about the scribal arts

and general things having to do with the sacred scrolls...

I write stuff on the blog a lot quicker than I plumb it into this site, largely because no-one expects organised on a blog. Eventually, I unbloggify stuff and turn it into real web pages...eventually. This is mostly links to blog posts, with the occasional real page.

Holiness

• Writing surrounded by Torah - Part 1 and Part 2.
• Notes on Torahs in airports - transporting sifrei Torah requires care and attention. Also, notes on breaking shabbat to save Torahs.
• Why we don't use metal implements on Torahs

Parchment

All about parchment (aka klaf). Klaf in warm weather; in general klaf can be hard to write on.

Ink

Lots of stuff about ink. A description of identifying ink types with chromatography.

Quills

Quill cutting list. Description of tempering quills with sand.

Torahs and cruelty to animals

Parchment's made from animals...why not just write on paper? Exploring the ethical alternatives for vegetarians; a brief note that potentially even the ink is made from bugs.

How you know what to write

What scribes copy from - a tikkun soferim and how it is used. With a bit of discussion on historical tikkunim.

Sewing

How the finished sheets are sewn together; a digression on silk.

Fixing mistakes

What happens if you make a mistake? Part 1 and part 2. A digression on erasing God's Name. The principle of not carving to form a letter (aka hak tokhot). On repairing broken letters, and on seeing Torah repair as a metaphor for Life. Things you really never want to see - coffee rings, lipstick stains, and blots on Divine Names. But here is a cute little blot

The dots on the letters

The dots in the Torah. Why there are no vowels in the Torah; also there, the meaning of the dots in Genesis 18.

Odd letters

The big vav in gahon. Here's the deal with the stretchy letters, here's a bit about the inverted nuns, and here's a bit of fun with layout in the Priestly Blessing, Birkat Cohanim.

Taggin and other adornments

Several examples of fun with taggin; tzintzenet, which is lovely; some Eyes, and a flowery vav.

Appalling puns

Little water; outstretched arm; stretched-out stretchout

Scribal errors and documentary hypothesis

• Not-a-scribal-error in Genesis 29; by contrast, a really stupid scribal error.
• A list of the Written/Read discrepancies, Qeri/Ketiv, which might or might not have been scribal errors originally.
• Exploring the idea that people wrote the Torah - part 1, part 2.

Non-traditional scribes

Yes, there are problems. Valid ones. How should non-traditional scribes interact with other types of Jews?

Me on repairing tefillin

...it ain't easy.

Jen Taylor Friedman, 2009