4/25/2023 0 Comments Scribe meaningYet, women are permitted to inscribe Ketubot (marriage contracts), STaM not intended for ritual use, and other writings of sofrut beyond simple STaM. However, today, virtually all Orthodox (both Modern and Ultra) authorities contest the permissibility of a woman's writing a sefer Torah. While Arba'ah Turim does not include women in its list of those ineligible to write Sifrei Torah, some see this as proof that women are permitted to write a sefer Torah. Women and sofrut įorming the basis for the discussion of women becoming soferim, Talmud Gittin 45b states, "Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzot written by a heretic, a star-worshipper, a slave, a woman, a minor, a Cuthean, or an apostate Jew, are unfit for ritual use." The rulings on mezuzot and tefillin are virtually undisputed among those who hold to the Talmud. Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillin u'Mezuzah v'Sefer Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit), though before Mishneh Torah, their standard was based on the Rama, i.e. īaladi Rite Yemenite (Teimani) scribes try to follow as closely as possible only the instruction of the Rambam, i.e. Sephardic soferim rely, in addition to Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillin u'Mezuzah v'Sefer Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit), on Arba'ah Turim, Beit Yosef on Tur, and Shulchan Arukh. The main texts from which Ashkenaz soferim learn the scribal art include the Keset Ha-Sofer, Chasdey David, Mishnah Berurah (24-45), Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillin u'Mezuzah v'Sefer Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit), Mishnat Hasofer, Mishnat Sofrim, and the Likkut Sifrey Stam. The Torah Scribe by Maurycy Gottlieb, National Museum, Wrocław This process does, however, ensure that a certified sofer has received the proper education and is a recognized expert in the field of sofrut. Some people who want to become ritual scribes learn at the Vaad Mishmereth STaM, an international organization whose goal is to protect the halachic and artistic integrity of the scribal arts, located in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak in Israel, as well as in Brooklyn, New York, United States studying comes with the option of receiving a certificate, though certification of this sort is not a halachic requirement, nor does it necessarily guarantee the quality of a particular sofer's work. The hardest part about learning to be a sofer is not the calligraphy, but, rather, remembering the thousands of laws that apply to sifrei Torah, tefillin, mezuzot, and all the other texts that are written on parchment. Newly certified scribes write Megilat Esther scrolls. People who want to become ritual scribes usually learn from another expert scribe by undergoing shimush (apprenticeship), since it would be impossible for someone to be a scribe without any actual practice. It is a common misconception that one has to be a rabbi in order to become a sofer. Qualifications and education Ī sofer must be religiously observant, of good character, and knowledgeable about the laws concerning sofrut. In the Torah's 613 commandments, the second to last is that every Jew should write a sefer Torah before they die. The major halakha pertaining to sofrut, the practice of scribal arts, is in the Talmud in the tractate " Maseket Sofrim". Many scribes also function as calligraphers-writing functional documents such as ketubot (marriage contracts), or ornamental and artistic renditions of religious texts, which do not require any scribal qualifications, and to which the rules on lettering and parchment specifications do not apply. Besides sifrei Torah, tefillin, and mezuzot, scribes are necessary to write the Five Megillot (scrolls of the Song of Songs, Book of Ruth, Book of Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Book of Lamentations), Nevi'im (the books of the prophets, used for reading the haftarah), and for gittin, divorce documents. A Middle Eastern sofer sews together the pieces of parchmentĪ sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M ( Hebrew: סופר סת״ם, "scribe" plural of sofer is soferim, סופרים) is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Sifrei Kodesh (holy scrolls), tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot ( ST"M, סת״ם, is an abbreviation of these three terms) and other religious writings.īy simple definition, soferim are copyists, but their religious role in Judaism is much more.
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