How do we balance the strictures of Halacha, the way Torahs have been written and repaired, and what contemporary research into materials sciences suggests? We will discuss the values and choices behind how different communities take care of their Torah scrolls.

Rachel Jackson, owner of Binah Design, is a scribe, artist, graphic designer, and bookbinder. She studied sofrut from Jen Taylor Friedman and has been working as a soferet since 2015. Rachel has a degree in visual art from the University of Chicago and a certificate in bookbinding from the North Bennet Street School in Boston, giving her a dual perspective on Torah repair work—both the halachic, ritual framework and a background in modern library conservation. She and her husband, Rabbi Jackson Mercer, run Base Boston, a creative Jewish community in Cambridge MA.