http://www.ctc-torah.org Congregation Toras Chaim of Dallas writes a sefer Torah Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:41:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Besides writing Torah scrolls, soferim must also be experts in the writing, manufacture, and maintenance of tefillin.  When not working on the CTC Sefer Torah, this is what I am up to...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2010/07/tefillin-the-making-of-a-royal-crown/ [caption id="attachment_886" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Today's Writing!"][/caption]Am back into the full swing of writing now that my back is working properly again.  To ensure that I can continue to write comfortably, I built a new writing table out of birch.   The design is based upon one that I found in ...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2010/05/todays-writing-2/ Our series on the forms of the Hebrew Letters continues with... Gimmel!http://www.ctc-torah.org/2010/04/the-hebrew-letters-iv-gimmel/ [caption id="attachment_873" align="aligncenter" width="502" caption="Middle Six Lines of Amud 29 - Click to Enlarge!"][/caption] http://www.ctc-torah.org/2010/03/todays-writing-middle-6-lines-of-column-29/ Who knew safrus was such backbreaking labor?Unfortunately, I suffered some terrible back problems over the past few months and had to curtail my writing.   After a good deal of physical therapy and medication, I'm easing back into writing and posting.I am a little behind schedule now, but not badly ...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2010/03/the-ingredients-part-vi-the-tikkun-b/ [caption id="attachment_851" align="aligncenter" width="366" caption="The 7th Yeria - All Done!"][/caption]The seventh yeria is all done ! Everything went pretty much as expected - no real surprises.You may notice that the writing looks  closer in some sections here that it has in previous yerios.  This is because this yeria contains a ...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2010/01/yeria-7-done/ [caption id="attachment_846" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Checking, Fixing, Tagging..."][/caption]Long night of checking the 7th yeria, doing some corrections, and adding in taggim where needed to wrap it up.   By tomorrow afternoon the entire 7th yeria should be done and I will post some pics.The Second part of the post in the Tikkun ...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2010/01/7th-done-just-have-to-wrap-up-a-few-details/ [caption id="attachment_841" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="My "Gloopy" Alef"][/caption]The 7th yeria was just going swimmingly - no quill issues, good clean klaf, and then: Blorp!-  the quill just belched forth this massive amount of ink and my beautiful Alef  turned into, well, what you see above.Usually, after dipping the quill in the ink, ...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2009/12/oopsspoo/ What is the point of all the scribal laws? Why must the Torah be copied by hand? Why must the sofer endure such a long and arduous process?The answer to these questions requires us to understand the purpose of the sofer.Soferim are more than just copyists; they are entrusted ...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2009/12/the-ingredients-part-vi-the-tikkun/ A big yasher koach ("More power to you!") to Mr. Nathan Bradbury and Family for sponsoring Sunday's writing! Attached below is a picture of the section completed as per their sponsorship: the bottom 21 lines of column 25, which covers Eliezer's taking of Rivkah as a wife for Yitzchok.As ...http://www.ctc-torah.org/2009/12/thank-you-bradburys/