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Jen Taylor FriedmanJen Taylor Friedman is a soferet (Jewish ritual scribe). On September 9, 2007, she became the first woman known to have completed a Torah scroll. Taylor Friedman's sefer Torah was commissioned by United Hebrew Congregation, a Reform temple in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] Taylor Friedman was born in Southampton, England, and educated at Oxford.[2] While studying at Oxford, she became interested in halakha (Jewish law) and calligraphy, and by a "chance combination of happy circumstances" she met a sofer (a male scribe) who helped her realize that becoming a soferet would allow her to pursue both interests.[3] Taylor Friedman continued her scribal studies in Jerusalem and New York City, where she now resides.[2][4] Taylor Friedman's first project as a soferet was Megillat Esther, a scroll of the Biblical Book of Esther that is traditionally read in synagogue on the holiday of Purim. She completed the project on Purim 2004 (March 6).[5] Since that time she has prepared six more megillot,[5] including one for Congregation Ansche Chesed, a synagogue on Manhattan's Upper West Side.[6] Friedman oversaw the work of scribes involved with the Women's Torah Project, completed in 2010.[7] In May 2010 she completed her third Torah scroll for Congregation Dorshei Emet, the first synagogue in Canada and the third in the world to receive a Torah handwritten by a woman.[8][9] In 2018 she completed the first full Torah written in Texas by a woman.[10] Austin's Congregation Agudas Achim requested her to do it for them.[10][11] Taylor Friedman is one of a small, but growing, number of soferot (female scribes).[12][13] Taylor Friedman is also known for her Tefillin Barbie, which has been featured in a number of prominent Jewish publications. References
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