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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Tuesday, January 17, 2006

THIS MADE MY DAY

בס"ד
18 Tevet

I've been reading even more than usual lately. The Vancouver Public Library has become my second home as I nose through Thicht Naht Han, Rav Adin Steinsaltz, Jalaludin Rumi, Baba Hari Dass & Thomas Moore.

Also, I can go there with my mommy-type friends & hang out with them in the kiddie play area :)

In regards to difficulties I am currently facing (hence all the extra reading & soul-searching), I received these heartening words from a rabbi I highly respect:

"What may or may not be crumbling is external circumstances into which you have invested enormous amounts of love, effort and kavannah [focused intention].
What will not and cannot crumble is the Tzelem Elohim [image of G@d] of your neshama [soul], your inherent dignity as a human being, and your capacity for creative and postive action in even the most utterly sh!tty and hurtful and disorienting circumstances. You have been betrayed, but you cannot be made less than a child of the El Hai V'Kayam [Eternally Living G@d]."

I think I'm going to keep him around :)