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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Sunday, October 16, 2005

THE TORAH OF ASTROLOGY

בס"ד

13 Tishrei

We had a really interesting Friday morning class at Shaarey Tefilah a while back which I've wanted to blog about. I hope you find my notes of interest:

Kuzar is the Hebrew name for a kingdom whose entire population converted from pagan practice to Judaism.
Khazar is the Arabic name for the same group. I'm only mentioning this because this name sounds like the Hebrew word for "pig". What it actually refers to, though is people from the exposed north mountains.

The Kuzari, after their dispersion, disappeared into the various nations surrounding their former empire. Some vestiges of their existence include Kurdish people still speaking Aramaic; some Kurds are Jews descended from the Kuzari.

We then moved on to Talmud, tractate Shabbes 156a-b: "...if you are born on a Sunday, you will be of one nature - all good or all bad - you will tend to extremes. Because on the first day of creation the light & dark were separated...Mercury - kochav (star) - rules those radiant in wisdom."

Rabbi Yochanan said, "Eyn mazal le-Yisra'el" - There is no star over Israel. He taught that astrology is not deterministic. How do we know? From Yermiyahu - Jeremiah - where G@d says don't follow the way of other nations. Don't fear the signs of the Heavens, for the other nations will fear them, but you don't have to.

There is such a thing as collective versus individual destiny. Work with G@d to find your own.

The we read a midrash - legend - said in the name of Rav about Avraham Avinu - our Father Abraham - talking to G@d about moving planets to change his fertility. Where G@d says, "Think outside the box!" Shabbes 156b

That's all, folks!