Word Perfect

Rabbi Yosef Lange

has a labor of love.

He writes Torah

and other

holy manuscripts.

magine times in your working life when for a moment, you feel a semblance of spir-
ituality. When Rabbi Yosef Lange sits at his desk, he has this opportunity Rabbi

Lange is a sofer or scribe. He is based in Oak Park. Is tools are a dark turkey feather
quill, ink, parchment, a love of the Torah and the teaching of our sages. "It's about
a connection," the rabbi said. "There's nothing like it, being connected to God. It always
leaves me speechless that it's even possible to be write about God.

Rabbi Lange's office is filled with Torah scrolls, mezzuzahs and tfillin. He writes the
parchments and spends a great deal of his time repairing Torahs. Over time, the letters
crack or become faded.

TEXT BY PHIL JACOBS

PHOTOS BY DAN LIPPITT

The time he spends with the letters, the words, is time that takes him to different spiri-
tual plane.

"You cannot be distracted," he said. "It's very spiritual to write these words. It's a respon-
sibility and a joy for me."