Diary 8
Diary 8 - black bin liners and piles of parchment.
My first visit to another sofer
with Vivian was like a visit to an Aladdin’s cave. Packed into every nook and cranny were parts of scrolls, some large, some small, some Sefardi
some Beyt Yoseph, some Beyt Ari
and one Yemenite scroll written not on k’laf
but on leather g'vil. I'm also pleased to say I found the original photos (not digital) and re-scanned them at higher resolution below.
The most surreal thing that day were the black bins liners that were chock full of bits of Sefer Torah that the sofer would use to create a 'new' one - a patchwork scroll if you will - or patch in for repairs. The photo of the Bamidbar bag below is one example. How did he know which bits were which and which he had so that he could match up? He kept it in his head! Matching up scrolls is easier nowadays as for the last century plus they have been written largely to the same format - vavey ha'amudim with 42 lines but they didn't always used to be like that (see Sefer Torahfor more details).
Above: a bin bag full of bit of
Bamidbar. Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
On the floor of the room was a pile of atsey chayim
- wooden rollers. When working on a Torah, often scribes will remove these as they make handling difficult and surprisingly one does have to be quite physical moving the rolled up scrolls around and they aren’t as delicate as people think. I tend to leave them on unless they need repair or replacement.
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. However, I never dreamt 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. I tried to make a diagram of what I was doing for the future (I’m no sailor and very bad with knots) and to be honest this is something I would have to do a few times before it sinks in. (and indeed it took it did take some time for it to sink in but now I'm an old pro but still no Popeye).
Below: a pile of loose atsey chayyim - not something you see every day either.Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
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. However, I never dreamt 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. I tried to make a diagram of what I was doing for the future (I’m no sailor and very bad with knots) and to be honest this is something I would have to do a few times before it sinks in. (and indeed it took it did take some time for it to sink in but now I'm an old pro but still no Popeye).
Below: a pile of loose atsey chayyim - not something you see every day either.Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
But I’m digressing. As well as my first visit to a scribal studio, we also visited UK no. 1 scribe on that day. Two for the price of one. Ostensibly it was to see a gizmo he had made to help cut quills at a consistent angle and to get Vivian to make him some wooden bits for his gizmo and also for Vivian to see whether a scroll he had been given to look at by a community was kasher. However I tagged along with my m'gillah
for some serious appraisal. Aha the m'gillah
- you though I’d forgotten about that didn’t you? But what did he think? Find out next time!
Mordechai Pinchas
Below: another pile of bits of Torah with more bin bags behind. Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
Mordechai Pinchas
Below: another pile of bits of Torah with more bin bags behind. Photo © Mordechai Pinchas.
