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52-806: By simple definition, soferim are copyists , but their religious role in Judaism is much more. Besides sifrei Torah, tefillin, and mezuzot, scribes are necessary to write the Five Megillot (scrolls of the Song of Songs , Book of Ruth , Book of Esther , Ecclesiastes , and Book of Lamentations ), Nevi'im (the books of the prophets, used for reading the haftarah ), and for gittin , divorce documents. Many scribes also function as calligraphers—writing functional documents such as ketubot (marriage contracts), or ornamental and artistic renditions of religious texts, which do not require any scribal qualifications, and to which

104-416: A ketubah is 200 zuz for a virgin, and 100 zuz otherwise (such as for a widow, a convert, or a divorced woman, etc.). Today, such pledges are made in local currency, and often exceed that of the principal. Thus the content of the ketubah essentially dictates the wife's rights in the marriage and provides for her security and protection. ( Conservative Jews often include an additional paragraph, called

156-583: A contentious relationship with his copyists, who often made mistakes that remained uncorrected until the advent of Urtext editions ; some musicologists have devoted a lot of effort to identifying Beethoven's copyists. Copyist programmes are run by a number of museums that offer permits to members of the public. These permits grant artists access to museums, enabling them to produce their own copies of artworks. Copyists copy to enhance their skills or to financially benefit by selling their work. The Louvre in Paris

208-424: A contract to hold up as good. Thus said R. Yannai : "The conditions written in a ketubah , [when breached], are tantamount to [forfeiture of] the ketubah ." A woman who denied coitus unto her husband, a condition of the ketubah , was considered legal grounds for forfeiture of her marriage contract, with the principal and additional jointure being written off. King David decree regarding Jewish widows of soldiers

260-543: A living from selling their copies made in the Prado, however copyists find it much harder to do this in the 21st century. Artists frequently only paint a selected area of the work, due to time constraints or individualistic stylistic decisions. However, to discourage and prevent the sale of exact forgeries, the copy must be different in size or scale. At the MET, the copyist's work must be different in its dimensions by 10% in comparison to

312-402: A lower rank such as amateur. Being a female copyist in the 19th century regularly had negative implications upon a woman's reputation due to the high risk of slander and damnation. The nature of their work meant that it was relatively easy for men to engage with them, for example by escorting them to the gallery. As a result, rumours would frequently be spread and often result in the ruining of

364-491: A non-Kohen receives that standard 200 Zuz, as a penalty for not marrying within the priesthood. A widowed bat-kohen would receive the standard 100 Zuz for widows, though at one point this sum had been raised to 200 Zuz. The ketubah is a significant popular form of Jewish ceremonial art . Ketubot have been made in a wide range of designs, usually following the tastes and styles of the era and region in which they are made. Today, styles and decorations on ketubahs are chosen by

416-715: A sofer is not the calligraphy , but, rather, remembering the thousands of laws that apply to sifrei Torah, tefillin, mezuzot, and all the other texts that are written on parchment . Some people who want to become ritual scribes learn at the Vaad Mishmereth STaM , an international organization whose goal is to protect the halachic and artistic integrity of the scribal arts, located in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak in Israel, as well as in Brooklyn , New York, United States; studying comes with

468-635: A tradition that still occurs in many copyist programmes today, but the availability of permits is more limited in the 21st century. Permits are renewable, artists often complete more than one session. Copyists are still required to follow certain traditions such as being required to cover the floor with a drop cloth to prevent damage to the gallery floors at the MET. Notable artists such as Picasso began practising their art as copyists in museums. The utility of this programme has frequently been emphasised, for instance artists such as Paul Cézanne and Cennino Cennini . Ingres and Delacroix highly emphasised

520-539: A variety of different pieces in their collection. Their selection is subject to certain conditions, such as safety concerns and whether the piece is in the permanent collection. In 1880, only two copyists were allowed at paint the Mona Lisa in the Louvre at one time, due to its popularity. The Prado forbids the copying of certain works, such as Las Meninas , because they attract crowds. Some copyists used to be able to make

572-519: A variety of formats as well as the traditional Aramaic text used by the Orthodox community. Available texts include Conservative text, using the Lieberman Clause , Reform, Egalitarian and Interfaith texts. Some congregations have texts available for same sex couples too. In addition, Secular Humanist and Anniversary texts are also available today. In a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony , the ketubah

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624-406: A wife, a matter that is intended to show that they are a couple united in wedlock before he lies down with her carnally, and that he not come upon her as one would do to a harlot , where there is no other act that precedes what goes on between them..." The rabbis in ancient times insisted on the marriage couple entering into the ketubah as a protection for the wife. It acted as a replacement of

676-487: A woman's ketubah can be written in local currencies, but must have the transactional market-value of the aforementioned weight in silver. Most ketubot also contain an additional liability, known as the "additional jointure" (Heb. תוספת ‎ = increment), whereby the groom pledges additional money to his bride. In Ashkenazi tradition, the custom is to consolidate these different financial obligations, or pledges, into one single, aggregate sum. In other Jewish communities,

728-462: A woman's standing in society. Sources Ketubah A ketubah ( / k ɛ t uː ˈ b ɑː / ; Hebrew : כְּתוּבָּה ) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage , and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, the ketubah has no agreed monetary value, and is seldom enforced by civil courts, except in Israel. According to

780-527: Is always 1 ⁄ 8 the weight of the 'Shekel of the Sanctuary' (Tyrian coinage), which for every 200 shekels in Tyrian coinage, only 25 were required to be pledged in a virgin's ketubah , a sum equivalent to 200 provincial silver denaria . Based on the anatomical weight of 25 shekels in Tyrian coinage, the minimum amount vouched in a virgin's ketubah amounted to 504 grams of fine silver. Monies pledged in

832-542: Is an interesting one. The Talmud does discuss instances where King David had soldiers create conditional divorces. This was done to alleviate the concerns of soldiers who were going to war and wanted to ensure their wives' well-being in their capture or demise. The concept of conditional divorce, while not explicitly tied to King David's decree, is still a valid concept in Jewish law. Modern rabbinic courts have their own procedures and guidelines for handling such matters, especially in

884-408: Is handed to the bride (or, more commonly, to the bride's mother) for safekeeping. Ketubot are often hung prominently in the home by the married couple as a daily reminder of their vows and responsibilities to each other. However, in some communities, the ketubah is either displayed in a very private section of the home or is not displayed at all. Various reasons given for this include the fact that

936-502: Is practised by some communities. Rather, all financial obligations were written out as individual components, and had the same fixed sums for all persons. The Chief Rabbinate in Israel has sought to bring uniformity to the ketubah , particularly where Jewish communities in the Diaspora had upheld conflicting traditions. As in most contracts made between two parties, there are mutual obligations, conditions and terms of reciprocity for such

988-453: Is signed by two witnesses and traditionally read out loud under the chuppah between the erusin and nissuin . Friends or distant relatives are invited to witness the ketubah, which is considered an honour; close relatives are prohibited from being witnesses. The witnesses must be halakhically valid witnesses, and so cannot be a blood relative of the couple. In Orthodox Judaism , women are also not considered to be valid witnesses. The ketubah

1040-560: The Likkut Sifrey Stam . Sephardic soferim rely, in addition to Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillin u'Mezuzah v'Sefer Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit), on Arba'ah Turim , Beit Yosef on Tur , and Shulchan Arukh . Baladi Rite Yemenite (Teimani) scribes try to follow as closely as possible only the instruction of the Rambam , i.e. Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillin u'Mezuzah v'Sefer Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit), though before Mishneh Torah, their standard

1092-535: The Babylonian Talmud , the ketubah was enacted by Simeon ben Shetach so that it might not be a light thing for a man to divorce his wife. The enactment provides for a man's wife to receive a fixed sum of money, usually accruing from his property, in the event of his divorcing her or of his predeceasing her. Sefer ha-Chinuch suggests a different reason: "...the Torah has commanded us to perform an act before taking

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1144-575: The Lieberman clause , which stipulates that divorce will be adjudicated by a modern rabbinical court (a beth din ) in order to prevent the creation of a chained wife .) The conditions written in the marriage contract may vary between communities, as in the case of the Yemenite ketubah , where the custom in Yemen was not to consolidate the different financial obligations, or pledges, into one single, aggregate sum as

1196-569: The Talmud . While Arba'ah Turim does not include women in its list of those ineligible to write Sifrei Torah, some see this as proof that women are permitted to write a sefer Torah. However, today, virtually all Orthodox (both Modern and Ultra) authorities contest the permissibility of a woman's writing a sefer Torah. Yet, women are permitted to inscribe Ketubot (marriage contracts), STaM not intended for ritual use, and other writings of sofrut beyond simple STaM. In 2003, Canadian Aviel Barclay became

1248-440: The ketubah is in essence a two-way contract that formalizes the various requirements by Halakha (Jewish law) of a Jewish husband vis-à-vis his wife. The Jewish husband takes upon himself in the ketubah the obligation that he will provide to his wife three major things: clothing, food and conjugal relations, and also that he will pay her a pre-specified amount of cash in the case of a divorce. The principal endowment pledged in

1300-404: The mohar at the time when they would normally be expected to marry. So, to enable these young men to marry, the rabbis, in effect, delayed the time that the amount would be payable, when they would be more likely to have the sum. The mechanism adopted was to provide for the mohar to be a part of the ketubah . Both the mohar and the ketubah amounts served the same purpose: the protection for

1352-481: The 1990s, most copyists worked by hand to write out scores and individual instrumental parts neatly, using a calligraphy pen, staff paper , and often a ruler. Producing parts for an entire orchestra from a full score was a huge task. In the 1990s, copyists began using scorewriters – computer programs which are the music notation equivalent of a word processor . (Such programs include Sibelius , Finale , MuseScore , LilyPond , and many others ). Scorewriters allow

1404-420: The act; a copy is based upon honesty and does not try to replace the original. In the late 19th century, the number of copies which were sold under false pretences were high due to the absence of any considerable legislative deterrence. The treatment of forgeries of art were not as severe as other types of forgery such as that of legal documents, whereby the punishment was death (until 1832). The reasoning behind

1456-424: The biblical mohar , the price paid by the groom to the bride, or her parents, for the marriage (i.e., the bride price ). The ketubah served as a contract, whereby the amount due to the wife (the bride-price) came to be paid in the event of the cessation of marriage, either by the death of the husband or divorce . The biblical mohar created a major social problem: many young prospective husbands could not raise

1508-480: The composer or songwriter to enter the melodies, rhythms and lyrics to their compositions into the computer using a computer mouse or keyboard or by playing the notes on a MIDI -equipped instrument. Once a composition is fully entered into a scorewriting program, the computer can be instructed to print out the parts for all of the different instruments. Both handwritten and computer-based copying require significant understanding of musical notation , music theory ,

1560-482: The context of military service. It's important to note that Jewish law has evolved over time, and contemporary interpretations of these laws may differ from historical practices. The priestly court (prior to 70 CE ) established that a virgin bat-kohen would receive a ketubah of 400 Zuz (rather than the standard 200 Zuz for a Jewish virgin). However, the Talmud Yerushalmi opines that the bat-kohen who marries

1612-511: The contract that was being signed. Many contemporary ketubot have translations into English or other vernacular languages or an accompanying vernacular text. Many Conservative Jews and other non-Orthodox Jews use ketubot written in Hebrew rather than in Aramaic. Others may use Aramaic ketubot but also have an additional official version in Hebrew. In recent years ketubot have become available in

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1664-502: The couple as a representation of their personal styles. This is contrasting to other Jewish legal or sacred texts (such as the Talmud , Mishnah , etc.), which cannot be decorated. Traditional ketubot are not written in the Hebrew language , but in Aramaic , the lingua franca of Jews at the time ketubot became standardized. This was done in order to make sure the bride and groom understood

1716-667: The custom was to write out all financial obligations as individual components. The ketubah of Babatha , a 2nd-century woman who lived near the Dead Sea , was discovered in 1960 in the Cave of Letters . Over two hundred ketubot were discovered, among other manuscripts, in the Cairo Geniza . They date between the 6th and 19th centuries and, whilst many consist of plain text, there are examples that use decorative devices such as micrography and illumination to elaborate them. The content of

1768-470: The details specify personal details, prominent display may invite jealousy or fears of the evil eye . Historically, the ketubah specified whether the bride was a virgin. In Sephardic communities, it still specifies the actual contributions of the family to the new household and the divorce settlement; Ashkenazi communities have adopted the custom of having set amounts for all weddings. According to Jewish law , spouses are prohibited from living together if

1820-408: The experience as a way to enhance their artistic abilities. These perspectives mirrored contemporary misconceptions around women lacking intelligence and so inferior to their male counterparts. These attitudes meant that women were rarely accused of being a fraud, because this would have implied the possession of mental skill (deceit). Initially only men were professional copyists, with women adopting

1872-486: The husband pledged otherwise, the minimum obligation towards a man's virgin bride is 200 silver denaria ( מאתים זוז ‎), known as the principal (or dower's price), and 100 silver denaria ( מאה זוז ‎) for a man who married a widow or divorced woman. This was paid in full from a man's property in the event of his divorcing her during her lifetime, or of his pre-deceasing her. This same sum, according to Mishnaic exegete Obadiah Bartenura , who cites Maimonides ,

1924-463: The lack of judicial constraints was due to the insignificant economic impact. Another reason why the number of forgeries was high is because it was harder to identify a copy due to shortcomings in technology. Copying in the 19th century was not constrained by gender, in terms of accessibility. However, gender stereotyping was prevalent regardless: female copyists frequently had their work denounced as lacking creativity. Male copyists were viewed as using

1976-423: The laws concerning sofrut. It is a common misconception that one has to be a rabbi in order to become a sofer. People who want to become ritual scribes usually learn from another expert scribe by undergoing shimush (apprenticeship), since it would be impossible for someone to be a scribe without any actual practice. Newly certified scribes write Megilat Esther scrolls . The hardest part about learning to be

2028-518: The letters, though the same rules apply throughout the text. Generally, regarding sifrei Torah, none of these groups would consider that these differences would render a Torah posul (ritually unfit or invalid). The documents must be written on properly prepared parchment or vellum known as klaf . Many scribes also function as calligraphers—writing functional documents like ketubot, or ornamental and artistic renditions of religious texts—which do not require any scribal qualifications, and to which

2080-495: The musical styles and conventions of different styles of music (e.g., regarding appropriate ornamentation, harmony rules pertaining to accidentals , etc.), and strong attention to detail and past conventions. Johann Sebastian Bach 's second wife, Anna Magdalena , regularly copied compositions by her husband and sometimes by other composers, e.g. " Bist du bei mir " in the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach . Ludwig van Beethoven had

2132-647: The option of receiving a certificate, though certification of this sort is not a halachic requirement, nor does it necessarily guarantee the quality of a particular sofer's work. This process does, however, ensure that a certified sofer has received the proper education and is a recognized expert in the field of sofrut. The main texts from which Ashkenaz soferim learn the scribal art include the Keset Ha-Sofer , Chasdey David , Mishnah Berurah (24-45), Mishneh Torah (Hilchot Tefillin u'Mezuzah v'Sefer Torah, Hilchot Tzitzit), Mishnat Hasofer , Mishnat Sofrim , and

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2184-407: The original work. Upon completion, a copyist's work produced in the Louvre is subject to an examination to check for any forgeries. One such violation would be if the work was less than one-fifth bigger or smaller than the original. After inspection, the copy is then stamped and signed by a member of the Louvre's copy staff. The difference between a forgery and a copy involves the intention behind

2236-493: The other books of the Bible, such as Psalms or the Book of Ezra . This was promoted in 19th-century Jerusalem by Rabbi Shemuel Shelomo Boyarski . There are many rules concerning the proper formation of letters that must be followed if a written text is to be deemed religiously valid. The Ashkenazi , Sefardi , Chabad (Lubavitch), and Mizrahi Jews each have their own script for forming

2288-431: The popularity of the programme. There are now selection processes involving the submission of a portfolio , along with a list of potential pieces the artist would like to copy. Upon a successful application, artists are normally able to copy their first or second choice. The permits tend to be given to locals, since the artists will be required to spend a lot of time in the gallery. The museums allow artists to pick from

2340-429: The rules on lettering and parchment specifications do not apply. Copyist A copyist is a person who makes duplications of the same thing. The modern use of the term is mainly confined to music copyists, who are employed by the music industry to produce neat copies from a composer or arranger 's manuscript . However, the term is sometimes used for artists who make copies of other artists' paintings. Until

2392-449: The rules on lettering and parchment specifications do not apply. The major halakha pertaining to sofrut , the practice of scribal arts, is in the Talmud in the tractate " Maseket Sofrim ". In the Torah's 613 commandments , the second to last is that every Jew should write a sefer Torah before they die. A sofer must be religiously observant, of good character, and knowledgeable about

2444-466: The value of learning from other painters by going to the Louvre and discovering their artistic personalities. The benefits of copying were addressed in a study by Okada and Ishibashi (2004). It was found that copying caused the participants to assess and compare their own artistic style with others, which led to more creative pieces, in comparison to the control group. At some centres the availability of permits has been drastically reduced over time due to

2496-425: The wife should her support by her husband (either by death or divorce) cease. The only difference between the two systems was the timing of the payment. A modern secular equivalent would be the entitlement to alimony in the event of divorce. The ketubah amount served as a disincentive for the husband contemplating divorcing his wife: he would need to have the amount in order to be able to pay to his wife. Unless

2548-629: The world's first known, traditionally trained, soferet. Among non-Orthodox Jews, women have written Torah scrolls since the early 2000s. In 2007 Jen Taylor Friedman , a British woman, became the first woman to scribe a sefer Torah. In 2010, the first sefer Torah scribed by a group of six women (from Brazil, Canada, Israel, and the United States) was completed; this was known as the Women's Torah Project . Since then, other women have written Torah scrolls. As of 2014, there were an estimated 50 female sofers around

2600-555: The world. Besides Torah scrolls, tefillin, and mezuzot, scribes are also necessary for the writing of the Five Megillot (scrolls of the Song of Songs , Book of Ruth , Book of Esther , Ecclesiastes , and Book of Lamentations ) and Nevi'im (the books of the prophets, used for reading the haftarah ), and for gittin (divorce documents). In some communities, especially Chaim Kanievsky 's community in Bnei Brak , soferim also write

2652-463: Was based on the Rama, i.e. Rabbi Meir ben Todros HaLevy Abulafia . Forming the basis for the discussion of women becoming soferim, Talmud Gittin 45b states, "Sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzot written by a heretic, a star-worshipper, a slave, a woman, a minor, a Cuthean , or an apostate Jew , are unfit for ritual use." The rulings on mezuzot and tefillin are virtually undisputed among those who hold to

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2704-517: Was one of the first museums to enable artists to copy art in 1793. Other major museums soon followed such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City in 1872. To become a copyist in 1880 at the Louvre, a simple request at the office of the secretary was sufficient. After gaining permission to use the museum, a complementary easel was provided to the artist for a year. This is

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