Aviel Barclay (born 1969) is a Canadian '' soferet'' (Jewish scribe). 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 Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

tradition. She completed her first

Torah scroll A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...

in fall 2010 under the auspices of the Kadima Women's Torah Project in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. She is the subject of the 2005

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' Soferet''. Born to a Christian family in

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is a city in British Columbia, Canada, situated at the confluence of the Fraser River, Fraser and Nechako River, Nechako rivers. The city itself has a population of 76,708; the metro census agglomeration has a population of 89,490 ...

, Barclay

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

as an adult.

Early life

She was born Alison Barclay in

, Canada, to a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

family. As a girl, she enjoyed

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

and taught herself the letters of the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet (, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is a unicase, unicameral abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewish languages, most notably ...

by the age of 10. In 1991, at age 22, she injured her right hand in a cycling accident and underwent intensive therapy and rehabilitation to regain its use.

Career

Barclay

as an adult and joined the Orthodox Jewish community. She also desired to become a ''sofer'' (Jewish scribe), a field that is traditionally restricted to men. While she was using her calligraphy skills to write Jewish marriage contracts (''ketubot''), she spent many months trying to find a scribe willing to teach her the ancient art and its many laws. Finally, a

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

scribe, who has not been named, contacted her through her website and offered to help her improve her calligraphy skills. Eventually he agreed to teach her the techniques and laws as well. Barclay's training, which took years, was conducted first through correspondence classes and then in a Jerusalem

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

. On October 6, 2003, Barclay became the first woman to be traditionally trained and certified as a Jewish scribe. In early 2005 she was commissioned to write a

mezuzah A ''mezuzah'' ( "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew language, Hebrew verses from the Torah, which Jews affix in a small case to the doorposts of their homes. These verses are the Biblical pa ...

for a new

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of Roxbury, Massachusetts, Roxbury. The community seceded from Roxbur ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. That same year, she was commissioned to write her first Torah scroll by Kadima's Women's Torah Project in

. She completed the writing of the scroll in fall 2010; it is being used by the Kadima Reconstructionist congregation. Barclay's Torah scroll was adorned with two crowns, a mantle, a breastplate, and attached to wooden poles fashioned by other female artists. The total cost for writing and decorating the scroll was $60,000. The validity of Barclay's accomplishment in

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

(''halakha'') is subject to debate. According to the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

(''

Gittin Gittin (Hebrew: ) is a tractate of the Mishnah and the Talmud, and is part of the order of Nashim. The content of the tractate primarily deals with the legal provisions related to halakhic divorce, in particular, the laws relating to the ''Get ...

'' 45b), a Torah scroll written by a woman for ritual use is invalid. However, several modern-day rabbis have presented arguments supporting the view that a woman can write a scroll for ritual use. Barclay herself does not view her act as a feminist or political statement, but as an "act of faith".

Television documentary

Barclay's "personal spiritual journey" that led her to Judaism and to writing a Torah scroll is the subject of the 48-minute television documentary ''Soferet: A Special Scribe''. The 2005 film was written, produced and directed by Donna and Daniel Zuckerbrot and aired on

VisionTV VisionTV is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language Category A services, Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is ...

Personal life

Barclay and her husband, Joel Rothschild, reside in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada.

References

External links