My protege Linda features in the NY Times: First, the synagogue sought out a female scribe, still a rarity in the Jewish world, in which the traditional understanding of Jewish law is that only devout Jewish men are allowed to be Torah scribes. Then, they decided to try to turn the idea of dedicating a […]
November 23, 2012 – 15:54
This is one of my favourite letter-halakhot, from the rules of how to make straight nun: אות נו”ן פשוטה תואר צורתה כמו זיי”ן וג’ תגין על ראשה אך שהיא ארוכה כשיעור שתהא ראויה להעשות נו”ן כפופה אם תכפפנה Its form is like a zayin, with three tagin on its head, but it is long, such […]
November 18, 2012 – 09:59
What does it mean to write? is a question that has always been part of the Torah-writing rules. Could you, for instance, embroider the Torah? Is that writing? What about carving letters into plaster-covered monoliths? Embossing them onto metal headbands? What about printing? Jewish communal narrative recognises these processes as producing letters, more or less, […]
This is based on a talk I gave a few weeks ago, on Shabbat Bereshit. It concerns the reading for the second year of the triennial cycle, which starts in chapter 4, in which God creates beings with plurality, male and female. זה ספר תולדות אדם ביום ברוא אלקים את האדם בדמות אלקים עשה אותו, […]
We had Weather here this week. You might have heard something about it in the news. My bit of Manhattan is fine, so am I, and so is your Torah. Despite our apartment building swaying in the wind, which is unnerving because we aren’t Californians and therefore not used to buildings wobbling about. These scrolls […]
In this week’s parasha, water covers the face of the earth, so I’m going to share some pictures of various kinds of damage water can do to Torah scrolls. Water damage happens from leaky roofs, but it also happens from sweat and spit, and from being stored in damp or humid locations. Wrapping a scroll […]
During Sukkot, one doesn’t write Torah. So instead, I’ve been making other fun things, and this week’s post is a shameless plug for said things. Postcards. Inspired by the illuminators of the Middle Ages, this series illustrates each letter of the Hebrew alphabet with awesome borders, yummy patterns, and the most darling little animals. Here’s […]
September 28, 2012 – 10:38
View from the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary; ground-staff building a sukkah, ink-bottle in foreground. We like working in the library, my apprentice and I. She has a big scroll of Torah that she’s repairing, and I have one sheet of Torah that I’m writing. There’s a part of the library which has great […]
September 21, 2012 – 12:59
In parashat Nitzavim we read: הַנִּסְתָּרֹת לַיקֹוָק אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְהַנִּגְלֹת לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ עַד עוֹלָם לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת: Concealed acts are the responsibility of the Lord our God [to judge]; but overt acts are the responsibility of us and our children unto eternity, to carry out all the words of this Torah. In the […]
