It is the very last of the 613 mitzvot commanded in the Torah: “Write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel.”
“We as a people are charged with the responsibility of keeping and guarding our [Torah] scrolls,” explained sofer (Torah scribe) Neil Yerman. “In the mitzvot, it is clear that the entire community is responsible.”
Yerman was in Milwaukee last week to help fulfill that mitzvah for the children and parents of the Milwaukee Jewish Day School, as their school community together restored a sefer Torah.
The project, which was funded by the Helen Bader Foundation, was the brainchild of Rabbi Philip Nadel, MJDS rabbi. He saw that the Torah being used by the school had fallen into some disrepair, necessitating a change.
“We had three options,” Nadel said in an interview. “We could commission a new Torah scroll, repair the one we had, or acquire and restore a previously owned scroll — one that is no longer being used at a synagogue.”
Nadel had been in contact with Yerman, a sofer based in Manhattan who scribed Congregation Shalom’s Torah in honor of Rabbi Ronald Shapiro a few years ago. Yerman set about contacting dealers in Torah scrolls, as this seemed the best, most cost-effective option for MJDS.
Like a shadkhan (matchmaker) matching bride to groom, Yerman found a perfect scroll for the day school.
“He found one that was 100 years old, written most likely in Poland,” Nadel said. “He described the ink as well-absorbed, and said it was in wonderful condition but needed restoration.”
“Best of all, the size was right for us — not very large, a good weight and size for schools to use with children,” he added.
The timing for this Torah restoration project was equally perfect, he said, dovetailing with the Community Capital Project, which included major renovations to the Karl Jewish Community Campus, where the school is housed.
“Part of the campaign included construction of a new beit midrash [house of learning] where we hold daily tefillah [prayer] service,” Nadel said. “It’s a brand new room, a brand new aron hakodesh [ark] — a beautiful new space. The beit midrash has been evolving into the place it needs to be for this school.
“As we continued the process of beautifying the space as a special place in our school, I felt the time was right to get a new Torah scroll in this ark,” Nadel explained.
Each letter matters
Involved in Judaic art for 23 years, Yerman has worked with hundreds of synagogues but said that it is “very rare” for a school to write or restore a Torah scroll.
After arriving in Milwaukee on Tuesday, March 20, Yerman worked for three days with MJDS students from kindergarten through eighth grade, teaching them about the customs of a scribe and the rules involved in writing a sefer Torah.
The students, in turn, got the chance to be hands-on participants in the restoring of a Torah.
“They cleaned the scroll, reinforced the binding, prepared the parchment itself for writing, prepared the new cover and the new atzay chaim (wooden rollers),” Nadel said.
They also scanned the letters with Yerman, identifying those that were chipped, cracked or faded.
“There are 304,805 letters in the Torah,” Yerman explained. “All 304,805 must be in. Even with one cracked letter, it’s not a Torah.”
After school and in the evenings, MJDS families had the opportunity to restore the scroll with Yerman, holding the quill and following his directions to guide the ink in making perfect letters.
Prior to each writing session, Yerman spoke with families about the commandment and the letters. He explained that each Hebrew letter is its own symbol; when one is fractured (as in an older Torah), its meaning is unclear.
“What’s in a letter?” he asked the families gathered on one of the evenings. “Each letter represents names of teachers, of grandparents, all those who have contributed to the knowledge of Torah,” he said.
Following a brief blessing for those assembled, Yerman called each family up one at a time. Children and adults put their hand just above his own on the quill, and he talked to them about their letter, gently directing them with his words.
“Okay, now we will go to your left. There, and now straight down. That was perfect!” he cried, offering his hand for a warm handshake, then on to the next person.
Yerman chanted each letter as he wrote, something that he said some scribes do and others don’t. To him, “chanting each letter while scribing somehow adds beauty to the letter.”
For the families participating — most of whom had never written a Torah before — the experience was meaningful.
“We are leaving our mark — literally,” said Sara Shutkin, who came to an evening session with her husband, Scott Woskoff, and their son Zev, 9. “MJDS has been a wonderful school for Zev, and it’s nice to be a part of this.”
Zev was especially fascinated by the symbolism of the letters.
“I didn’t know that math and geometry and history can all be combined into one letter,” he said.
Jaime Miller attended one of the evening sessions with his daughter, Erin, 12. He, too, liked the idea of helping to create the scroll.
“The Torah will be at the school for a long time to come, and it’s a way for us to leave our mark, to know that this Torah will be passed along to other students,” he said.
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