Photo: Julie Seltzer
GLENS FALLS – Congregation Beth El has announced a scribe in residence for the first weekend of November. Julie Seltzer, a scribe and Jewish educator, will be featured in three programs beginning on Friday, Nov. 3, at 6:15 p.m. at the temple, 3 Marion Ave., Glens Falls.
Seltzer will be available for Q&A sessions a half hour before Shabbat services Friday and also during a dairy potluck dinner on Nov. 3. She will also give a drash related to the parshah and connected with the work of a Hebrew scribe that evening.
“What’s the Point? Crowns, Dots and Other Scribal Intrigues” will be Seltzer’s topic on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m. Organizers of the program suggest that if one looks inside a Torah scroll, individuals may notice certain oddities: a word with a series of dots above, as if droplets of ink have spilled; a giant or miniature letter in the middle of an otherwise unremarkable word and even backwards letters. Seltzer will offer interpretations.
Seltzer will review Torah upkeep Sunday, Nov. 5, at 2 p.m. She will discuss maintenance and repairs and what makes a Torah pasul (unfit for ritual use).
The Saturday and Sunday afternoon programs will cost $18 per person.
Seltzer, has been writing and repairing Torah scrolls since 2009, when she was scribe-in residence at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, Calif. Seltzer has written four Torah scrolls, and now focuses on repair and education, offering people a glimpse into the world of Torah scrolls and sacred writing. Seltzer is originally from Philadelphia, and now resides in the Hudson Valley. She has a background in theatre arts.
Katie Weaver at [email protected] or 518-792-4364 can provide details.
