Study Torah Online: Live and Interactive Torah Learning with Rabbi Eliyahu Shear
Online Torah Lessons / Online Torah Study / Jewish Learning and Spirituality for All! Live and Interactive Learning One-On-One! Private Consultations and Spiritual Coaching! Jewish Mentoring / Jewish Coaching / Torah-Based Mentoring
If you’ve been keeping your eye on our site, you’d see that not so long ago we were involved in producing a series of lectures given by my Sofer teacher – Dr Michael Khanin – discussing some amazing things about the world of Sofrut. We’re still involved – and we’d like to produce more of these videos too. But let me share with you something else…
Continue reading “Join Our Project in Adding Subtitles and Translations to Rabbi Michael Khanin’s Sofer Videos”
Eliyahu Shear wishes you a Chag Purim Somayach – a Happy Purim! Additionally you can find out a beautiful message about Purim and masks! If you’ve wanted to learn about Sofrut – watch this video and take a look at a Megillah that Eliyahu wrote and find out how you can learn to become a Sofer yourself!
Continue reading “Happy Purim! Masks! Now YOU Become the Sofer!”
In this beautiful video, Dr Michael Khanin (Expert Sofer Stam) shows us how to make an Ashkenazi Kulmus. In addition, the viewer will see a lot more about the beauty of the letters that are written in the various sacred writings of the Torah. Sofrut must surely be one of the most beautiful and meaningful professions in the Jewish world and it can become a lifetime of activity for those who wish to bring holiness into all their work! Enjoy the video!
Continue reading “How to Make a Kulmus – a Superb Video”
Dr Michael Khanin was the last Sofer to leave the USSR. He is also my teacher in learning about the very special profession and work of a Sofer. In this video, Dr Khanin shares with us his amazing story of how he came to be involved in Sofrut and his journey from the USSR to Israel. The viewer has the opportunity to also see him working through a variety of video clips shared in the video as well as a few individual pictures showing the quality of his beautiful writing.
Continue reading “The Last Soviet Sofer – The Story of Dr Michael Khanin”
Purim is over – for this year… but it’s always good to remain connected with happy times! Here are some video clips showing the largest Megillah written in the world. It was completed in 2017 (where have I been?!) Being a Sofer, it is interesting to see this massive document. On the other hand, the Mitzvah of writing a Megillah by no means extends to breaking world records. Rather, one writes to fulfill the Mitzvah of reading (literally hearing) the Megillah. Of course, if one’s eye-sight is not up to par and one actually needs a world-record-size Megillah, then it’s all the more so worthwhile! The Megillah is 27 Metres long and is written on deer skin.
*Picture above is three columns of a Megillah I wrote
With less than a week to go – and no place on the map to move to yet, my stress levels are definitely the highest – I think – than they have ever been in my life before.
The picture is by no means of me… but it certainly tells the story well enough. Ambivalence… that feeling of complete conflict and not knowing which direction to take. Some may call it cognitive dissonance. You know one way is better, but you can’t take it… or perhaps you actually want to do it, but you can’t because there’s just too much else going on…
We had got on to learning how to write. As I mentioned before, when one begins learning to write, one starts off without ink! One starts off without a kulmus (quill)! In fact, one starts off with a pencil and paper. Not just one pencil – but two.
Things were progressing “nicely” if one could say that. I had now studied the laws in the Shulchan Aruch together with the Mishnah Berurah. We had gone through the questions related to the learning. I had made a find – the Keset HaSofer! It was time to start learning how to actually write!
I had worked my way through the Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah Chapter 32, paragraphs 1-36. Together with my teacher, we had read every part, discussed the basics (I point out clearly – the basics) of the Halachah and gone through the questions in the booklet of questions mentioned in my previous post.
