Was out of town over the weekend – but am back at at the writing table again.   Today I wrapped up Parshas Bereishis – the first section of the traditional division of the Torah.

The Torah is read publicly every Shabbos of the Jewish year.  The Rambam (known to the rest of the world as  Maimonidies), in his Mishna Torah,  Laws of Tefillin, Mezuza, and Sifrei Torah, Chapter 8, provides a division of the Torah into 54 parshiyos (divisions) based upon Masoretic traditions evidenced by the Aleppo Codex.  Following this division, the public reading of the entire Torah is completed each year of the Hebrew Calendar with adjustments made to accommodate leap years and the schedule of holidays.

The first of these 54 divisions is Bereishis (Genesis 1:1 – 6:8), which spans the creationg of the world to the generation of Noach.

I will be posting photos of the completed parsha tomorrow afternoon along with some new videos.

Check back then!

Hello, Friends!

Here are the first two videos in a series on the form of the Hebrew Letters. The Torah scroll is written in a special script called ksav ashuris. Governed by a unique blend of Kabbala (Jewish mysticism) and Halacha (Jewish religious law), the form of each Hebrew letter in this special script communicates worlds of meaning in both the hidden and revealed realms.

These two videos are the first two in the series and serve to introduce some basic concepts. My goal will be to post 1 to 2 new videos per week , so please check back regularly, and please remember to show your support by donating toward the completion of this exciting project!

Tonight I put the finishing touches on the 4th and 5th columns of the Sefer Torah.  Here are a couple of photos:

Second Sheet, Completed 4th & 5th Columns

The 4th and 5th Column

"Said Cain: 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" And HE said: 'What is this that you have done? Your brother's bloods cry out to me from the earth! And now, accursed shall you be...'"

Detail of the Ksav in the 4th and %th Columns

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(Kulmus cutting continued…)

We last left off in the last post just having marked guidelines for cutting the nib:

And now we go on to finishing cutting the kulmus (quill)…
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In the second column of the first yeriah you will find the first of several letters that must be written small.  This is the letter  “hey” in the word behibaram, “…when they were created”:

Why is this letter small?  What must any letters be written small?

There are  several different ways of interpreting these small letters…
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