ETERNAL SCRIPTURE – A TORAH FOR DRESDEN

How is a Torah scroll created? What materials and rules form part of a writing culture that has preserved knowledge, fostered community and offered guidance for thousands of years? During Jewish Week, the Thomae Pavilion at the Societaetstheater becomes a public place of writing. Here, visitors can witness a new handwritten Sefer Torah for Dresden being created in accordance with the traditional rules of Jewish scribal culture. Writing on kosher parchment requires specialist knowledge, great care and intense concentration. Every single letter follows prescribed rules.

ETERNAL SCRIPTURE – A TORAH FOR DRESDEN is a project unique in Europe, organised by the Jewish Community of Dresden in cooperation with the Dresden City Museum. It makes the creation of a handwritten Torah scroll (Sefer Torah) visible in a glass pavilion on the forecourt of the City Museum and at other venues. Over a period of 18 months, a trained female scribe (soferet) writes the scroll in public, letter by letter. The project began on 21 August 2025 and will be a guest at the Societaetstheater during Jewish Week. It offers a rare opportunity to experience this ritual and craft practice at close quarters. At the same time, it invites conversation about the meaning of the Torah, the transmission of knowledge and Jewish life as it is lived today.

Project direction, curating, talk: Jahna Dahms

Public scribing: Liora Mendes

The project “Eternal Scripture – A Torah for Dresden” is organised by the Jewish Community of Dresden in cooperation with the Dresden City Museum.

Public scribing hours:

Sunday, 1 November, noon–4 p.m.

Monday, 2 November to Thursday, 5 November, 4–6 p.m. each day

On Sunday, 1 November at 2 p.m., curator Jahna Dahms will introduce the scribing project in a talk.