Torah scribe writes herself into Australian herstory

An Israeli soferet (female scribe) is about to begin work on the Torah scroll for an Australian synagogue written by a woman.

“It feels like a dream,”  Rabbi Hanna Klebansky tells The Jewish Independent in a phone call from Israel, as she prepares to fly to Melbourne where Temple Beth Israel (TBI)’s new scroll, which she will write, will be formally launched this weekend.

Russian-born Rabbi Klebansky is a rare commodity, an ordained Masorti (Conservative) rabbi who is also trained in the technically demanding art of writing a Torah scroll. Orthodox Judaism does not regard female Torah scribes as acceptable under halachah and there are only some 25 soferot (female scribes) around the world, compared to thousands of soferim (male scribes).

In the more than 15 years she has been inscribing, Rabbi Klebansky has written six Torah scrolls for congregations around the globe, the latest for a synagogue in Germany.

There is pressure on soferot to fly under the radar. An early mentor, a haredi, who said he personally would not use a Torah scroll written by a woman but respects others’ values, taught her the craft on the understanding his name would not be revealed.

And when she was engaged to check a recently completedTorah from Frankfurt, she did not disclose that the scroll was written by her as it would have caused complications. (Scribes participate in an elaborate process of checking the sofer’s work three times before a Torah is pronounced kosher.)