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Artist:
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Micha Bar-Am
Published by Photographic Publishers International
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Title:
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Torah Scribe, Jaffa
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Date:
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1971
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Medium:
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Gelatin silver print (printed 1981)
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Dimensions:
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17 3/8 x 13 13/16 in. (44.13 x 35.08 cm) (image)
19 15/16 x 15 15/16 in. (50.64 x 40.48 cm) (sheet)
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Credit Line:
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Gift of Elaine Dines Cox and Kris Cox
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Location:
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Gallery 362
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In Jewish tradition, it is a hard-earned place of honor to be eligible to transcribe the words of the Torah. Only a scribe, or sofer (ס×פר), is permitted to officially write ceremonial religious texts, such as Torah scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot. At its center, a sofer acts as a copyist, carefully transcribing each character of the Torah while saying each character aloud before it is written. These texts, typically written on parchment, have literally thousands of laws for their proper transcription, with each ritual object requiring a different set of specifications so as to ensure no part of the Torah is forgotten. The physical appearance of the written Torah scroll has scarcely changed in millennia because of these detailed regulations. Thus, the only variable factor is the decoration of its various accoutrement.
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Artist/Creator(s)
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Name:
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Bar-Am, Micha
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Role:
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Photographer
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Nationality:
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Israeli
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Life Dates:
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Israeli, born 1930
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Name:
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Photographic Publishers International
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Role:
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Publisher
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Object Description
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Inscriptions:
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Edition; Signature in black ink, below image: [238/300 Micha Bar-Am]
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Classification:
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Photographs
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Physical Description:
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bearded man wearing a yarmulke bent over a scroll, writing, in background; pages of handwritten text in foreground
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Creation Place:
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Asia, Israel, , ,
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Edition:
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Edition of 300; 238/300
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Accession #:
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98.265.6.7
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Owner:
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The Minneapolis Institute of Arts
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