sofrut (ritual hebrew calligraphy)

As a Soferet Sta”m, I am part of a long tradition of Jewish scribes. Until the early 2000s, this tradition was primarily relegated to men. However, in recent years there has been a small but growing cohort of female scribes—including myself—who fully embrace the halachic (ritual laws) of sofrut and are committed to opening it up to a wider range of practitioners and communities. As such, I work with traditional materials: vellum, quills, ink and gid (string made from tendon).

As part of a holistic sofrut practice, I am committed to sharing what I know. This manifests itself in a couple of ways:

1. I am a proud member of the Stam Scribes scribal collective, and helped craft our ethics statement with Linda Kaye.

2. I bring my conservation background to Torah repair: I am one of only a few people in the world who is professionally trained in conservation, as well as in the halacha of sofrut. I have worked to develop methods of Torah repair that are sensitive to the long-term health of the scroll, as well as its halachic standing.

3. I teach students, both privately, and in larger classes. If you are interested in private lessons, or setting up a workshop with your community, contact me here. If you would like to hear about upcoming group classes, join my mailing list at the bottom of this page.

4. I am working on an updated version of the standard collection of halachic texts for learning sofrut. For many of my students, learning with nikkud (vowels) or translation is really challenging. With my husband, Jackson Mercer, and my chevruta, Linda Kaye, we are putting together a book entitled Ot Hi Le’olam which will be a compendium of halachic texts, improved diagrams, and educational indices.

I am currently only taking on Torah repair work.

Here are a few examples of my past work: