl.com/67ble

I think what is bugging Mesora is that
Judaism.com is calling the string "authentic" and asking money for it.

Could anyone call t'chailes - the blue string seen on some tallit - authentic?
" This t'chailes was made from a creature that was called, in ancient Hebrew, "chilazon," but no one knows for sure what that is called in English.'
http://www.beingjewish.com/mitzvos/tzitzis.html

What we have here is a case of "two Jews, three opinions" and "You're right too."

Regards,

Al
http://urbanwild.diary-x.com
http://urbanwild.diary-x.com; 8:11 a.m.
Evenewra said...: We learned about this in Naomi's class. Ask her for the article she was working from if you are interested in exploring it further.; 8:13 a.m.
Anonymous said...: Wasn't someone - Target, maybe? - selling red strings at $25 apiece a while back? $25!

BTW - I seem to recall hearing from P'til Techelet that techelet has been found in archaeological digs, and chemical analysis demonstrates it to be the same substance as some types of modern techelet.; 8:09 p.m.
Soferet said...: BS"D
I think that one can make a pretty solid argument that since G@d commands us to wear t'cheylet in the Torah, that it ranks above the red bendel, which doesn't have a mitzvah d'oraisa connected to it.
These are good links, urban wild - thank you!
I think if we believe that p'til t'cheylet (this specifically commanded thread of blue) can actually protect us from G@d's decisions, then we will be disappointed. G@d tells us what the t'cheylet is for & it is not to effect a force-field :)

However, I understand that Jews from everywhere have a long tradition of wearing a red thread or beads to fool the evil eye or whatever the demon-of-the-week is into thinking we are already suffering (it is meant to resemble blood) so as to discourage "bad things" from happening. Now, where this tradition came from, I have no idea, so Mesora may be right, that this is a practice we ought not to participate in - but one shouldn't do anything that one believes will generate power beyond that of G@d. It's just rude ;+>

Seriously, though, I think the use of amulets & such provided they are used as a tool to focus on & the user does not imbue them with power independent of G@d's can bring about positive results. NOTE: I AM NOT GIVING PSAK HALAKHAH. I just believe that if the guidelines given in Talmud Bavli Shabat 61 are best followed, IMHO.

Thanks for the tip, evenewra. I'll ask her about it.

I don't know about Target, Jen, however I do know that quite a few organisations are selling the bendel for a LOT of money. It seems a bit opportunistic to me. I mean, giving tzedaqah to a safta at the Kotel in exchange for a thread is one thing, but ordering it off the internet for many dollars plus tax, shipping & handling? Yiy.

Now, the REAL reason why I posted this link was to bring up an issue that none of you have mentioned. Can you guess what it is?; 10:58 p.m.
Anonymous said...: ::Now, the REAL reason why I posted this link was to bring up an issue that none of you have mentioned. Can you guess what it is? ::

Infighting among Jews? Because we can never discuss that too much.; 6:42 a.m.
Soferet said...: BS"D
YAY! Shanna wins the lolly!
The thing that disturbed me most about this whole seething web site is the following quote:
"King Solomon stated, "For man is not righteous in the land who does good and does not sin." (Ecclesiastes, 7:20) King Solomon teaches that no man is free from error, not even Moshe Rabbeinu. A reputation of someone being a "Rav" must not cause us to accept all he says...he too may err...What is dangerous about Judaism.com's approach, is their reliance on anything a Rabbi says."

I agree with Shlomo haMelekh on this one, however, if all Jews went around saying that everybody's Ravs were wrong because they are human, then all rabbis are equally wrong & we shouldn't pay attention to anything they teach us, because they might be incorrect. It would bring about the collapse of Rabbinic Judaism, wouldn't it? & where would that leave all of us Talmud-studying Jews? Wouldn't that make us all Karaites?

Anyway, I see that the arguments used by the one side against the other can be used against its arguers, & they seem to be blind to this. It's a sad state of affairs that inspires my Ahavat Yisra'el.
That's all.; 12:07 a.m.