Diary 3a
Diary 3a - a better m'zuzah
Having experienced the full true horror of my first attempt at writing a m'zuzah, if you have recovered sufficiently then as a reward you can see a m'zuzah
written a few years later and more representative of my actual writing style. Though even that changes over time as I become exposed to other scribes writing styles and make minor changes to how I write individual strokes of letters. It is a journey that is ever continuing.
Once upon a time I scanned in my writing and sent it to my teacher's teacher Eric Ray z"l and didn't say where it came from. "16th Century Poland," he duly suggested. And whilst I am not from 16th Century Poland (I'm not that old), some of my ancestors were, but more importantly the scribe I initially chose to emulate had clearly received his writing style from his teacher and he in turn from his teacher and so on, possibly going back to that time and place. Who knows?
One scribal colleague who runs a machon in Israel looked at my k'tav (script) and said "no-one writes like that any more" as apparently I have a very antiquated old-fashioned style. I took it a compliment, which it was.
Once upon a time I scanned in my writing and sent it to my teacher's teacher Eric Ray z"l and didn't say where it came from. "16th Century Poland," he duly suggested. And whilst I am not from 16th Century Poland (I'm not that old), some of my ancestors were, but more importantly the scribe I initially chose to emulate had clearly received his writing style from his teacher and he in turn from his teacher and so on, possibly going back to that time and place. Who knows?
One scribal colleague who runs a machon in Israel looked at my k'tav (script) and said "no-one writes like that any more" as apparently I have a very antiquated old-fashioned style. I took it a compliment, which it was.
Above: A 15x15cms m'zuzah that I wrote a few years after my first attempt. This one is also decorated with additionaltagin following some kabbalistic traditions. Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
I tend to like writing m'zuzot 10cms and above, anything smaller and the writing can become quite poor. Indeed many small m'zuzot in circulation are of questionable status if not pasul (invalid) because of this.
The old joke goes ... "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" to which the answer is ... "practice." The same goes for sofrut. Practicing both the calligraphic and the halachic aspects of sofrut is key.
Mordechai Pinchas
Below: My first ever m'zuzah, well over 20 years ago - very poor writing quality, but not absolutely horrendous for a first attempt. Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
I tend to like writing m'zuzot 10cms and above, anything smaller and the writing can become quite poor. Indeed many small m'zuzot in circulation are of questionable status if not pasul (invalid) because of this.
The old joke goes ... "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" to which the answer is ... "practice." The same goes for sofrut. Practicing both the calligraphic and the halachic aspects of sofrut is key.
Mordechai Pinchas
Below: My first ever m'zuzah, well over 20 years ago - very poor writing quality, but not absolutely horrendous for a first attempt. Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
