TONIGHT'S VISION TELEVISION

בס"ד


14 Cheshvan

This article appeared in the Jewish Independent the end of last week. My edits & comments appear below.

Nov. 11, 2005

Local scribe on Vision

The Torah being written by Aviel Barclay is a first.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY


There are few people in the world who have the gumption and the determination to follow their dreams, let alone if those dreams conflict with societal norms or religious doctrine. This month, VisionTV will air Soferet: A Special Scribe, a documentary about Vancouverite Aviel Barclay, who has chosen to become a Torah scribe (soferet), despite the fact that most Jewish authorities believe that rabbinic law forbids a woman from writing a Torah scroll for ritual use.

"I was told by one [sofer, male scribe] that I would better serve the Jewish people by getting married and having children," says Barclay in the documentary. She then laughs confidently, adding that she told the sofer that she wants to do that, too.
[I'm glad I come off sounding confident, in a way, but I recall that I did not feel confident during that interview. First of all, although the film makers were terrific, I was very nervous about being interviewed on celluloid. Second, nobody can be "confident" that they will ever become parents - that's a blessing that only G@d can grant, so I can only pray that my husband & I will find favour in the eyes of The Holy One.]

Barclay's husband, Joel Rothschild, is one of the many people interviewed in Soferet. He underscores Barclay's assertion that she is obligated to be a scribe. She "believes she has been given this work to do by God," he says.

Such conviction and self-assuredness seems to have directed much of Barclay's life...When her father died suddenly, when she was 16, Barclay stepped back from religion entirely for a couple of years. After her right hand was crushed in a cycling accident, she had to undergo much therapy to write again...

...Barclay started doing Hebrew calligraphy – reviving an interest in Hebrew letters that she had had since childhood. It was then, she says, that it dawned on her that she was to be a soferet; that she would write a Torah scroll.

Soferet includes a brief history of Barclay's life, including an interview with her mother. It touches upon some of Barclay's struggles in finding a willing scribe to teach her the art. Many rabbis are also featured, such as Or Shalom's Rabbi Hillel Goelman and Shaarey Tefilah's Rabbi Shachar Ornstein. Other clergy are interviewed as well, and the documentary cogently explains the central role played by the Torah in Judaism and sensitively presents the controversies surrounding whether a woman can be a soferet.

... For more information on Barclay's ritual and mystical art, which includes ketubot (marriage contracts), amulets and other work, visit www.soferet.com. Soferet: A Special Scribe airs on VisionTV on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m., and repeats on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m.

[the original article can be found here].