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Driven Leaf
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Avraham Leaf with a print by Yaakov Kaszemacher
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tvt
sacred writings also must be
made according to specific re-
quirements, and the ink must
be black and created from
natural ingredients.
At the end of his studies,
Leaf passed an exam given all
scribes to show they know the
laws of their craft. Yet he will
never consider himself such
an expert that he doesn't need
to continually study, he says.
Like other new scribes, Leaf
decided his first work would
be a Megillat Esther. He
chose the text because it does
not contain the name of God.
"In most cases one can correct
a mistake, add or remove a
letter. But it is forbidden to
erase the name of God."
His business has since ex-
panded to ketubot, marriage
contracts, and many mezuzot.
He recently wrote part of a
Torah with a friend in Safed.
He will be writing a Megillat
Esther for a customer in
Belgium.
Leaf, who works in the mor-
ning and evening, leaving the
afternoon open for study, says
he is not in the business of
making big money.
"Sofrim don't get rich," he
says. "If that's what you're
looking for, find another job."
To support himself while
studying to be a scribe, Leaf
took a part-time position
managing a gallery that sells
works by religious artists.
"They live what they paint
and they paint what they
live," he says.
Today, he serves as a
representative for artists
Yaakov Kaszemacher, David
Friedman and Nechama
Weiss.
Leaf holds up a work by
Kaszemacher, a kabbalistic
artist from France who once
worked with Peter Max. The
print shows a Magen David
contained in a colorful cube.
Everything in the picture
means something, Leaf says.
The six sides of the cube
represent the six days of crea-
tion, while its eight corners
parallel the number of con-
nections between God and the
Jewish people.
"But this is the beauty of
it," Leaf says, setting the
print on the table. "You can
only see seven of the points at
any given moment. The last
is not visible, just as the con-
nection between God and His
people remains a mystery."
A
s exacting as the way in
which the letters are
placed on the sacred
text must be the nature of the
man who writes them. Only
a Jewish male over bar mitz-
vah age who lays tefillin may
be a scribe. And he must be a
man of integrity, Leaf says.
"The sofer must be a person
with the fear of God. There
are so many ways he could
make a mistake (thus render-