Shoafim Yad-Making Project

We were thrilled to have calligrapher and Sofer Stam (Jewish Scribe) Jay Greenspan back in camp to work with edat ha-Shoafim on their Take Ramah Home project! 

Jay teaches extensively about the art and skills of the Sofer Stam to groups of all ages and has produced over 3,000 custom-designed ketubot (Jewish Marriage Documents) as well as hundreds of invitations, awards, honorary plaques, diplomas, and papercuts. Jay designed the first Rosh Hashanah and Chanukah Cards to be carried by Tiffany and Co., as well as a large mural for the American Jewish Committee on the theme V’ahavta l’reakha kamokha (Love your neighbor as yourself). He is the author of Hebrew Calligraphy: A Step-by-Step Guide (NY: Schocken Books, 1981) and has been the Artist-In-Residence of The Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York City for many years.

Over the course of two days, Jay ran workshops for all of our Shoafim campers.  Each and every camper, working with Jay, was able to create a beautiful yad of their very own to take home at the end of the summer.  It was a pleasure to see that, this Shabbat morning, many Shoafimers read Torah while using their very own yad that they had created!  We hope that all of our Shoafim campers will have the opportunity to read Torah many times in the future, while using their beautiful yads.