Writing of new Torah scroll begins at Hillel
By Anna Andreyeva
Oct. 26, 2004 9:00 p.m.
A parchment of a new Torah was started at the Yitzhak Rabin
Hillel Center of Jewish Life at UCLA on Tuesday night.
In the opening ceremony, Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director of
the Center, introduced Rabbi Shmuel Miller, the scribe who will be
writing this Torah, and reflected on the meaning of the event.
“We have an opportunity in life to do something that
doesn’t bring satisfaction momentarily, but along with it
comes joy,” said Seidler-Feller. “What we are going to
start today will last for generations.”
Torah refers to the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Torah sometimes also refers to
the whole Bible (Old Testament) or even the whole body of the
Jewish teaching, written and oral.
After the opening words, Miller described the process of writing
the Torah. A parchment made from animal hide is used, as well as a
feather and ink to write.
He added that all of these materials have to be natural because
it is tradition.
A scribe also uses a sharp knife to remove a piece of the
parchment if a mistake is made and replace it with the correct
words. The scriptures used in services are all handwritten on
parchment scrolls by a sofer setam, or a ritual scribe.
Seidler-Feller explained that the scribes have to be trained
artistically in terms of calligraphy as well as in the rules that
they have to follow while writing the Torah.
The scribes also have to be pious, spiritual individuals, he
added.
In his speech, Miller pointed to the spiritual importance of the
process, stressing that once the parchment is written, there are no
further rituals that sanctify it since the process itself is
enough.
“When you write a Torah, you have to be in the word that
you are writing,” he added.
During a question and answer portion of the event which followed
Miller’s speech, participants had a chance to learn more
about the scribe himself as well as his work. One of the topics
raised at the event was the role of women as scribes of the
Torah.
Miller referred to beautiful manuscripts of difficult books in
Hebrew copied by women in Yeomen during the Middle Ages. Yet, due
to differing beliefs within Judaism, no universal conclusion can be
made regarding women as scribes of the Torah.
This discussion was followed by the introduction of Anna and
William Tenenblatt and Judy Weintraub, whose gift made this
possible. They dedicated the new Torah to their parents.
Later in the ceremony, Chad Rosen, a co-chair of the Student
Torah Campaign told of his own experience of writing a letter of
the Torah.
“What is so powerful is that every year when that portion
of the Torah is read, you recognize that that is the letter you
helped to write,” Rosen said. “It is a physical
connection that becomes spiritual and emotional.”
Rosen went on to point the participants’ attention toward
a hotly debated question regarding the language of the Torah.
The current Torah is written in the Aramaic language, however
arguments rage regarding whether it was originally written in Old
Hebrew and then translated into Aramaic or has always been in
Aramaic.
Sarah Tobin, also a co-chair of the Student Torah Campaign, was
the last speaker before the conclusion of the ceremony. She
encouraged the participants to partake in the writing of the Torah
by contributing funds toward certain letters in the scrolls.
The suggested donation amount is $18 per letter.
After her call, Miller wrote a few letters on the scroll, thus
symbolically beginning the nine-month process of writing a
Torah.
The inauguration was followed by music by Mayim Bialik and a
concert by Peter Himmelman.
“Writing the Torah carries with it an enormous emotional
and spiritual sense. This is our tradition. This is what we
bequeathed to the world,” Seidler-Feller said, referring to
the importance of the process itself as well as this particular
event at the Hillel Center.
