Part 3 of "Danger: Women with Books"

The profession of safrut, of the sacred scribal arts, has, traditionally been thought of as “man’s work” both from an halakhic (legal) perspective and from a sociological one. Yet the very first illustrated Scroll of Esther that has come down to us has the signature of a female scribe, women copied Torah manuscripts in book form in societies as conservative as Yemen, and wealthy women in Italy wrote manuscripts, had liturgy “reformed” to reflect specifically female concerns, and are depicted within manuscripts. This series, with Vassar professor Marc Michael Epstein considers the effects (and the perceived dangers) of women who write and illustrate sacred texts.

November 16, 2023
SESSION 3: To Write Holy Words: A Soferet Encounters the Sacred
Professor Epstein will be in conversation with Jen Taylor Friedman about her practice as a soferet (scribe) and the experience of writing a variety of different types of manuscripts, including the first Torah scroll known to have been created by a woman.

Winner of the 2015 Jewish Book Award in Visual Arts for Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts, Marc Michael Epstein is the product of a mixed marriage between the scions of Slonimer and Lubavitcher Hassidim and Romanian socialists, and grew up, rather confused, but happy, in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently Professor of Religion at Vassar College, where he has been teaching since 1992, and was the first Director of Jewish Studies. At Vassar, he teaches courses on medieval Christianity, religion, arts and politics, and Jewish texts and sources. He is a graduate of Oberlin College, received the PhD at Yale University, and did much of his graduate research at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has written numerous articles and three books on various topics in visual and material culture produced by, for, and about Jews. His book, The Medieval Haggadah: Art, Narrative, and Religious Imagination (Yale, 2011) was selected by the London Times Literary Supplement as one of the best books of 2011. During the ‘80s, Epstein was Director of the Hebrew Books and Manuscripts division of Sotheby's Judaica department. He continues to serve as consultant to various libraries, auction houses, museums and private collectors throughout the world, among them, the Herbert C. and Eileen Bernard Museum at Temple Emanu-El in New York City, for which he curated the inaugural exhibition, and the Fowler Museum at UCLA. He is the Director of Beit Venezia, the home for International Jewish Studies in Venice, Italy.

Видео Part 3 of "Danger: Women with Books" канала CSP - Community Scholar Program