Yid By Choice

Ivrit (עברית) – Hebrew – is a Semitic (Northwest Semitic) language and one of the world’s oldest languages. The name Ivrit is derived from Ever (עבר), the son of Shem. Ever means “a region across or beyond” and is derived from Avar (עבר) which means “to cross over”. It is taught by the rabbis that Ivrit was the original language given to Adam and remained the only language until the time of the Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11:7-9: (7) Come, let us descend and confuse their language, so that one will not understand the language of his companion.” (8) And the Lord scattered them from there upon the face of the entire earth, and they ceased building the city. (9) Therefore, He named it Babel, for there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth, and from there the Lord scattered them upon the face of the entire earth.

Like many other languages, Ivrit began as a pictographic script.

Proto-Sinaitic /Proto-Canaanite

Proto-Sinaitic Script is the stage of the alphabet at the end of the Middle Bronze Age. During the Late Bronze Age, the script splits into the South Arabian and the Canaanite groups. The script became well-known from a series of inscriptions from c.1700 BCE in turquoise mines at Serabit al-Khadim in Sinai. Other examples were found in Shechem, Gezer, and Lachish. The discovered texts are in West Semitic Canaanite which means the origin of the script was in a Semitic area. This script was inspired by the Egyptian hieroglyphs based upon “similarities of signs and the basic acrophonic principle”. The Semitic word for the object of the original pictograph is the starting point and the first letter of that word is the value of the sign. For example, house is “beit” so the pictograph for house was used for the consonant “b”.¹

Proto-Hebrew/Aramaic

The Proto-Hebrew alphabet developed during the late tenth or early ninth century BCE, replacing cuneiform as the main writing system in the Assyrian Empire. At the end of the sixth century BCE, the Proto-Hebrew alphabet was replaced by the Hebrew square script (also known as the Aramaic alphabet).²

The earliest known inscription in Paleo-Hebrew was discovered in 2005 on a 38-pound limestone boulder embedded in a wall at Tel Zayit (located in the Beth Guvrin Valley). The inscription was determined to be an abecedary – letters of the alphabet written out in sequence. This raises the possibility of formal scribal training at Tel Zayit in the late tenth century BCE.³ The Gezer Calendar, discovered in 1908, is an engraved limestone tablet written in Paleo-Hebrew. The script dates to the tenth century BCE and cites an annual cycle of agricultural activities that begin in the Hebrew month of Tishri.⁴

Samaritan Alphabet

The Samaritan alphabet – which is used to this day – was derived from the Proto-Hebrew alphabet.

Aramaic/Hebrew Block Script

After the sixth century BCE Babylonian captivity, the Jews adopted the Classic Hebrew script. The Aramaic characters were chosen as the official script for the Sefer Torah by the Jews who were captive in Babylon.

STAM

STAM is a stylized version of the Hebrew block letters used specifically for writing Sefer Torah, Tefillin, and Mezuzah.

Rashi Script

Rashi script is used in commentaries to Jewish texts – especially the Talmud. It is named after Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi) who was a medieval Jewish scholar and Biblical commentator.

Hebrew Cursive

The modern Hebrew cursive script derives from Ashkenazi Jews.

Ivrit is divided into four basic periods by scholars.

1. Biblical/Classical Hebrew is the form of Ivrit in which the Tanach was written.

2. Mishnaic/Rabbinic Hebrew is the form of Ivrit in which the Talmud and Midrash were written.

3. Medieval Hebrew is the form of Ivrit that was used by Maimonides and other medieval scholars to translate Arabic works into Ivrit.

4. Modern Hebrew is the form of Ivrit that was developed in the nineteenth century as an attempt to bring Ivrit back into the modern-day usage of the Jews.

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¹Healey, J.F. Reading the Past: The Early Alphabet (Berkley, California: University of California Press, 1990), p. 16-18 [http://books.google.com]

²Omniglot Aramaic/Proto-Hebrew Alphabet [http://www.omniglot.com/writing/aramaic.htm]

³Tappy, R. E. The Tel Zayit Inscription: An Archaeological Benchmark in the History of Writing [http://www.zeitah.net/UpdateTelZayit.html]

⁴Jewish Virtual Library Gezer Calendar [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_07263.html]

Aramaic, Block Script, Cursive Hebrew, Hebrew, Ivrit, Paleo-Canaanite, Paleo-Hebrew, Rashi Script, Samaritan, Semitic Language, sofer, Soferet, STAM

Calligraphy, Contemporary Jewish Museum, Hebrew, Ivrit, Julie Seltzer, Ritual Scribe, Sefer Torah, sofer, Soferet, Torah Scroll

Behind a Glass Wall: Work on Masada’s Torah Scroll

(IsraelNN.com) A ritual scribe has begun spending his days behind a glass wall in the famous Masada synagogue – writing a Torah scroll to be installed there.

[snip]

Hard at work throughout the day, the scribe can be seen through the glass by the many tourists who visit the famous site.

[snip]

Some time in January, the donor is scheduled to arrive in Israel and will install an internet video connection, so that the work can be tracked, letter by holy letter, in real time.

Jewish, Judaism, Masada, scribe, sofer, Torah

Just a quick update on my practice. Things have been hectic in life so I have not been practicing like I really should be practicing!

Bereishit (Genesis) 1:1 (my name is on the last line)

Yes, I know this is very sub-par but I am working on it. I have also finally learned more control over the formation of the letters.

So, here is a bit about Bereishit 1:1….

בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

בְּרֵאשִׁית

Traditional translation: In the beginning

בְּ
Prefix: In

רֵאשִׁית
Feminine Noun: Beginning, First, Chief, Choice Part

ראש
(Rosh) Root – Masculine Noun: Head (animals, mankind), Top/Tip (mountain), Height (stars), Chief/Head (mankind, city, nation, place, family, priest), Front, Beginning, Choicest, Division, Company, Band, Sum

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בָּרָא

Traditional translation: Created

Verb (Qal Perfect): Hashem is always the subject.
To create, shape, fashion (of heaven and earth, of individual man, of new conditions and circumstances, of transformation)

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אֱלֹהִים

Traditional translation: God

(Elohim) Masculine Noun: Traditional translation (plural intensive-singular meaning): God, Goddess, Godlike one, Works or Special Possessions of God, The (true) God

אלוה

(Eloh) Root – Masculine Noun: God, False god

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אֵת

Particle: Sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative

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הַשָּׁמַיִם

Traditional translation: The heaven

הַ

(Ha) Prefix: The

שָּׁמַיִם

Masculine Noun: Heaven (abode of God), Heaven, Heavens, Sky

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וְאֵת

Traditional translation: And

וְ

Prefix: And

אֵת

Particle: Sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative

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הָאָרֶץ

Traditional translation: The earth

הַ

(Ha) Prefix: The

אָרֶץ

Traditional translation: Earth

(Eretz) Feminine Noun: Land, Earth, Ground, Surface of the Earth

Bereishit, Genesis, Hebrew, Jewish, Judaism, sofer, Soferet, Torah

This is just a quick update to my original post.

I have been re-learning Hebrew. I can read Hebrew (with the vowels) and I can read some non-voweled Hebrew. Of course, I need to get much better at reading the non-voweled Hebrew before I could ever study to become a soferet [female scribe]. I am increasing my vocabulary and learning the grammar of Hebrew. In addition, I am attempting to learn to read Hebrew without the vowels.

I have also begun to dabble in the calligraphy (STaM) of the Torah. I am not very good and it has been a long time since I even tried my hand at any calligraphy. I obviously have a long way to go with this aspect of being a soferet as well. Below you will see an example of my work (click on the picture for a larger size). I wrote Bereishit 1:1 [Genesis 1:1] in STaM (I used a Tikkun as my guide) with a Sharpie. I was just trying to get a feel for how the letters were formed. Note: I did not write the Name of G-d (Elohim) because of religious restrictions regarding the writing of the Names of G-d.

I also wrote the same verse in Arabic (with a Precise Rolling Ball pen) just to try out my hand at Arabic calligraphy.

scribe, sofer, Soferet, Tanach

In the past I have toyed with the idea of becoming a rabbi. I have researched various schools and what would be required for ordination. I have also researched (for good or bad) the economic aspects of being a rabbi. After much soul searching and speaking with others, I believe that the rabbinate is not for me (at least at this point in my life). So I began looking for other ways to become a teacher within the Jewish world. Thus, I came across the idea of a soferet (female scribe).

I have always had a flair for artistic work. I had initially gone to college with the idea of being an art teacher. After many starts and stops I finally gave up on my artistic dreams (after all, I had to get a �real� job) but that doesn�t mean that I have completely given up on doing something � even as a hobby � in the art world. So when I began reading about Jen Taylor Friedman�s and Aviel Barclay�s forays into the world of the soferim (scribes), I became intrigued. I have begun picking up my calligraphy pens again and practicing basic calligraphy with the hopes of moving toward Hebrew script within the next few months. I have to say that Jen and Aviel have been inspirations to me in my quest to find my space within the Jewish world.

Sofrut – the Jewish scribal art – is a tradition stretching back for several thousands of years. For the “People of the Book,” texts of various kinds are a fundamental part of religious life, whether for communal or personal use. Sofrut requires a good deal of calligraphic skill, but no less importantly, a large amount of technical expertise, both practical and theoretical. We would expect no less for the creation of these artifacts [sic], which have been a central focus of our tradition throughout the ages.�

Women have, by and large, not been part of this tradition. Indeed, the Talmud states unequivocally that if women write sifrei Torah, tefillin, or mezuzot, they are pasul, or unfit for use. Halacha is a dynamic process, changing with the needs of communities, and a very few women in history are said to have been soferot accepted by their contemporaries. Today, there are a very, very few women practicing [sic] sofrut.

What does it mean for a woman to practice [sic] sofrut if her work is unfit for use? Of course, in the egalitarian movements, it is more a question of numbers – even though ideologically there is no problem, in actual fact, there are still very few women involved. Even in the non-egalitarian movements, there is still a conceptual space for women to be soferot. Sofrut encompasses many different texts, and not all of these are invalid if written by women. In these cases, using a text written by an observant woman is a powerful gesture, supporting women’s involvement in the community, whilst remaining within halachically-defined boundaries.

Source: Jen Taylor Friedman

Hebrew, sofer, Soferet, Tanach