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Diary 11

Diary  11 - Mitsvot - gotta do 'em all. A textbook example.

A large part of my work as a sofer consists of checking and fixing rather than writing. 

One can roll a scroll from start to end looking for faded sections, blots, tears, holes etc. in a little under an hour if its in reasonably good nick, but if there is a lot wrong with it, then it can take many hours as you stop to make notes in your restoration report and to estimate likely time for repairs. After going through seven Sifrey Torah in a mammoth session at Edgware Reform Synagogue your wrists ache, your arms ache, your neck aches, your back aches and your legs ache.  In truth you are one big ache!  I had discovered the down side to sofrut!

On the plus side, I had seen seven very different scrolls each with their own individual character and each containing some ornamentation or special touch by a individual scribe trying to put their signature on the work - as it were. One heavy scroll had many extra tagin and additional large letters throughout. Another had a beautiful bridging tagin design right at the end (see diary 7) which was the scrolls only ornamentation.  More importantly, I had had a massive crash course on almost all of the problems that made scrolls pasul (invalid for public reading) and thus require attention before they can be used. For more details on that subject see my book "Care of Your Torah - A Guide" (Paperback, epub and PDF).

One error was literally a text book case and is described  in detail in a primary text, the Keset Hasofer (the inkwell of the scribe).

 

It involves a mem sofit and what happens when a drop of ink falls into the centre thus obscuring the form of the letter.  Scraping out the blot is no good as this would involve chok tochot (forming the letter by carving out) and in summary letter forms can only be made by ink (this by the way is a very very quick summary of pages and pages of halachic detail, opinions from early and late authorities, commentaries, super commentaries etc. etc.).  The whole letter must be scraped out and rewritten.
Above: stages of repair of the mem sofit. Photos © Mordechai Pinchas.
Lots of the halacha l'maaseh (laws of how to do it) are full of these hypothetical examples but to be faced with the real thing brings the word on the page alive. Having checked a scroll, faults should be rectified within 30 days (during which time the scroll should not be used). However I've had many many projects that have taken way longer than 30 days as the damage was so extensive. This is really referring to a minor repair where you shouldn't just leave it. Traditionally the binder is wrapped round the outside of the scroll to identify that the Torah cannot be used for public readings.  

This immediately cast my mind back to my first sewing lesson with Vivian. When I was younger my late great auntie Reggie from Poland had taught me how to knit and had also knitted me a Tom Baker Doctor Who scarf of stupendous proportions - which I obviously still have. However, I never ever thought that I would have to learn to sew! Sewing sofer-style, however is a bit different.

For a start, one uses giddin (spun sinews from a kosher animal), from the thigh or the heel and, secondly you are using a gold or silver plated needle (ideally no base metals) K'laf is pretty tough (which rhymes!) and it is quite an effort to pull it through the parchment. This is doubly hard on the last sheet that is attached in three, four or five places to the ets chayim. When I first did this I drew a diagram of what I was doing, so I wouldn't forget for the future (I’m no sailor and very bad with knots) and to be honest this is something I thought I would have to do a few times before it sank in. Indeed it took it did take some time for it to sink in but now I'm an old pro, but still no Popeye.

Fixing usually  involves sewing up sheets that have separated, gluing patches, filling in letters, straightening creases, cleaning parchment scraping out (where this is permissible) and writing anew.  It involves an assortment of materials, from glass scrapers to gold plated needles, glue to giddin (however not all the materials begin with the letter G).

Fixing my first Sefer Torah and making it kasher (valid) was an amazing feeling as according to the rabbis it is accounted to you as if you had written the whole thing and had received it directly from Mount Sinai.  This is recorded as the 613th commandment, and if you are in the game of collecting mitsvot (much like children collect Pokemon cards) then this is pretty much the equivalent of the ultimate mega level with additional power points!


Mitzvot card. no. 613. Idea and design © Mordechai Pinchas. (I've actually desigend a few of these and if anyone wants to commission me to create a full set I'm open - though probebaly wouldn't do all 613 as some of the more adult orientated mitsvot aren't entirely appropriate for a children's game). 


Mordechai Pinchas 
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