THE ACTIVITIES OF A SOFER

A scribe is called a sofer STAM from the initials S for sefer torah, T for tefillin and M for mezuzah and these are the three main activities.

However a scribe will also write the megillah for use on Purim to the same strict rules as that for a sefer torah.  Gittin (sing. Get) the divorce documents are secular but are also prepared by scribes as there is a specific text which should be word perfect.

At the other end of the scale K'tubot (marriage contracts) do not have to be written by a scribe but is something that I also do.

One other thing that was common for a scribe to write in the past was a scroll of the haftorot that are read each Shabbat after the Torah reading.  Nowadays this is very rare, but perhaps should be making a comeback given the importance of the haftarah readings.  Click here, for an excerpt for discussion on this subject.

A ketubah does not have to be written by a scribe (though the person doing it should be competent in Hebrew).  If you are interested in trying out Hebrew Calligraphy (as opposed to S”TAM) there are many other things that you could do to beautify your or someone else’s home as a gift.  Click here for suggestions and examples.