Jen Taylor Friedman

Last updated

Jen Taylor Friedman is a soferet (Jewish ritual scribe). On September 9, 2007, she became the first woman known to have completed a Torah scroll. Taylor Friedman's sefer Torah was commissioned by United Hebrew Congregation, a Reform temple in St. Louis, Missouri. [1]

Contents

Taylor Friedman was born in Southampton, England, and educated at Oxford. [2] While studying at Oxford, she became interested in halakha (Jewish law) and calligraphy, and by a "chance combination of happy circumstances" she met a sofer (a male scribe) who helped her realize that becoming a soferet would allow her to pursue both interests. [3] Taylor Friedman continued her scribal studies in Jerusalem and New York City, where she now resides. [2] [4]

Taylor Friedman's first project as a soferet was Megillat Esther , a scroll of the Biblical Book of Esther that is traditionally read in synagogue on the holiday of Purim. She completed the project on Purim 2004 (March 6). [5] Since that time she has prepared six more megillot, [5] including one for Congregation Ansche Chesed, a synagogue on Manhattan's Upper West Side. [6] Friedman oversaw the work of scribes involved with the Women's Torah Project, completed in 2010. [7] In May 2010 she completed her third Torah scroll for Congregation Dorshei Emet, the first synagogue in Canada and the third in the world to receive a Torah handwritten by a woman. [8] [9] In 2018 she completed the first full Torah written in Texas by a woman. [10] Austin's Congregation Agudas Achim requested her to do it for them. [10] [11]

Taylor Friedman is one of a small, but growing, number of soferot (female scribes). [12] [13]

Taylor Friedman is also known for her Tefillin Barbie, which has been featured in a number of prominent Jewish publications.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Judaism</span> Role of women in Judaism

The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law, by custom, and by cultural factors. Although the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature mention various female role models, religious law treats women differently in various circumstances. According to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center, women are slightly more likely to identify with Judaism. They account for 52% of the worldwide Jewish population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tikkun (book)</span> Book used to prepare for reading or writing a Torah scroll

A tikkun or tiqqun is a book used by Jews to prepare for reading or writing a Torah scroll. There are two types of tikkun, a tikkun kor'im and a tikkun soferim.

<i>Sefer Torah</i> Handwritten copy of the Torah

A Sefer Torah or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers. At other times, it is stored in the holiest spot within a synagogue, the Torah ark, which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem, the direction Jews face when praying.

Torah reading is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll from the Torah ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation (trope), and returning the scroll(s) to the ark. It is also commonly called "laining".

Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious, legal, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sofer</span> Jewish scribe

A sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Sifrei Kodesh, tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot and other religious writings.

<i>Soferet</i> (film) 2006 Canadian film

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. 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.

Tefillin Barbie is a creation of Jen Taylor Friedman, first produced in 2006. It is a Mattel Barbie doll wearing a tallit and tefillin. Tefillin Barbie has also been depicted as reading from a Sefer Torah, holding said Torah aloft in the performance of Hagbaha, holding a siddur, and studying a volume of Talmud.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Rodeph Sholom (Manhattan)</span>

Congregation Rodeph Sholom is a Reform synagogue in New York City. Founded in 1842 by immigrants from the German lands, it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.

Congregation Agudas Achim is a Conservative synagogue located in the Northwest Hills neighborhood of Austin, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Hebrew Congregation (Chesterfield, Missouri)</span>

The United Hebrew Congregation at 13788 Conway Road in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, is a Reform Jewish synagogue. It was the first Jewish Congregation established west of the Mississippi River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ansche Chesed</span> Synagogue in Manhattan, New York

Ansche Chesed is a synagogue at West End Avenue and 100th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City.

Orthodox Jewish feminism is a movement in Orthodox Judaism which seeks to further the cause of a more egalitarian approach to Jewish practice within the bounds of Jewish Law. The major organizations of this movement is the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) in North America, and Women of the Wall (WOW) and its affiliates in Israel and internationally, known as The International Committee for Women of the Wall (ICWOW). In Israel, the leading Orthodox feminist organization is Kolech, founded by Dr. Chana Kehat. In Australia, there is one Orthodox partnership minyan, Shira Hadasha, in Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Dorshei Emet</span>

Congregation Dorshei Emet is a Reconstructionist synagogue in Hampstead, Quebec. It was founded in 1960 by Lavy Becker, who served as volunteer rabbi. Ron Aigen was hired as the congregation's first paid rabbi in 1976. Rabbi Boris Dolin joined the shul in 2016. Dorshei Emet constructed its first synagogue building in 1967. The congregation soon outgrew this structure, and built a larger one on the same site in 2003.

Rona Shapiro became the first female rabbi to head a Conservative synagogue in Cleveland in 2007, when she became rabbi of Congregation Bethaynu in Pepper Pike.

Aviel Barclay is a Canadian soferet. On October 6, 2003, she became the first woman to be traditionally trained and certified as a Jewish scribe, an occupation held by men in the Orthodox tradition. She completed her first Torah scroll in fall 2010 under the auspices of the Kadima Women's Torah Project in Seattle, Washington. She is the subject of the 2005 television documentary Soferet.

The Women's Torah Project (WTP) was an initiative to have the first Torah scroll scribed entirely by women. The project began in 2003 and was completed in Seattle in 2010. Wendy Graff was the leader of WTP. The WTP was commissioned by the Seattle-based Kadima Reconstructionist Community.

<i>The Womens Balcony</i> 2016 Israeli film

The Women's Balcony is a 2016 Israeli comedy film directed by Emil Ben-Shimon.

The Sulzbacher Torah is a Torah Scroll from the Synagogue of Sulzbach. It dates from 1792 or 1793 and survived both the Sulzbach town fire of 1822 and the November pogroms. After the fall of National Socialism, it was kept unrecognised in the Torah shrine of the Synagogue of Amberg for over seven decades. After its rediscovery, it was restored and completed on 27 January 2021, following the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism ceremony of the German Bundestag in the Devotional Room of the Reichstag Building. Patrons were the representatives of the five permanent constitutional bodies of the Germany.

References

  1. ↑ Jill Kassander (November 2006). "Torah Alive! is celebrated at United Hebrew". St. Louis Jewish Light. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-07-24. Those associated with the project said they are not aware of any other Torah completely written by one woman.
  2. 1 2 Leslie Bunder (2006-11-03). "Women writing Torah". Something Jewish. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  3. ↑ Jen Taylor Friedman. "FAQ, in detail". Archived from the original on 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  4. ↑ Randi Sherman (2007-02-23). "Barbie On The Bima?". The Jewish Week . Archived from the original on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  5. 1 2 Jen Taylor Friedman (2007-02-27). "a purim story - my first megillah". Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  6. ↑ "Ansche Chesed March 2006 Bulletin". Archived from the original on 2007-06-06. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  7. ↑ Fishkoff, Sue (15 October 2010). "Female Scribes Finish Writing Torah Scroll". JTA. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Female scribe to pen Reconstructionist shul’s new Torah", Canadian Jewish News , May 21, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Woman scribes history-making Torah", CTV Montreal website, May 16, 2010.
  10. 1 2 Published: February 11, 2018, 6:05 pm. "Austin Jewish congregation celebrates new Torah, first in Texas written by a woman". KXAN.com. Retrieved 2018-02-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ TEGNA (2017-08-21). "Austin synagogue to dedicate first female-written Torah". KVUE.com. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
  12. ↑ "Female Torah scribes begin work in St. Louis". Columbia Daily Tribune. Associated Press. 2006-09-05. Archived from the original on 2007-02-24. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  13. ↑ Amy Spiro (2012-10-07). "Torah, she wrote". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2012-10-10.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.