OVERLAND PARK, Kan — As the Sunflower State's only trained Sofer, Rabbi Berel Sosover's skills are in high demand.
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Rabbi Sosover has been teaching at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in Overland Park for nearly 20 years and part of his job is to teach and pass down sacred Jewish traditions.
"When it comes to religious articles, we have certain things that we have, to be written by a scribe," explained Rabbi Sosover, "When it comes to mezuzah, Tefillin, these are things for Jewish people that help for the protection of the brethren living in Israel."
Sosover credits faith for motivating him to become a trained Sofer. A Sofer is a trained craftsman tasked with writing religious documents and scrolls in Hebrew which are vital to the Jewish faith. Rabbi Sosover says it took years to perfect his craft and he was encouraged by his cousin, an Israeli scribe, to give it a chance.
"I was visiting New York and my cousin was in New York at the same time, and mentioned to me, you're a teacher, you have the summer off, why don't you try this?' So I contacted a local scribe in New York who was giving classes," recalled Sosover.
Rabbai Sosover says thousand of laws have to be learned to become a certified Sofer and writing must be perfected. Each document or scroll also has to be written on Kosher parchment paper and specific quills and ink must also be used.
"There's two parts to it, there's the actual shape of the letters, that's one part of the learning and then there's the studying of all the laws, which is the second part of the learning," said Sosover. "When it comes to the shape, that's something which you know, at the beginning, doesn't look as nice and you continue to write a lot, and practice."
Rabbi Sosover gets requests from around the world wanting him to authenticate scrolls and ensure sacred documents remain kosher and written properly. Even though he’s constantly working, he says it’s up to him to keep timeless tradition alive and protect his faith.
