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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Thursday, September 21, 2006

RETURN AGAIN

BS"D

Last night's celebration of my birth looked like this:

My deep gratitude goes to the Lev family for their very kind & loving treatment of me :)
This morning I slept in for the first time in months. Between teaching in Israel during a war, my mother's various health concerns, trying to catch up on different sofrut projects, & racing around North America trying to kasher as many Sifrei Torah as possible before the Days of Awe, my days have been over-filled.

Then I got my first-ever acupuncture treatment. It definitely shifted me to a better space. G@d is great.

On my way to the train, I got to hang out with Jack Thompson, Super rock-god of the parchment & ink conservation world. I've been learning from his articles for years & our mutual friend Yehuda Miklaf, Super rock-god of the bookbinding & restoration world, encouraged me to get together with Jack. He came by P'nai Or when I was repairing their Sefer Torah & gave it a once-over. I was so appreciative! & really felt priviledged that he would come check out my work. I mean to say, this man is so widely & well respected that they actually invited him to work on the Dead Sea Scrolls!

Jack & I nerded out in his consevation lab with all sorts of ink & skins & tools. I adore him & his calm, methodical, fatherly approach to repair. There's so much I could learn & I'm looking forward to some kind of apprenticeship with him. G@d (& Jack) willing.

You may think that I'm name-dropping here, but I'm not.
You want an example of name-dropping? Bob Dylan's mom's rabbi is being honoured with a library in his name - while he's still alive & active, yet - & Dylan is buying the set of Talmud to be dedicated to his mom's rabbi in this library. I've been asked to design the bookplate.

That is name-dropping ;)

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