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.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

THIS IS FOR YOU. THIS IS FOR ME.

בס"ד

29 Kislev


Related to me today by Rabbi James Stone Goodman:

On the fifth night of Hanukkah
Rebbe Nachman appeared as an angel
he spoke out of a black thatch of beard
reminded me to walk daily
without my shoes
through the grass.

He told this story
a young man left home
traveled to a faraway land
where he learned the art of making menorahs.
When he returned home
he asked his father to gather together
the townspeople
to show off his skills.
As he worked the son covered the menorah
with a large cloth
even the father had not seen it.

When the son unveiled his work
everyone was silent
they didn’t find the menorah attractive.
The father approached every one
individually
asked them what they thought
about the menorah.
Each one said they saw a defect
each a different defect.

The father told his son
what one person praised
another person cursed.
That's what I learned
said the son
each defect is in the eyes
of the person who sees it
so I fashioned my menorah
entirely out of defects.
I made the menorah
out of flaws.
Now I will begin
its restoration and repair.

Rebbe Nachman always giggled
when he came to the end of a story.
Anyone who finds a flaw
finds his own flaw.


Here's to fire. The ShalhevetYah, the Holy flame of G@d which purges us of our flaws with ahavat shleymut.

5 Comments:

Blogger Peter said...

Thank you, Aviel, for a great sharing, and, with reflection afterward, much learning.

Blessings in 2006!

5:33 a.m.  
Blogger Regina said...

That was a great story, Aviel. You can't really begin to "fix" yourself until you know what needs fixing. That's the hard part, though- flaws in ourselves are not easy to admit to...

3:24 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a splendid poem. Thank you for this!

9:18 a.m.  
Blogger Evenewra said...

Beautiful.

Good to have back, Soferet. Thinking of and missing you.

5:21 p.m.  
Blogger Soferet said...

בס"ד
Thanks to you all. Evenewra, not really back - mostly still gone. Missing & thinking of you, too. We'll have to make that phone date.

3:31 p.m.  

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