Aviel Barclay

Aviel Barclay (born 1969) is a Canadian soferet (Jewish scribe). On October 6, 2003, she became the first woman to be traditionally trained and certified as a Jewish scribe, an occupation held by men in the Orthodox tradition. She completed her first Torah scroll in fall 2010 under the auspices of the Kadima Women's Torah Project in Seattle, Washington. She is the subject of the 2005 television documentary Soferet.

Born to a Christian family in Prince George, British Columbia, Barclay converted to Judaism as an adult.

Early life She was born Alison Barclay in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, to a Christian family. As a girl, she enjoyed calligraphy and taught herself the letters of the Hebrew alphabet by the age of 10. she injured her right hand in a cycling accident and underwent intensive therapy and rehabilitation to regain its use.

Career Barclay converted to Judaism as an adult and joined the Orthodox Jewish community. In early 2005 she was commissioned to write a mezuzah for a new synagogue in Jamaica Plain, Boston. That same year, she was commissioned to write her first Torah scroll by Kadima's Women's Torah Project in Seattle, Washington. Barclay's Torah scroll was adorned with two crowns, a mantle, a breastplate, and attached to wooden poles fashioned by other female artists. The total cost for writing and decorating the scroll was $60,000. According to the Talmud (Gittin 45b), a Torah scroll written by a woman for ritual use is invalid.