Saratoga Jewish Cultural Festival, with a generous grant from the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and the sponsorship of Temple Sinai of Saratoga Springs, presents Tradition in Ink: The Art of Rabbi Linda Motzkin on July 20, 3-5 pm at Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs. (Sorry, no Zoom for this program.)

A wine and cheese reception follows. Pre-registration is required at https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/PLAszag/TraditionInk.

A $10 donation is requested at the door or by mail to Temple Sinai, 509 Broadway, Saratoga Spring, NY 1266.

About the Program

Rabbi Linda Motzkin is one of a handful of women in the world trained as a Hebrew scribe, a role traditionally reserved for men. She is unique among female scribes in that she is the only one who makes her own parchment. Through her Community Torah Project, Rabbi Motzkin has opened the sacred process of creating a Torah scroll to thousands of people nationally and internationally. Her hands-on educational workshops enable participants to engage in various steps in the making of a Torah scroll, from processing deerskins into parchment panels to stitching completed panels together.

Rabbi Motzkin is also an accomplished artist, creating unique calligraphic artwork from pieces of her handmade deerskin parchment which are not suitable for a Torah scroll. For her artwork, she draws on several inspirations: her love of Hebrew calligraphy and the shapes and forms of Hebrew letters; her knowledge of 3,000 years of Jewish literature; the unique characteristics of the Hebrew language; and her work as a Hebrew scholar and parchment maker.

Rabbi Motzkin will discuss how she repurposes pieces of parchment into original works, incorporating Hebrew calligraphy drawn from Jewish sacred texts, including the Bible. She also will explain her specific process for making these pieces.

Several of her artworks will be available for sale, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Temple Sinai.

Rabbi Linda Motzkin served for almost three decades as Jewish Chaplain at Skidmore College. For more than 36 years, she and her husband, Rabbi Jonathan Rubenstein, served as co-rabbis at Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs. She is now Rabbi Emerita.