Outline for Writing Sefer Video to mark the occasion of Elitzur's Bar

Aim

To produce a series of videos about the mitzvah of writing a that features Elitzur Gitler. This will be presented to family and friends in August 2015 to mark the occasion of Elitzur's bar mitzvah.

Overview

Besides staring in the actual film, Elitzur will also be involved in the various stages of the films production, seeing behind-the-scenes work that goes into the research, filming, editing, as well as coming to shoots. Elitzur will be encouraged to contribute content and ideas.

Over the course of the year, Elitzur will have the opportunity to attend several hachnasat Sefrei Torah, meet scribes, see how they work, how the various parts of the Torah are produced (klaf, eitz chaim, ink) and increase his love of Torah.

Elitzur will also receive speaker training lessons that will enhance his appearance in the film and help him develop his acting and public speaking skills in general.

You will receive tailor made source sheets that you can study together with Elitzur. These will be sent out to you each month.

Content

Below is an outline of modules that may be included in the video. The exact content and structure of the videos will develop as the research and script writing stages progress. Final content will only be decided once thorough research is carried out.

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Module #1: The Mitzvah of Writing a Sefer Torah – Sources and reasons for the mitzvah. Laws. Midrashim, customs and stories about the mitzvah. Application today when Torah is primarily studied from printed books. Content will focus towards a contemporary and relevant application of the subject.

Module #2: The Life of a Scribe – Documentary style film about the life of a and the experiences of what it must be like to write a Sefer Torah. How long does it take? What's the skill involved? Explain the process. Show the different stages. Talk about the ink, the quill, basic laws of Kesivat Sefer Torah. Interview with a sofer intertwined with footage of him at work.

Module #3: The Day of the Ceremony – The actual ceremony explaining the events of the day: When does it start? In the morning, getting the eitz chaim ready, getting the cover ready. Include footage of a variety of different Hachnasat Sefer Torah's from around the world with different streams and strands, ashkenzi, sefardi, temani. Will include variety of different parts of the world: America, Argentina, London, Australia. Footage will also be filmed from above using a helicopter drone for stunning aerial shots. Discuss the chuppah and the idea behind it.

Module #4: Kavod HaTorah & Ahavat HaTorah – Break away from the hachnasa ceremony and ask, "Why all the excitement? The singing, passion and excitement you see... What's it all about?" For that we explain Kavod HaTorah; how Torah study is one of the pillars of the world, how central it is to our life. Stories of people who loved Torah and learned it at all costs.

Module #5: Kriat HaTorah – Halachot of Kriat HaTorah: Where does it come from? What is the concept behind it? Why do we have 3 people standing?

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Module #6: Learning Torah אשר בחר ;אשרינו מה טוב חלקינו ,Put into people the feeling of how lucky we are – How fortunate we are to have the Torah. Here we are singing .בנו מכל העמים and dancing and holding the hand of the people we have never met before! What is it that unites us? Give over the pride of being a Jew. I have no idea who this person is but I am his brother, we are all part of one nation, all have the same Torah to guide us in life. Imbue that feeling of achdut and how fortunate we are to have the Torah to give us direction in life. This leads into the final part of the video which is about learning Torah. Because let's face it: how often do we go to a Hachnasat Sefer Torah? Once a year? It's not an every day occurrence. A person could finish the video, thinking that's very nice. In a year's time when I go to the next Hachnasat Sefer Torah, I will remember what I learned. No! The mitzvah of writing a Torah is in order to learn it! It's a daily event. Every minute we have a mitzvah of studying Torah. Talk about the beauty and excitement of learning Torah, how it develops our character, how it develops our mind, how it gives us direction in life, how it contains the solution to every problem in the world. This will be the finale of the film, leaving people with a beautiful and inspired feeling.

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