Working with Reform, Conservative, and Unaffiliated Congregations
Original Art for Individuals and Organizations
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Mending History
Artist and Sofer Neil Yerman talks about restoring a Holocaust Torah scroll
and the connection he feels to those who did not survive.
Film program at the School of Communication, American University, Washington, DC
Meet the Sofer
Neil Yerman is a sofer a person who writes and restores Torah scrolls. In English, the Hebrew word sofer is translated as scribe. To become a sofer, a Jewish person must master the art of Hebrew calligraphy, document restoration, and the many rules and traditions governing the writing and restoring of a Torah. In addition, a sofer must lead a religious life.
Meet the Artist
Sofer Yerman is also an artist who specializes in creating one-of-a-kind illustrated documents for life cycle events, creating ketubot for weddings, scrolls for bar and bat mitzvah, and illustrated family trees.
Terrific Experience at the RA Convention in Baltimore
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Current Client Communities
Wise Journey 150 and 175 year anniversaries
The writing of two new Sifrei Torah with congregational participation, facilitated by Sofer Neil Yerman
Isaac Mayer Wise Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio
You may skip ahead to 3:47 to view Neil Yerman and congregational partipation.
Plum Street Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio
Celebrates: The Torah Writing Project
Temple Avodah, Oceanside, Long Island, New York
Watch Sofer Neil Yerman work with one of our very young children and a small group of our teens in explaining the purpose of enhancing our Torah with crowns, the meaning of the seven letters that can be adorned and then watch as two of our kids actually draw the crowns in the Torah we use every week.
Three Scribes: Friends in Art: Neil Yerman, Karen Gorst, and Mohamed Zakariya Jewish, Chistian, and Muslim calligraphers collaborated, dialogued togeher, and created a unique work of art at the JCC of Schenectady, New York, on Sunday, September 18, 2011. Open PDF flyer.
Beth Friend of NPR reports from St. Paul, Minnesota, where an entire congregation is participating in the usually solitary act of restoring a Torah.
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Members of the Congregation
Help Restore Torah
Left: Sofer Neil H. Yerman and Jacob add a letter to a Torah that was being restored after it was damaged in the Holocaust.
Video by Andy Noah Ratto (Click arrow to begin.)
Links to Related Sites
Wedding Rabbi (WeddingRabbi.org):
Jewish wedding officiant, Rabbi Jo David, creates meaningful weddings and commitment ceremonies for Jewish and interfaith couples.
Rabbi Jo David (RabbiJoDavid.org):
Working with interfaith and multi-cultural couples and families, and meeting the needs of those who do not fit the traditional Jewish mold.
The Reform Jewish Community of Hamelin, Germany (JGHReform.org):
Jüdische Gemeinde Hameln, founded in 1997, is the first organized Jewish community to be established in Hamelin since the Holocaust.