FINE ART
In the Laws of Writing
STAM A
BY: KALMAN SAFRUT
scribe must pay attention to the black ink he lays down as he writes the letters as well as to the white space around the ink.
and hidden Torah teachings. The Baal Shem Tov asked him to explain a certain passage in the Etz Chaim, a Kabbala Sefer that is the summary of the Arizal’s teachings.
In the laws of writing STAM (an acronym for Sefer Torah, Tefillin, and the Mezuzah text) the Halacha stipulates that the letters must be surrounded completely by clean parchment (Mukaf G’vil).
The Maggid of Mezeritch explained the passage word by word in intricate detail while seated before him. But the Baal Shem Tov nodded dismissingly in dissatisfaction. He said “Stand up! I will explain the passage properly.” As the Maggid stood, the entire room became dark.
The first time I saw the fiery letters on my friend’s parchment of Megillat Esther I was blown away and convinced I had to learn this ancient craft. I wanted to have a closer relationship with the Hebrew letters and understand them more deeply. The story goes that the first meeting between the Maggid of Mezeritch and the Holy Baal Shem Tov went as follows: The Maggid was already an established scholar, both in revealed
The Baal Shem Tov began reciting the passage with the very same words the Maggid had used, but now the Maggid stood in awe. Thunder and lighting, his mind and opened to an expansiveness he had never known. He felt as Moshe must have felt ascending Mount Sinai. As the Baal Shem Tov concluded and the Maggid returned to his senses, the Maggid
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