repairing the torah

next to last one from the prayers and procession series


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He's working in the book of Numbers, but he's concentrating on the letters.

“I can go two days straight doing this,” says Rabbi Moshe Druin, as he inks his turkey quill before returning to the scroll unfurled in front of him. An Israeli flag hangs behind him and sunlight seeps into the chapel windows. All is quiet except save the small scratches of his lettering on the aged scroll.

“A lot of people ask me, 'What's the thought going through your head when you sit for hours and hours? They ask if it's boring.'”

“Boring?” he asks in response to his own question and smiles. 'No, it's not boring. You can keep turning this thing over and over, and you'll always find something new. There's no time to be bored.”

Druin is a sofer, or a scribe, and is working at Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk. The temple hired him to restore the lettering and repair four temple Torahs.

Druin says he finds his work fulfilling and advises anyone looking for the answers of life to look into the Torah.

“The message of the Torah is universal,” says Druin. “If ever you need a guide, it's right here in front of you.”