Shabbaton with a Sofer
Writing Torah Scrolls—Then and Now
with
Sofer Rabbi Kevin Hale
Rabbi Hale is a Sofer STaM and director of the Ray Torah Institute, Northampton, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Yale
University and a former craftsman and toy maker. He was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1997. He trained as a sofer with Rabbi
Eric Ray (z’’l). Dr. Ray was a world expert on the history and provenance of Torah scrolls, was involved in restoring many of the Czech Torah scrolls rescued from the Holocaust by the Westminster Memorial Scrolls Trust, and restored the oldest known kosher Torah scroll from the 1200’s. Rabbi Hale has
continued his work, and restored a 250-year-old Westminster scroll in 2003.
We invited Rabbi Hale to visit KI as part of our year-long celebration and memorial to our Holocaust scroll from the Westminster Trust, a scroll that came
originally from Nemecky Brod, Czechoslovakia. The photos in the slideshow illustrate some of the weekend's engaging activities.
Photography by J. Sharkey and S. Rayburn.