From http://www.neighborsgo.com/stories/44627

Levine Academy Students Learn the

Art of Writing Ancient Texts

Rabbi Bloomenstiel shows the Levine Academy Kindergarten students a 500-year-old section of the Torah

In an age when email has replaced posted mail, when desktop publishing has replaced typesetting, when an iPod has replaced a CD, and when a Kindle has replaced the printed book, there is one thing has not been touched by time or technology: the writing of the Sefer Torah – the Five Books of Moses. A scribe of the 21^st Century creates the Torah in exactly the same manner as a scribe from thousands of years ago; both governed by extremely strict rules to ensure that the Torah is kosher or proper/pure.

On Tuesday, October 20, Torah Scribe Rabbi Avraham Bloomenstiel captivated the Levine Academy students by sharing the secrets of this ancient craft. Unlike any other document or book, he told the students, the Torah must be created by following a set of very stringent guidelines…

First and foremost, all items used in the processmust be made entirely of natural materials. That means using kosher ink, made from gall-nut juice and gum; a quill made from a kosher animal such as turkey or goose feather; and parchment made from the skin of a kosher animal such as a cow. Moreover, not a single character of the Torah may be written from memory. The scribe must copy, by hand, each letter from a Torah that has been deemed perfect. Should the scribe make one mistake, that page is considered damaged and may have to be buried in a cemetery, according to Jewish law. According to Rabbi Bloomenstiel, the text must be 100 percent accurate. An elaborate system of editing and proofreading is designed to make sure the Torah is pristine.

Rabbi Bloomenstiel shows the students a completed portion of a New Torah scroll.

The students had an opportunity to see an actual 500-year-old section of a Torah scroll, the Rabbis’ quill and the ink, and section of the Torah Rabbi Bloomenstiel has recently completed. The Rabbi has been commissioned to create a Torah for his congregation, Congregation Toras Chaim in Dallas. The Torah will take over one year to complete.