Writing a New Torah: Beth Am Israel’s Sacred Journey Begins

Leslie Feldman

Congregation Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley marked the start of its Torah, Ruach, Limmud Campaign with a Torah writing celebration weekend from April 3 to 6. The events included Torah writing sessions led by female soferet Jen Taylor Friedman, an opening Torah-writing ceremony, where congregants wrote their own letters in the synagogue’s new Torah, and Shabbat services with a lunch and learn with Friedman.

Friedman, who lives in the U.K., became the first female to scribe a Sefer Torah in 2007. According to her website, hasoferet.com, she presently has six Torah scrolls to her credit.

She also has a master of arts degree in Jewish Studies from McGill University, for which she wrote a history of the material culture of tefillin. She is presently working on a doctorate about medieval Torah scrolls. Friedman is known for having created Tefillin Barbie, who has been featured in several publications describing 21st-century Judaism. She has trained a number of Torah scribes in various parts of the world to write Torah scrolls of their own.

During the weekend celebration, Friedman presented Torah writing basics, quills and parchment as members practiced writing letters as the first words of the Torah were written. Congregants stood at the Ahmud (writing table) with Friedman while they wrote a letter in the new Torah together.

“It’s a mitzvah to write one’s own Torah and by some counts, it’s the 613th (out of 613) commandment,” said BAI’s Rabbi David Ackerman. “Writing even one letter counts as writing the whole thing. In celebration of our centenary, we’re coming together as a community to write our own Torah, one that we hope will guide our congregation for another hundred years (or more). And what a privilege to write our Torah with the world’s first woman Torah scribe, Jen Taylor Friedman. I’ve already learned so much from Jen, and we’re just at the beginning of the process.”

As part of the 100th anniversary of the synagogue, the campaign will provide the financial means for BAI to embrace Jewish learning and education fully and to support the congregation’s determination to connect the BAI community to its Jewish heritage, read and understand texts and explore their relevance in today’s world and engage in learning with the broader community.

From studying Torah and Talmud to understanding Jewish history, values and customs, Jewish learning and education equips congregants with the tools to navigate the complexities of modern life while remaining rooted in timeless traditions. Additionally, the campaign ensures that the synagogue can pursue rich educational programming without risking the financial sustainability of the synagogue.

“The idea to have a Torah written began when the question arose, ‘How should we celebrate our 100th anniversary?’ The decision was made to have a new Torah scroll as a way to honor the past, present and future of Beth Am Israel,” explained Synagogue President Donald Erlichman. “Our present Torahs are quite heavy, and the new one will be much lighter and enable more people to be able to lift the Torah after it’s read on Shabbat and be uplifted by the experience.”

The cost of the new Torah was funded by a group of donors that chose to remain anonymous. Their generosity allowed anyone in the community to write their letter in the Torah. When the synagogue celebrates its 100th anniversary in October 2026, the community will sew the parchment together, write the last letter and lift the Torah. It is then that the 613th commandment will have been fulfilled by the congregants.

“Beth Am Israel members are excited, moved and inspired to participate in the mitzvah; our hope is that every member of our congregation will inscribe a letter,” added Ackerman.

“We look forward to the TRL Campaign fostering a vibrant learning environment where all the generations of our community can engage with these profound teachings in meaningful ways. As we complete the writing of our own Torah, we will animate and live this vision.”

Leslie Feldman is a freelance writer.