|
|
Sept. 7, 2007
Touching hands of holiness
Synagogue's new Torah is open to participation from community.
KELLEY KORBIN
It's the 613th commandment, but most of us never have the opportunity
to fulfil it. Deuteronomy 31:19 states, "Now write this song
for yourselves," meaning that each and every Jew should write
their own Torah scroll or have one written for them.
Now, members of Vancouver's Jewish community are being given a chance
to take part in the writing of a Torah through Congregation Har
El's Touching Torah project.
Har El has commissioned local soferet (Torah scribe) Avielah
Barclay to write its new Torah. When it is completed in 2008, the
scroll will be the first Torah completed by a female scribe in some
270 years.
In fact, Barclay, who is incredibly animated when discussing her
work and who looks younger than her 38 years, said her research
indicates that only 10 women in all of Jewish history have preceded
her in doing this kind of work, although she is working to ensure
that many more will follow in her footsteps.
"There will be more, because I don't want there to be little
blips in Jewish history of a soferet here and a soferet there, so
I have female students, and a male student as well, and there are
other women who have started on their own and, hopefully, being
a soferet will be a reasonable profession and will be something
that woman can choose to be," she said.
Barclay described her project for Har El as "a huge honor."
She continued, "It's very kaved, heavy. [Har El] gives
me a lot of responsibility and honor and respect and trust by asking
me to do it and that's a burden actually, a joyful burden, but it's
definitely not something to be taken lightly and I'm really grateful
for it and I hope that the work that I do is deserving for it."
Although Barclay, an observant Jew who attends an Orthodox synagogue,
became a certified soferet under the tutelage of Orthodox male scribes,
she said, "The majority of orthodoxy will not consider [Har
El's new Torah] kosher for public use. They may consider it kosher
for women to use or for people to use, but not to use ritually as
a sefer Torah, where you say a brachah on the bimah on it."
However, because Har El is a Conservative congregation, synagogue
president Candace Kwinter said that she has no concerns whatsoever
that the Torah Barclay writes will be kosher in the eyes of all
Conservative egalitarian synagogues and members. In fact, Kwinter
considers this as an opportunity to advance the recognition of women
as equals.
Har El's rabbi, Shmuel Birnham, said that he views Barclay's involvement
in the Touching Torah project as a boon to the entire process for
two main reasons: first, because she is local – unlike the
majority of congregations who have their scrolls written in New
York or Israel, the Torah will be written in Vancouver, giving community
members a unique opportunity for education and to be part of the
process of producing a Torah; second, because she is a woman.
Birnham said the process is empowering for women and girls in the
congregation. "And," he added, "it's wonderful for
boys to see a woman do this, too."
Last Thursday evening, Har El hosted a gala event to raise funds
for the Touching Torah project and to celebrate the 10th anniversary
of opening of the congregation's West Vancouver building.
Twenty-year community member Edith Stevenson was there to celebrate
the building that she and her husband Richard were an integral part
of creating. They will be writing a letter in the Torah in honor
of their two children, Anna and Matthew – Matthew became bar
mitzvah on the first Shabbat in the new building. "Having the
somewhat unique opportunity to actually help write a letter in a
Torah is very special for a young growing congregation such as Har
El," she said. "It's one more way to feel connected to
this place, which is very dear to me. So having all different kinds
of events, whether it's dinners or writing a Torah or planting plants,
cooking in the kitchen – they're all different ways of being
connected to the shul."
According to Kwinter, the cost of producing a Torah, including the
labor of the soferet and the materials involved, like the calfskin
parchment, is about $75,000. Har El is using the project as a fund-raiser
and is trying raise about $450,000 for its building fund. They are
currently about halfway to their goal.
All members of Vancouver's Jewish community are invited to fulfil
the 613th commandment by writing a letter, or even a chapter, of
the new Torah.
If you sponsor a letter, do you actually get to put ink to parchment
in the scroll? Not exactly. Har El is hosting sessions with Barclay,
where people who dedicate a letter have the opportunity to lay their
hand on that of the soferet as she writes the scroll.
Barclay said the first writing ceremony with Har El members, spanning
all generations, was very emotional. "It was amazing, all these
holy Jewish hands coming along and putting their hand on mine. It's
a way of approaching God, you're approaching with a capital 'A.'
I'm so lucky, I feel like I've been kind of adopted by Har El and
I'm very happy about that."
Birnham described the Torah writing experience as providing each
participant with a "visceral connection to a word, letter or
paragraph in the Torah." With 304,805 letters in the Torah,
it is an experience with a virtually unlimited number of participants
from our local community.
For more information, contact Har El at 604-925-6488.
Kelley Korbin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
^TOP
|
|
