HAPPY 5767!

BS"D


A while back, the dude at ChaiSpace asked me to design a font for him that would be for use by MySpace users & all over the net. So I rose to the occasion - an honour is, after all, an honour. Here's the first half (in rough):


& here's the second (again, it's rough - a few imperfections here & there):


I call it "Qeset Ha-Soferet", which means Inkwell of the Soferet. I've named it after my fave volume of Sofrut Halakhah (scribal laws).

...& this is what it looks like as a ChaiSpace greeting:


Shiny, isn't it?
It also comes in gold without the glitter, here.

It's been such a thrill to get comments & e-mails at my MySpace page wishing me a good & sweet & blessed New Year in my own font!
YAY!

Much gratitude to Brian (& G@D) at ChaiSpace for his idea & hard work, & for letting me know about all the positive feedback Qeset Ha-Soferet has garnered.




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A STILL, SMALL VOICE...FROM MYSPACE

BS"D


I received this in my MySpace inbox:

Wow, I just hope she knows not to do it during her cycle when she's going through mood swings. (Eze 36:17) Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt on their land, they even defiled it by their ways and by their doings. As the defilement of woman's impurity, their way was before Me. Something to keep in mind when doing things of holiness. Yah bless.

& this is the answer to that non-question: I've been coming here every morning...

(Community miqveh at the JCC in St Louis)

before I go here:

(Conference room at B'nai Amoona, where I've been restoring Torahs)

One of my fave odd letters in the Sefer Torah:

Parshat Shmini/Sefer Va-yiqra (Leviticus) 11:42 – large Vav in the word gachOn, belly.

כֹּל הוֹלֵךְ עַל-גָּחוֹן וְכֹל הוֹלֵךְ עַל-אַרְבַּע, עַד כָּל-מַרְבֵּה רַגְלַיִם, לְכָל-הַשֶּׁרֶץ, הַשֹּׁרֵץ עַל-הָאָרֶץ--לֹא תֹאכְלוּם, כִּי-שֶׁקֶץ הֵם.
"Kol holeykh al-gachon v'khol holeykh al-arba ad kal-marbeyh raglim l'khal-hasheretz hashoreytz al-ha'aretz lo tokh'lum ki-sheqetz heym:"
"Anything going about on its belly, anything going about on all fours, up to anything with many legs, among all swarming-creatures that swarm upon the earth: you are not to eat them, for they are detestable-things!:"

Vav has the numerical value of 6. The Maharal teaches us that the number six indicates physical completion: as our world was finished in six days and as each individual object has six sides: above, below, right, left, front and back.

Vav is a conjunction, a link. He comes to us in the shape of a hook, which is the function he fulfills and what his name means. The presence of Vav at the beginning of a verse in the Torah indicates continuity with the previous text ("V'eyleh sh'mot b'nai Yisra'el..." - "And these are the names of the children of Israel..."). Vav's absence means we are beginning a new subject. Vav has the power to unite anything.

This is, according to midrash, the middle letter of the Sefer Torah, & it has been written large like this since the 3rd century, CE.




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