By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Three of the five known female Torah scribes in the world will be in the St. Louis area in coming months, working on various projects.
The three women made history by becoming qualified scribes. That means they were trained in Jewish law and learned to correctly write the Torah scroll.
The religious act has traditionally been done by men, and there is still debate about whether a woman should scribe a Torah scroll. The Torah is made up of the first five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
Shoshana Gugenheim already is in the area, working on the Torah scroll at Congregation Shaare Emeth in Ladue.
Aviel Barclay has been commissioned to repair several Torah scrolls at B'nai Amoona Congregation and will be in the area starting Wednesday.
In November, Jen Taylor Friedman will write an entire Torah scroll for United Hebrew Congregation in Chesterfield.