sofer (scribe). He began to write the more simple things, like the two biblical passages found in mezuzot, the four biblical passages found in tefillin, and the scroll of Esther, which traditionally is written on parchment."} 62:{"position":5,"content":"In 1983 he received his first commission to write a Torah scroll, which made it financially possible for him to make aliya. Since then he has supported himself as a scribe and has written more scrolls than he can remember. He estimates that the number lies between 25 and 30."} 63:{"position":6,"content":"About a year and a half ago, he came up with the idea of writing an unusually small Torah scroll, but that required an investor. One evening when he was playing Scrabble on the Internet, he began to discuss the matter with his long-time Scrabble opponent Cheryl MacDonald. She immediately became interested, since she was looking for an interesting and unusual investment opportunity. But, at the same time, she hardly knew what a Torah scroll actually was. Bassel provided her with extensive information and pictures of his previous work. After careful consideration, they reached an agreement in which she would finance the writing, while he would write the scroll and market the product. The price of the finished Torah scroll will be around $40,000."} 64:{"position":7,"content":"As part of the marketing, Bassel has started a Facebook group called A Little Torah Scroll Grows in Jerusalem. More than 250 people follow the process there, though no one yet has made a bid for the finished product."} 65:{"position":8,"content":"For Bassel, the group has become an interesting pedagogical challenge, since MacDonald and many others in the group are Christians."} 66:{"position":9,"content":"“I quickly realized that I had to explain the most basic terms,” he says. “Even Jews who know very little know more than the Christians, who sometimes don’t know anything at all. When people hear the word ‘parchment,’ for example, they don

Writing the small print

Shel Bassel is working on a Torah scroll that is only 26 centimeters high and it even has its own Facebook page.