This page aims to answer some of the questions I receive on a regular basis.

How long does it take to write a Megillah?

A Megillah takes me between 55 and 60 hours. So, if I work full-time on nothing but a Megillah, I can finish in a week. Normally I am doing more than one job at once, so it generally takes longer.

How long does it take to write a Torah?

A Torah takes about a year to produce.

Can you get a Torah for under $20,000?

Yes, you can, but not from me. This is why: the writing fee has to cover living expenses for the time it takes to write the sefer. If a scribe is going to write a Torah for a very low fee, he has to do it very fast, so as not to starve. I prefer not to approach a Torah at that speed; it generally results in writing of lesser quality. Alternatively, you can probably buy a very nice second-hand Torah in that price range. A nice second-hand Torah is likely to be nicer than a cheap new Torah.

How did you learn?

I studied various halachic books which taught me about the rules for forming the letters. Some of these books have pictures demonstrating how to form the letters, as well as exhaustive instruction, and thus I learned to make the letters. The rest is mostly practice. I also learned with a sofer in Jerusalem and a sofer in New York State, who taught me practical techniques, as well as picking up various pieces of information here and there.

That's not how people normally learn, is it?

No; generally people learn by apprenticeship. But it is hard to find a competent sofer who will take a woman as his apprentice. Women who want to be sofrot have to find other ways to learn.

How long did it take you to learn?

I started to study the script and halakhot in 2001. I wrote my first Megillah for Purim 2004. It could probably have been quicker, but it had to fit around my degree and my office job.

Can you teach me to be a sofer?

There are two aspects to creating kitvei kodesh (holy books): calligraphy and halakha. Calligraphy is 5% things you can be taught and 95% practice. I can show you how to handle a quill, but probably so too can many other people in more convenient locations. There are also web sites and books from which you can learn calligraphy. The halakha is mostly a matter of sitting down and applying yourself to learning it; minimally you need to learn the Mishnah Berurah, hilkhot tefillin 32 and 36, and Mishnat Soferim, which is available in English; and the Keset ha-Sofer, which is not available in English now available in English, courtesy of me :). I can help you with the halakha part. If you live in New York, you may be interested to know that I teach this halakha on a regular basis; get in touch if you'd like to join up.

I don't really care about the halakhic part, can you teach me to be a sofer anyway?

No. Sofrut without halakha is just calligraphy.

How do I know that what you write is kosher?

You have to trust me. This is the way with any sofer. There are many invisible ways to make a piece of writing non-kosher, and the buyer has to trust that the sofer has been honest enough to write it in a correct, kosher way. For this reason, the tradition requires that a sofer be scrupulous in his observance.

Are you certified?

Not yet. Certified usually means that your writing has an official stamp of approval from a professional associations, such as the Vaad Mishmereth Stam; this guarantees that the association is satisfied as to the knowledge, integrity, and skill of the sofer. My teacher (a certified sofer) in Jerusalem was satisfied with my skills, and I can provide character references if you require. The main problem is that I'm not a man.

Which denomination are you?

Orthodox people call me Conservative; Conservative people call me Orthodox. If that helps.

Do you write mezuzot?

According to normative Orthodox halacha as it is currently formulated, if I write tefillin or mezuzot, they will be pasul (unfit for use). I have accepted upon myself the obligation to lay tefillin, and if you hold that that makes me equally as obligated as a man in tefillin, you can be okay with using my writing; I discuss this here at more length. If you hold that my writing is consistent with your belief system, I will write for you, provided you understand that on certain opinions it will not be kosher, and provided you appreciate that (for example) giving a mezuzah by me to an Orthodox Jew without telling them I wrote it would be really, really mean.

Do you check tefillin?

See above entry on mezuzot, but if you're okay with that, a check-up is $35 plus shipping plus cost of any necessary repairs (about which I'll consult you first).

Do you make tefillin?

No. I write the insides, but I don't make the boxes. They're messy and you need more work space than I've got. If you want a complete set, you can either have me obtain housings for you and put them all together, or I can send you your parchments and you can have another sofer put them into the housings for you. There is simply masses of information about tefillin at Tefillin Beit El's site, including videos of how to tie the knots!

Did you go to art school?

No. My undergraduate degree is in mathematics, my graduate study is in Talmud. I took a pottery course for GCSE; that doesn't really count so much.

Where are you from?

My ancestral seat is in Southampton, UK (about an hour's drive south of London). My home community is in Oxford, UK (about an hour's drive west of London).