![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The following came into my inbox yesterday:
It is important to note that there are currently no women today who are certified scribes. A few women have become “qualified” scribes by way of training with male scribes in a traditional framework. Certification comes through an Orthodox committee which to date will not grant women this status. Be sure to ask anyone who claims to be a certified scribe to see the papers documenting this.
This is incorrect.
To start with, it's just factually incorrect: certification is available through a number of organisations which exist for the purpose, not "through an Orthodox committee." The "Orthodox" bit is correct; the "an" and "committee" are not.
It's also incorrect on a more general plane. Certification in sofrut is like any other kind of ordination. There exist ordaining bodies, and ordination from them is an indication that your knowledge met a certain standard when you took their examination.
Let's take for an example one's psychiatrist. If your psychiatrist is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, that means they've demonstrated a minimal standard of competence in the opinion of the APA. If somebody isn't a member of the American Psychiatric Association (let's say they live in Scotland), that doesn't mean they're not a perfectly good psychiatrist. Perhaps this Scot has a letter of recommendation from a member of the APA which says that that member is satisfied as to their abilities; you could perfectly well choose this person as your psychiatrist.
Let's move into the Jewish field: I've spent a year studying the laws of Shabbat. This is about as long as your average Orthodox rabbinical student spends learning it, and considerably longer than your average Conservative rabbinical student. I don't have rabbinical ordination, but I'm competent to deal with questions of Shabbat observance, either by simple yes/no, or by knowing where to look up an answer, or by knowing when to defer to a higher authority. I'm not a rabbi, but I know about keeping Shabbat; likewise, there are people ordained as rabbis who do not know about keeping Shabbat.
How does one become a rabbi? By having ordination from a rabbi. We have rabbinical schools and associations because if Rabbi Cohen comes along and tells you that she got her ordination from Rabbi Levi, that doesn't tell you very much about Rabbi Cohen's proficiency or outlook. However, if Rabbi Cohen tells you that she got her ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, you'll know quite a lot about Rabbi Cohen's qualifications without having to ask. Rabbi Cohen's JTS ordination is an indicator of her knowledge and personal practice.
Private ordination is not invalid. Rabbi Ner-David got her ordination privately because Rabbi Ner-David is Orthodox and could not get into any of the Orthodox rabbinical schools because she is a woman. Would you say that Rabbi Ner-David is merely "qualified"? No. Rabbi Ner-David is ordained. Certified. To find out more about Rabbi Ner-David's competence you would have to ask her herself or the rabbi who ordained her. This is more work for you; it does not mean that her ordination is any less valid.
Similarly with sofrut. There exist certifying bodies; certification from these bodies guarantees a certain level of knowledge, and depending on the body a certain level of maintained knowledge, skill, and integrity. This is precisely similar to the situation with the psychiatrist or the rabbi. Certification from an organisation is more easily understood; private ordination is not invalid.
Soferet Barclay has private certification; she is every bit as much a certified soferet as Rabbi Ner-David is a certified rabbi. Saying otherwise is an insult to these women, their work, and those who ordained them, besides demonstrating a very incomplete knowledge of the certification processes.
It is important to note that there are currently no women today who are certified scribes. A few women have become “qualified” scribes by way of training with male scribes in a traditional framework. Certification comes through an Orthodox committee which to date will not grant women this status. Be sure to ask anyone who claims to be a certified scribe to see the papers documenting this.
This is incorrect.
To start with, it's just factually incorrect: certification is available through a number of organisations which exist for the purpose, not "through an Orthodox committee." The "Orthodox" bit is correct; the "an" and "committee" are not.
It's also incorrect on a more general plane. Certification in sofrut is like any other kind of ordination. There exist ordaining bodies, and ordination from them is an indication that your knowledge met a certain standard when you took their examination.
Let's take for an example one's psychiatrist. If your psychiatrist is a member of the American Psychiatric Association, that means they've demonstrated a minimal standard of competence in the opinion of the APA. If somebody isn't a member of the American Psychiatric Association (let's say they live in Scotland), that doesn't mean they're not a perfectly good psychiatrist. Perhaps this Scot has a letter of recommendation from a member of the APA which says that that member is satisfied as to their abilities; you could perfectly well choose this person as your psychiatrist.
Let's move into the Jewish field: I've spent a year studying the laws of Shabbat. This is about as long as your average Orthodox rabbinical student spends learning it, and considerably longer than your average Conservative rabbinical student. I don't have rabbinical ordination, but I'm competent to deal with questions of Shabbat observance, either by simple yes/no, or by knowing where to look up an answer, or by knowing when to defer to a higher authority. I'm not a rabbi, but I know about keeping Shabbat; likewise, there are people ordained as rabbis who do not know about keeping Shabbat.
How does one become a rabbi? By having ordination from a rabbi. We have rabbinical schools and associations because if Rabbi Cohen comes along and tells you that she got her ordination from Rabbi Levi, that doesn't tell you very much about Rabbi Cohen's proficiency or outlook. However, if Rabbi Cohen tells you that she got her ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, you'll know quite a lot about Rabbi Cohen's qualifications without having to ask. Rabbi Cohen's JTS ordination is an indicator of her knowledge and personal practice.
Private ordination is not invalid. Rabbi Ner-David got her ordination privately because Rabbi Ner-David is Orthodox and could not get into any of the Orthodox rabbinical schools because she is a woman. Would you say that Rabbi Ner-David is merely "qualified"? No. Rabbi Ner-David is ordained. Certified. To find out more about Rabbi Ner-David's competence you would have to ask her herself or the rabbi who ordained her. This is more work for you; it does not mean that her ordination is any less valid.
Similarly with sofrut. There exist certifying bodies; certification from these bodies guarantees a certain level of knowledge, and depending on the body a certain level of maintained knowledge, skill, and integrity. This is precisely similar to the situation with the psychiatrist or the rabbi. Certification from an organisation is more easily understood; private ordination is not invalid.
Soferet Barclay has private certification; she is every bit as much a certified soferet as Rabbi Ner-David is a certified rabbi. Saying otherwise is an insult to these women, their work, and those who ordained them, besides demonstrating a very incomplete knowledge of the certification processes.
Tags:
From: (Anonymous)
YEUwMbLkVuzxbWZTkB