Soferet: A Special Scribe is a 2006 television documentary about Aviel Barclay, who studied to become a sofer, which is a traditionally male position transcribing Jewish Hebrew texts. The documentary explains how she became the world's first known traditionally trained female scribe in October 2003.[1][2] The film explores the importance of the Torah in Jewish life, the perfection required to execute a kosher Torah scroll, and a feminist perspective on the battle waged by some Jewish women to assume responsibilities traditionally reserved for men.

Soferet: A Special Scribe
Aviel Barclay writing a Torah scroll
Directed byDonna and Daniel Zuckerbrot
Produced byDonna and Daniel Zuckerbrot
CinematographyAndrew Binnington
Edited byMichèle Hozer
Music byAaron Davis
John Lang
Release date
  • May 2006 (2006-05)
Running time
48 min.
CountriesCanada
Israel
United States
LanguageEnglish

Summary

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Barclay was born into a Christian family in Prince George, Canada.[3] As a girl, she enjoyed calligraphy and taught herself the letters of the Hebrew alphabet by the age of 10.[3] She converted to Judaism as an adult and joined the Orthodox Jewish community.[3] The film chronicles Aviel Barclay studying to become a sofer (Jewish scribe) in Orthodox Judaism.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Simchat Torah with a Soferet's Torah | Jewesses with Attitude". Archived from the original on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  2. ^ Lowenstein, Alice (June 3, 2005). "A Female Scribe's Trailblazing Effort". The Forward.
  3. ^ a b c "Soferet [videorecording]: A special scribe". University of Toronto Libraries. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
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