With a giant quill and a computer screen, a master sofer uses virtual parchment to transmit an ancient skill to aspiring scribes
TEACHABLE SKILL “Writing with a kulmus on a klaf can be compared l’havdil to spreading cream cheese on toast — the same flow and texture of movement the twist of the wrist the way you hold the kulmus. I can teach a guy a lot more about safrus by peeling vegetables than with ink — it’s not an exotic skill”
Rabbi Eliezer Adam is the dean of Machon Melechet Shamayim a school for sofrei sta”m. He is based in Beit Shemesh.
What I Do
I teach safrus online.
What That Means
The course material is on video and I also Skype with each student to work on individual skills. I do still teach frontal courses in classrooms all over Israel and sometimes groups of guys get together and ask me to teach them but as far as I know I’m the only teacher who does this remotely. Teaching online has a tremendous advantage because the real work in safrus training is consistent practice. In a classroom students tend to rely on the classroom presentation but a student online gets his act together because it’s easier to focus on the homework and the practice — it’s all up to him.
What It Takes To Teach A Hands-On Skill Online
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