Our New Torah Scroll

From generation to generation, Torah connects us to our past and emboldens us for the future. The story of our people and the foundation of our values, Torah sustains us and guides us. In honor of our 150th Anniversary, we have commissioned a new Torah scroll - a Torah for Tomorrow. Our new Torah will be a lasting reminder of our 150th Anniversary Celebration and a spiritual connection to the role of Torah in our lives, and that of our synagogue. Your gift will make our future stories happen. Every gift to this campaign writes a story. Our gift societies reflect our dedication to the Torah at the center of this community.

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About the Scribe

The Hebrew word for a scribe of Jewish sacred texts used in ritual life is sofer (masculine) or soferet (feminine). Soferim are specifically scribes who can create sacred scrolls, tefillin, mezuzot and other religious writings. Although these scribes have transcribed the same texts by hand over and over for thousands of years, they are not merely copyists. Rather, soferim are highly trained specialists who apprentice with senior scribes for years to learn the art and tradition of scribing Jewish texts. Their work is beautiful and ornate, with each scribe developing their own style of calligraphy – almost as unique as a textual fingerprint. However, the most complex part of becoming a Jewish scribe is not perfecting one’s calligraphy or mastering the use of a quill and ink, but rather learning the thousands of laws that apply to the many different types of texts written on parchment.

We have commissioned a new Torah scroll to be created by Jen Kamenetz, a member of the female-only Stam Scribes collective. Jen has studied Jewish texts for many years in a variety of settings, and scribing brings together her love of those texts and the rich, layered world of Hebrew letters and language. In 2014, she began studying sofrut with Jen Taylor, the first woman known to have completed a Torah scroll. We are honored that Jen Kamenetz will write her first full sefer Torah for Temple Emanuel Denver. The Torah we create together will embody our profound reverence for our religious traditions and texts with our deep commitment to building an inclusive and expansive Jewish community for the future – it is truly a Torah for Tomorrow.