Friday, May 11, 2012

Woman Scribe will Write Out the Entire Text of the Torah The Contemporary Jewish Museum


Art Knowledge News - 09 May 2012
artwork: Scribe Julie Seltzer - As It Is Written: Project 304,805, at The Contemporary Jewish Museum - Photo: Bruce Damonte
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- It begins with parchment, ink, a hand-sharpened feather quill, and a scribe who states out loud the intention to write a Torah scroll, the most holy and important object in Judaism. One year, 62 sheets, 248 columns, 10,416 lines, and finally 304,805 letters later, it is written. 
Starting this October, the Contemporary Jewish Museum presents As It Is Written: Project 304,805, an exhibition centered around a soferet (a professionally trained female scribe) who while on public view will write out the entire text of the Torah over the course of a full year. She will be one of the few known women to complete an entire Torah scroll, an accomplishment traditionally exclusive to men.

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