sofer

English - English

Definition of sofer in English English dictionary: A Jewish scribe who can transcribe Torah scrolls and other religious writings; Scribe; Used as a general designation for scholars and copyists in both Talmudic and later literature; a "scholastic," a learned researcher whose vocation was the study and teaching of the tradition In early times the sopher was the scholar By the 1st century, he was no longer a real scholar but a functionary and teacher of children; A Scribe; or sopher In Judaism, a scholar-teacher of the 5th-2nd centuries BC who transcribed, edited, and interpreted the Bible. The first sofer was Ezra, who, with his disciples, initiated a tradition of rabbinical scholarship that is still central in Judaism. This tradition of scholarship arose to meet the specific need of applying the idealistic aspirations of the Torah and oral tradition to everyday life, thus in effect codifying Mosaic law. The soferim were important historically for having fixed the canon of the Hebrew scriptures. Later the term sofer came to refer to one who taught the Bible to children or who was qualified to write Torah scrolls