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.

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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.

Friday, July 08, 2005

ALAV HASHALOM

בס"ד


I am very sorry to announce this news. Rabbi Dr Eric Ray z"l, the world's foremost sofer st"m, has passed to the next world.

R' Dr Ray died in his New York hospital bed this morning on Rosh Chodesh Tamuz, Parshat Chukat, after a very long battle to remain attached to Olam HaZeh.

I truly wish I could express my admiration for his life & work by assisting somehow at his funeral in Great Neck on Sunday, when the kli which was home to his holy neshamah will be interred. But I will have to wait to pay my respects when I am in New York in August.

I am desperately sad to know we have lost such a treasure as R' Dr Ray, z"l. As his life was indeed a blessing to countless people, so will his memory be.

May his students take up his mantle & persevere with his work, finishing his book & passing on the trove of knowledge he possessed. G@d willing, may none of our sofrut traditions pass away with him.

Please pray for his widow, Lali (Margalit Motliya bat Beillah), who is very ill.

His passing is a tremendous loss for us all. His funeral will begin at 1 PM, burial to follow on Long Island. Shivah will be observed for him until Friday.

For a retrospective on R' Dr Ray's life & accomplishments, please look here, here, here, here, & here.

Barukh Dayan Emet.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Baruch dayan ha'emet, indeed.

6:44 a.m.  
Blogger Soferet said...

בס"ד
I'm so sorry that you never connected with him, Jen. Had I known about you & your scribal goals earlier, I could have directed you to him much earlier than I did, before he became ill. He would have been a marvelous teacher for you & would have certified you in Sifrei Torah like he'd planned to with his other female students, had he survived long enough to finish mentoring any of them.
Such a loss.

12:08 a.m.  

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