What would you call a gathering of sofrot (female scribes)? It needs one of those oddly beautiful terms of venery, a collective noun like a charm of magpies or a murmuration of starlings. A quill of sofrot, perhaps? A klaf? A heresy?
I attended such a convocation earlier this month at the Lev Shalem Institute of the Woodstock Jewish Congregation. There are only around two dozen women Torah scribes in the world today. Twelve or so are in an informal group called Stam Scribes; (“STaM” is a traditional abbreviation for Sifrei [scrolls of] Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzot, and Megillot, the four major ritual texts scribes write), which puts together an annual sofrot conference.
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