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CLOSEUP A Work of Many Generations A 4th-generation scribe discusses
an old tradition; [BROOKLYN Edition]
By Ray Smith. Newsday. (Combined editions). Long Island, N.Y.: Dec 11,
1991. pg. 27
Author(s): By Ray Smith
Section: NEWS
Publication title: Newsday. (Combined editions). Long Island, N.Y.:
Dec 11, 1991. pg. 27
Source Type: Newspaper
Abstract (Article Summary)
Temple Isaiah, a reform temple in Forest Hills, Queens, has declared
this Jewish calendar year the Year of the Torah - to mark the 500th
anniversary of the flight of Jews from persecution - and is
commissioning Klein to repair and dedicate two Torahs. One was brought
to this country by a Jewish woman fleeing Nazi persecution in the
1930s in the small village of Frankenau, Germany. The other Torah was
donated almost 45 years ago by a congregation member and has been kept
in storage.
According to Jewish law, every Jewish person is obligated to write a
Torah. They can fulfill that obligation by sponsoring a scribe to do
the writing. A scribe is the only person allowed to literally write
the Torah and serves as the agent or representative in fulfilling a
follower's obligation.
1) Newsday Photo by Jonathan Fine-Rabbi [Moshe Klein], a
fourth-generation scribe, repairs one of two Torahs the Temple Isaiah
has dedicated for the Year of the Torah. 2) Klein carefully touches up
letters in the Torah.
Rabbi Moshe Klein has been a professional scribe for almost 31 years.
"I am a fourth-generation scribe," Klein said. "There's not too many
of us left in this city."
He and his brother, Jacob Klein, co-owners of Klein Brothers, a small
shop in Borough Park, restore Torahs and sell embroidery for
synagogues and covers for Torahs.
Temple Isaiah, a reform temple in Forest Hills, Queens, has declared
this Jewish calendar year the Year of the Torah - to mark the 500th
anniversary of the flight of Jews from persecution - and is
commissioning Klein to repair and dedicate two Torahs. One was brought
to this country by a Jewish woman fleeing Nazi persecution in the
1930s in the small village of Frankenau, Germany. The other Torah was
donated almost 45 years ago by a congregation member and has been kept
in storage.
"We're providing Jewish residents a rare opportunity to fulfill a
commandment," said Rabbi Mayer Perelmuter of Temple Isaiah. "We're
giving people the chance to do something they might not have done
otherwise. They're finally getting a chance to fulfill a mitzvah ({a
commandment)} right in their own neighborhood."
Klein said he knew of only a handful of professional scribes in New
York City and most are based in Brooklyn. In continuation of a
tradition that has spanned many generations, Klein learned the trade
from his father who learned it from his father. The work on these
Torahs is expected to take two to three months to complete.
"When I was young, my grandfather would teach me how to write a Torah
- all the Jewish laws involved in writing a Torah," he said. "We would
practice and practice for days. Each letter had to be exact, he taught
me. He taught me when it was kosher to correct a mistake and when it
was not."
A Torah, considered the record of Jewish literature and oral
tradition, is a scroll on which the Pentateuch is written and is used
in synagogues during services. Torahs are kept in a woodcarved cabinet
called an ark.
According to Jewish law, every Jewish person is obligated to write a
Torah. They can fulfill that obligation by sponsoring a scribe to do
the writing. A scribe is the only person allowed to literally write
the Torah and serves as the agent or representative in fulfilling a
follower's obligation.
Klein learned how to use the feathered pen and ink made from
vegetables, to write the specific, detailed, almost-calligraphic
lettering from his grandfather.
The scribe must pronounce each word before he writes it, according to
Rabbi Klein. If a single word is misspelled or missing, the Torah is
deemed useless.
He also learned, when just a young man, how to clean the lime off of
the Torah with cleaning solutions: The animal skin is protected and
distilled in lime; when completed, the lime must be removed to prevent
deterioration. By cleaning the parchment, the Torah becomes softer and
less vulnerable to tear and easier to write on.
He also was taught how to care for each of the delicate and often
fragile Torahs. Since then, he and his brother have been restoring
Torahs at the shop.
Scribes do not to work on Friday and Saturday afternoons or on Jewish
holidays. Klein still employs the same writing methods his family did
years ago.
"Nothing has been modernized," he said. "We do everything the way my
grandparents did and the generations before them did. Everything is
done according to historical Jewish law." |
